Midsummer Catch-Up

Midsummer?! Holy cow, how did that happen?

The past six weeks have been some of the busiest of my life. The other day I heard the Gershwin tune "Summertime" and had to chuckle. . .

Summertime
And the livin' is easy. . .

Not this summer!

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen a little of what I've been up to, but even my posting on Instagram has been sparse for the past several weeks. Here's a look at what I've been up to lately.

Memorial Day weekend: Visited my son, Lieutenant JG William Parham, USN. Will is still in training to be a jet fighter pilot. He's currently stationed in Meridian, Mississippi, and I got to go with him into the hangar.

Then my husband and I traveled to Washington, D.C., where we attended the annual gala fundraiser for the Hillwood Museum. Hillwood is the beautiful home of Marjorie Merriwether Post. Jack took this photo of me on the stairs.

Next stop: George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, where I got to take part in a pastors'  conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the publication of Celebration of Discipline. I didn't take any photos, but a friend snapped this one of me teaching a workshop on the discipline of confession.

Funny how my left hand is a blur--apparently I use my hands a lot when I talk!

I got home just in time to celebrate my middle son Preston's 25th birthday. Jack and I gave him boots and waders for fly fishing. Look! He's a giant in those things!

The next week I headed to Colorado Springs for the annual Renovaré Ministry Team retreat. Serving on this team is one of the greatest privileges of my life. These people are some of my dearest friends, and we only get together as a whole group once a year, so our time there is precious. Here are a few snapshots.

James Bryan Smith, George Skramstad, and me:

Nathan Foster and me:

Carolyn Arends and me:

Marti Ensign, caught in the middle of telling a wonderful story:

Gayle Withnell and me:

Immediately after the Ministry Team retreat we had a Renovaré Board meeting (I serve as Vice-Chair of that board). Here's Richard Foster on the last day of our board meeting, which happened to be my 33rd wedding anniversary. He'd written an anniversary message to me on the whiteboard. 

After I got home from Colorado, Jack and I headed to our little place in the Blue Ridge mountains. We were thrilled when his sister's family joined us there for a couple of days. I snapped this photo of my beautiful sister-in-law and niece.  

With all that traveling, it's been hard to catch my breath. But most days, you can find me looking like this:

The manuscript of my book, Mythical Me: Escaping the Trap of Comparison, is due to InterVarsity Press on August 1, so I'm constantly sitting at my computer these days, surrounded by books and papers. I'd so appreciate your prayers as I finish up this manuscript—I'll be so happy to turn this over to the expert editors at IVP. (You can read more about my book here—I really do covet your prayers!)

Whew--just reading about the past few weeks makes me tired. But I'm so grateful for all these opportunities. Now, tell me--what have you been up to? I'd love to hear!