The summers around here seem long to me. I don’t know if it’s because of the heat, or because most Floridians are on “island time.”

Nonetheless, it’s long.

Around August first, after vacation is over and we start to prepare the village for incoming fall students, I find that I’m longing for all the things that come with having students in the village.

The sound of laughter coming from the kitchen.

Because the kitchen is in the center of the village, you can hear that joyous sound wafting through the screened windows from nearly anywhere else in the village. There are days that just don’t go well, but when I step out of the back door of the office and hear that familiar sound, instantly, all is set right again.

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I miss moments from late fall, too. Groups of people huddling around the stove to keep warm. Everyone wearing plaid flannel and maybe a beanie, too. And, of course, there is always that one person who has on an oversized scarf.

Ok, ok. I admit, that person is usually me.

In the summer, I miss campfires and the sound of the guitar. Mugs of hot tea, coffee, and cocoa.

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In the summer months, I miss movement. Students bring such life and fluid motion to the village. Commotion may be a better way phrase it. There is an excitement of the new and unknown. The thrill of learning something new and putting it into practice almost immediately.

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I miss the communal meals. Taking time out three times a day to just be together and share in a meal with the students. After lunch, someone from the village shares a devotion to help us refocus our thoughts, energy and actions back to the place they belong, back on Christ.

Summers are long and during those long, hot days I miss so many things.

But now the fall term is in full swing and all seems right with the world again!

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Post by Faith Gallian