There is a new rhythm to our life at Menucha. Besides moving to a different location that is a different way of life, and besides the fact that for the first time in our relationship both Ana and I have full time jobs and besides the fact we have a busy active toddler, summer is the busy season when running a retreat and conference center!

This will be an adjustment. My entire life has been that summer is the lazy days of summer. The church tends to take more of a restful season during summer. Our school year is out for the summertime. Summer is about long dinners to outlast the sun, splashing around in pools and relaxing with a good summer read. In Europe, people take their months of usually during the summer. You can expect to get nothing done with anyone in August in Berlin. Everyone is gone!

But it isn’t true for the Conference and Retreat life. This is when most of our groups arrive for the summertime adventures and rhythms of summertime. The pool is open, the kitchen is in full swing, all the chairs and picnic set ups are out. The terrace is a coveted place. The grounds are looking lush and amazing. The baby bunnies are hopping around and the fruit is starting to weigh down the orchard trees. The viewpoint benches are full most of the time of people taking in our amazing views. The outdoor fireplaces are ready for people to sit around them and my kiddo is eating blackberries and running in the meadow in front of our house every day…with much encouragement from pups and his two mamas alike!

It is a magical time out here and it is a busy busy time for me! I find myself starting to yearn for the fall in which there are still many groups and our weekends are packed here but the pace starts to slow during the week or so I am told. I can only dream of the quiet days of winter and the things I can work on then and slow down with.

At the same time, the rhythm of life here is refreshing because even though it is our busy season and I am still drinking from a fire house a month and a half into the job, there is still time for our little family to go for a long walk yesterday to take in the views, hike through some forested places and show Ana a new spot I found this week on the grounds. Because nature and community are so reinforced here as our mission around enriching lives, it means that we as onsite staff, live into that space as well and that is so lovely. Ana and I constantly feel lucky that we are here.

This has been an overwhelming week for me. And yet, my pulse yesterday slowed as I suggested a walk with Ana and Tadej and we spent real time making space for even the slowness of what summer has been for us. That time is still valued and we are building it all into our rhythm as we find new rhythms. It will take some time for things to shift in my brain and recognize summer as buzzing and winter as hibernation and slowness. It does seem more natural that way in some ways. Nature does it. I am looking forward to this new way of life.