JOY IN JULY - by Deb Kennedy

For the past few years, I have celebrated a season I’ve called ‘Joy in July’. It is somewhat similar to practicing the season of Advent or Lent. Each year, when the calendar turns to July 1, I make every effort to be intentional in practicing delight-finding and appreciation for the 31 days in the month.

I began this when I realized that July is a golden month - one in which many of us are at our most relaxed. There are no school deadlines, churches tend to ebb a bit as people travel, and even businesses seem to take a breath. We take vacations, enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures, eat outside at cookouts or picnics, swim in pools, oceans and lakes. We hike and camp and frolic. Where I live, we are also experiencing the lightest days of the year. Each year July arrives with great promise and passes far too quickly.

When the calendar turns to August 1, the drumbeat of ‘back to school’ begins, subtly at first and more loudly with each passing week. If we are in the workforce, we begin to think about deadlines looming in September. If we have kids, the sports team schedule is calls. The days begin to shorten.

As a contemplative, I have come to love taking this golden summer month to fully practice reverence - to wake and walk with appreciation - to notice and delight- to thank God for another year of July. For the past two years, I’ve captured some of these in my sketch journal (see above). When I see these little drawings, I smile and remember that day or place or taste.

Joy in July. I can’t wait until next year!