Sometimes it's the little things that matter most: a smile, chatting over coffee, a walk on the beach or in the park, sitting by a fire, telling someone you care….

Here one side of a visual blessing I made for a friend awhile ago, and I think the prayer by Pascal is a good mindset for this season.

copyright Valerie Sjodin 2011

As I drove to drop my daughter off at the light rail train station last week, it seemed people were driving like maniacs, school buses on every other corner and kids dodging here and there with bulging backpacks. It was the last day of school, and I didn't realize it until I drove down the street. How my life has changed in the past two years. As a parent and teacher, the last day of school was something I never forgot. I am in a different season, but it is still a time for finishing well and starting new things.

This week has been spent with family, a beginning of summer. Relationships, Love, beach, sitting in lawn chairs and talking in the back yard, oh and lots of food.

I haven't painted in the past week, but I've drawn a tattoo for my son, and am working on a visual prayer book. I started a prayer book hoping for publication about a year and a half ago and I just can't shake the making of it, so now is the time. I'm even taking the summer off of teaching art workshops to focus on it.

A few months ago I felt led to not plan so much but instead ask God, "Lord, what have you given me grace for today?" On one hand it's been very freeing. On the other it feels a bit like going into the dark without a flashlight, just barely seeing the one step in front of me. I have been such a "to-do" list type person, but I am resisting planning too much and trying to trust God to lead and to live in the present.

Sometimes it's the little things...