With the warmer weather and longer days of summer upon us, it's a great time to juice up your program and add a few new healthier habits to your daily routine. I guess it's never a bad time to walk the walk. Here are a few things I'm doing this summer - maybe they'll inspire you to come up with some good ideas of your own.

• I've been getting up a half hour earlier and do a few simple yoga stretches. I got a great yoga app for my iPad to bring on vacation with me. I also got some good info by searching "yoga poses" on the web.  
• I've been starting my day with fresh fruit for breakfast instead of heavier breakfast foods. Fruit is so plentiful and sweet this time of year. Instead of just eating a plain banana or peach, I prepare a colorful and appetizing fruit salad to keep in my fridge. Sometimes I add a dollop of greek yogurt and a few sliced almonds (in a parfait glass if I want to be fancy) or sometimes I put some in the blender with ice to make a delicious fruit smoothie.  
• I've added a spiritual book to my vacation reading list. (Usually I am keen on mystery novels in the summer...) I'm reading The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis this summer, which is very good. I also highly recommend Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the 12 Steps by Richard Rohr (which I read this spring and have been recommending to EVERYONE ever since.)

Summer is also a good time to try a new spiritual practice. Change up your daily prayer routine, or begin purchasing food to donate to the food pantry every week. The weekly morning meditations continue through the summer every Wednesday at 7 in the Grace Chapel. All you have to do for that one is show up on Wednesdays and relax for 25 minutes!  

Another suggestion I've made to people this summer - and a practice I'm working on myself - is to look for a "God Sighting" every day - a moment when you notice that God is near, or is at work in the world. Maybe it's something as simple as seeing the joyful abandon of a child. Or maybe it's something as dramatic as having a prayer answered in a powerful way. Maybe it's in the beauty of nature or of a piece of art. Whatever it is that reminds you that God is at work, that's a God Sighting. As you go to bed each night, look back over your day and see if you can notice and describe a God sighting each and every day. It's a simple spiritual practice, but one that will definitely keep you more in touch with your higher power.

I'll look forward to seeing you coming and going to your meetings all summer, and wish you many blessings for a restful and nourishing summer.