August 14, 2026

Dear church,

It’s August. For many of us, it is the month where we straddle savoring (or surviving!) the remaining days of summer and preparing for what is next. At campfire church this week, I asked the kiddos how they were feeling about returning to school soon. Most of them gave me a thumbs down. Then I asked the parents, and most of them gave me a thumbs up. Some of them a double thumbs up. The return to structure has its gifts, even as it also comes with some dread.

As we live in this in-between of August, I wanted to share a blessing that I read this week by Kate Bowler. It struck me as timely and poignant, an invitation to live in the day we’re in, rather than the day we’re bracing for.

Whatever August holds for you, I pray for pauses, popsicles, and patience.

Pastor Sarah

A Blessing for the Life You're Bracing For
By Kate Bowler

Bless you who still have popsicles to drip,
tomatoes to slice, books to leave facedown for just a minute longer,
and evenings that don’t yet know they are numbered.

May you resist the annual migration
toward freshly sharpened pencils, color-coded calendars,
and the familiar lie that next month deserves more of your attention
than the one still sitting in front of you.

Bless you who linger over one more meal outside,
one more chorus of cicadas, one more porch sit,
trusting that ordinary rituals are already a life well lived.

May you savor what remains
before you begin rehearsing what comes next,
because August has always been generous
with those willing to stay exactly where they are
for just a little while longer.

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