What Summer Was For

My boys,

Not every season is supposed to produce something you can show people.

Summer reminded me of that.

There were slower mornings.

Longer evenings.

Meals that lasted longer than necessary.

Days when the boys played and nobody asked whether the afternoon had been productive.

For years, I struggled with that.

Rest felt suspicious.

If I wasn't building...

I felt behind.

But a field left fallow is not abandoned.

A sleeping child is not wasting time.

A tree standing quietly in July is still doing the work of being a tree.

God built rest into creation before any of us invented productivity.

Maybe He knew we would eventually become arrogant enough to believe the world depended on our constant movement.

It doesn't.

Rest is not the opposite of discipline.

Sometimes...

Rest is the discipline.

Knowing when enough work has been done.

Knowing when to close the door.

Knowing when your children need your attention more than your ambition does.

Knowing when your soul has become too noisy to hear God clearly.

Summer was not empty because less got done.

Something else was happening.

We laughed.

We wandered.

We stayed outside late.

We remembered each other.

And perhaps that was what the season was for.

You cannot harvest every month.

If you try...

Eventually you begin cutting into the roots.

So when life gives you a season that feels slower than the one before it...

Do not immediately fill it.

Some empty space is sacred.

Some afternoons are allowed to accomplish nothing.

Some days are meant to become memories instead of milestones.

September will ask us to move again.

The alarm will ring.

The work will return.

The days will shorten.

Good.

We will meet them.

But never apologize for the summer that restored enough of you to be ready.

The world will tell you that resting means you stopped.

Let it.

A bow must be pulled backward before the arrow moves forward.

And here is the part I learned too late:

If you cannot rest without feeling guilty...

You are not disciplined.

You are owned.

I love you.

— Baba

Question:

Can you rest without needing to justify it?

Moral:

Rest is not idleness when it restores what your calling requires. God made seasons for work and seasons for renewal. Wisdom knows the difference.

This story reflects real experiences and philosophies behind Backyard Brew. It is shared to inspire perspective and intention.

Author: R. Solace