“Mommy I don't feel well. My throat hurts.”

My brain shouted NO even as my heart felt tons of sympathy for my daughter. I could tell she was coming down with the cold my husband and I are both also fighting. 

It is the end of the school year, I thought, and I don't have time for this. 

Fast forward an hour. I am in the kitchen trying to get some food into her before dragging her to school. “Hurry up… hurry,” I call to her. 
 
She says to me, “Mommy I feel like my body is on high alert, and it’s giving me a tummy ache.”

The good news is that after the anxiety filled year she has had she can now recognize when she is getting stressed. The bad news, of course, is that I am currently the one making her that way.

I take a breath and tell myself that the end of the school year is upon us- why not get started right away? While she has her class party I run to the store and grab some popsicles. I pick her up early; we come home and sit in bed
watching a movie and enjoying our popsicles.

Welcome to summer!
* * * * * * Photo above is courtesy of a Yummy new site I have found called, www.EndlessSimmer.com * * * * * *
I didn't actually make these delicious looking popsicles, but they sound too delicious to pass up... by the way, they are obviously not for sharing in front of the TV with your daughter (unless she is over 21 and recovering from a break up or a bad grade:>)

Watermelon Mojito Popsicles
Makes 12 2.5 oz Popsicles

· 8oz. watermelon juice (2 ½ cups chopped watermelon)
· 2 oz fresh lime juice
· 1 oz. simple mint syrup (recipe follows)
· 8 oz. light rum
· 14 oz. club soda

Instructions:

1. Place chopped watermelon in a food processor or blender and process until watermelon is juiced (will be slightly pulpy).

2. Combine watermelon juice, lime juice, mint syrup and rum in a shaker and shake well. Fill popsicle mold 3/4 of the way up with mixture. Fill remaining (more....)

“Have you seen the movie, The Way?”

Two women near me were comparing movies and this one caught my attention because I had, indeed, seen it. (The rest all sounded like Woody Allen movie titles.) It was a brilliant movie with all of the things I love best, a sense of place, interesting food, amazing dialogue and Martin Sheen. The overhear prompted me to go back and look at the website for it where I was struck by the tagline at the top:

You don’t choose a life, you live one.

This idea of being driven by mission both intrigues and scares me. There is a loss of control inherent in the very idea of not having a choice… and attempting to be at peace with this has frequently eluded me.

Not so for others I know though. Some of the best artists, for example were practically, or actually, driven mad by their passion, whatever their medium- writing, canvas, stage. Passion, I believe, is the other side of mission. It is the living out of mission. The question is, how do we tap into our passion and do we have the courage to embrace it when we find it.

There are many different forms of mission, but one of the most obvious to recognize is the proselytizer. What I am coming to see, though, is that all missions are born of the same inner desire to be who we were born to be… in other words, to live our life rather than attempt to choose it.

One of my barista friends at Starbucks is a wonderful example of this. Raised in a family of missionaries, Justin is now leading his own missions to Prague. Justin, in fact, was born in Germany while his parents were on mission there with Cadence International (which provides Christian ministry for U.S. soldiers and their families stationed around the world).  

Why Prague? For many years the Czech Republic was under communist rule where all organized religions, including Christianity, were persecuted. Now many missions go to rebuild the churches there. Setting up a missionary trip is
not an easy task for anyone, even assuming the support of a local church. But in this case it is even more daunting as Justin is in his early twenties and is drawing on his previous church in Colorado to help him. He has gone on missions with Bethany Evangelical Free Church before, but this will be the first one he has actually organized himself.

Still, 15 of his friends have agreed to go on this mission with him from July 8th to the 24th this year. As I write about this I am struck by the idea that 16 young adults have enough passion to spend part of their summer on a mission. I can’t imagine I would have had the courage to do this at that age.

Passion truly comes in many different forms. I feel grateful that over time I have found my calling, my mission if you will, in my writing. Through this I am no as scared as I used to be when I hear someone talk of their own personal mission. I understand it so much better now than I ever have before.

I wish Justin a ton of success with his own mission. I know it won’t be easy, not the least of which is because each individual on the team must fundraise to earn $2,400 in order to participate. Then again… it may not be the summer they choose, but the summer they live.

(Note: If you would like to donate to their cause or learn more about it you can contact Justin Schroeder at
justins.91@gmail.com)