How to Practice Summer Soul Care

Are we practicing soul care?

Because it seems as though many of us are intentional to care for our body—our overall health and physical wellness.

But sometimes caring for our soul falls off the radar.

As mentioned in 10 of My Favorite Things About Summer, one of my favorite things about summer is the slower pace.

For most of us summer brings a more leisure and unhurried rhythm of life. Kids are out of school. We plan time off work to travel and go on vacation.

And we often gather with friends and family fostering intentional connection and recreation. 

But in this slower pace and rhythm, the Lord also desires to teach us how to care for our soul. So here are some ideas for S-U-M-M-E-R soul care.

S – Satisfy our soul with what only God provides.

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” (Psalm 107:9, ESV)

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” (Jeremiah 31:25, ESV)

Like we long to vacation at the beach, hope to relax at a tropical resort, or desire to fill our summer with joyful activities, our soul longs for good things as well. The Lord wants us to slow down long enough to spend time in His presence. And ask God to satisfy, fill, and replenish our soul with His goodness.

The Lord wants us to slow down long enough to spend time in His presence. Ask God to satisfy, fill, and replenish our soul with His goodness. #soul #care Share on X

U – Understand the role Scripture plays in our soul’s wellness. 

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I Love Jesus: Staying in Love with Him

I love Jesus. 

Love. A small and seemingly simple word. But it holds more power than we realize. 

I’m not an expert on the subject of love.

Instead, I held misconceptions about love as a child and young woman. And hang-ups about love formed from emotionally expensive experiences. 

You see, my father abandoned me for a time, and I never remember the phrase “I love you!” by either of my parents until later in life. 

I was grown with my own children the first time my father uttered the words I love you. The conversation’s forever etched in my memory.

Still, as much as I wanted to hear my dad tell me he loved me, I needed to believe it. And I longed for the reassurance he meant it.

You know what? The same holds true today. My husband can never tell me or show me he loves me too many times. 

Because a continual and intentional assurance of love takes any relationship to a higher and deeper level. Pure and whole-hearted love, in the most powerful form, is a show-and-tell affection.

Pure and whole-hearted love, in the most powerful form, is a show-and-tell affection. #reallove #jesusblogger Share on X

I Love Jesus 

Likewise, the words I love You, Jesus! rise in my heart and roll off my tongue more often these days. Why?

Maybe I’m tired of surface substitutes for real love. Perhaps I’ve grown weary of this: what God made true about love, people made fake. And I believe Christ is teaching me about an authentic and lasting love.

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Jump: A Spiritual Lesson From the High Dive

My bare feet made their way up the ladder, mortified to back out now. A jump from the high-diving board. 

Could I pull it off with a secret fear of heights?

A public embarrassment to turn around and go the same way I had arrived—down the ladder and past the people waiting in line.

And I just knew as pool-siders gawked behind sunglasses, What a scaredy-cat! would also cross their minds.

My twin sister and I hung out at the local pool several days a week every summer. This adventure happened in sixth or seventh grade.

Yes, younger kids jump off high dives. You see, I mustered up enough courage to make jumps, oodles of them, off the low dive. Because it was low.

Yet, even for this high-dive feat, I wasn’t planning a crowd-pleasing, eyebrow-raising dive or backwards flip. Never a good diver, I kind of fell into the water from the sidelines, my arms in position to lead the way. 

My dives lacked perfect form and a straight body—bent legs always gave me away. Not olympic material (judges score cards read 3.0), you probably wonder why all the fretting, sweating, and heart skipping to jump? That’s all…jump.

Still, friends coaxed us, the Clarkston twins, into executing this jump. Since we needed to protect our good name as part of the hip crowd, we accepted the challenge. 

Execute the Jump

But at the bottom of the high-dive ladder, a going first tug-of-war ensued. “You go first.” “No, you go first.” Then, I reluctantly agreed to jump first. 

As I walked the board, I encouraged myself with a pep talk. For goodness sake, Karen, get a grip on yourself. Just jump off the end of this long board into nice, soft, sparkling water. You can do this. Stay straight and vertical. Oh, and guard against busting the water on entry, busts hurt like crazy! No pressure.

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Freedom: A Day of Deliverance

In America, we are remembering and celebrating liberty as a country. Also, I desire to always celebrate my spiritual freedom in Jesus Christ.

So when I read a letter John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, about Independence Day in 1776, I found this interesting.

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” (Wikipedia)

Like Adams, many of our founding fathers looked to God for “the day of deliverance.” And like others, I looked to God for my day of deliverance.

Jesus’ blood on Calvary’s cross set me free.

At sixteen-years-old, the Lord delivered me from sin and spiritual death, giving me eternal life—something worth remembering and celebrating.

Jesus' blood on Calvary's cross set us free. God delivered us from sin and spiritual death, giving us eternal life—something worth remembering and celebrating. #JesusChrist #freedom Share on X

America’s founding fathers commemorated freedom as the day of deliverance: Independence Day. Our heavenly Father commemorated spiritual freedom as the day of deliverance: Resurrection Day.

Therefore, here’s a list of 20 Scriptures to help us remember and celebrate.

Freedom in Jesus Christ

(1.)  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind.” (Isaiah 61:1, TLB)

(2.)  “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, ESV)

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