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EP.41: A Summer of Purpose – How to Slow Down & Actually Enjoy Your Life

What if this summer didn’t rush by in a blur of overbooked calendars and constant motion?

In this episode, Bobbi offers a gentle, grounded invitation to approach the coming months with purpose—not pressure. If you’re tired of ending every summer feeling like you didn’t actually rest, this is your reminder that you get to do things differently this year.

With practical reflection questions and a fresh perspective on how to build intention into your summer rhythm, this short episode is the perfect pause in the middle of the May madness.

Your summer doesn’t need to be full to be meaningful.
It just needs to be yours—on purpose.

INTRODUCTION

Hi everyone. Welcome back to The Be Still With Bobbi podcast.

If your calendar has felt out of control lately… if you’re bouncing between end-of-year concerts and sports banquets, if your kitchen counter is overflowing with teacher gifts, permission slips, and field day snacks—this one’s for you.

We’re in the thick of it right now. May is chaos in a cardigan. And even though it comes around every single year, it somehow still sneaks up on us.

Even as a homeschool mom—I feel it. The extra driving, the rehearsals, the last-minute play costumes, the schedule juggling. There are nights I feel like I’ve put 5,000 miles on my car and don’t remember how I got from one thing to the next.

But here’s the thing I want to talk about today:

What happens when the doors finally close on all of this activity?

What happens when the school year ends, the baseball fields are quiet, the concerts wrap up, and the backpacks get shoved into closets?

We get to exhale.

Or… do we?

Because here’s what I’ve noticed:

A lot of us carry the May madness straight into the summer.

We fill the calendar with travel plans, camps, playdates, weekend getaways, and endless activities. We swap one kind of chaos for another. And before we know it, we’re sitting at the edge of August wondering what just happened.

We never actually rested. We never actually felt the joy. We just kept going.

So today, I want to push pause and ask the question:

What if we did this summer differently?

What if we approached the next few months not as something to “fill” but as something to savor?

What if, instead of squeezing every ounce of fun out of the season, we chose purpose?

Part 1: Why We Struggle to Slow Down

Let’s just be honest with ourselves for a second.

Most of us don’t actually know how to rest. We struggle to slow down.

We’re good at producing. At planning. At making things “meaningful” with decorations and itineraries, and Pinterest-inspired fun.

But unstructured time? That can feel a little… scary.

It can feel like we’re wasting time.
Like we’re missing out.
Like we’re doing it wrong.

But what if that’s the exact opposite of what’s true?

What if unstructured time is actually the invitation we’ve been craving?

The space where we finally get to hear our own thoughts again. The space where our kids get to be bored enough to remember how to be creative. The space where God’s whispers can finally reach us, because the noise has died down.

Part 2: Choosing a Word (and a Vision) for the Summer

So here’s a thought.

What if you chose a word for your summer?

Not a to-do list. Not a bucket list. Just one simple word.

A word to guide you.
To ground you.
To help you reframe what this season could actually look like.

Maybe your word is:

  • Rest – and you build in true downtime, even if it means saying no to fun things.
  • Connection – and you focus on long dinners, quiet mornings, and unplugged time with your people.
  • Healing – and you use this slower pace to tend to the places in your life that feel untended.
  • Presence – and you decide that this summer isn’t about doing more, it’s about being more present.

Choosing a word gives you a lens. A filter to measure opportunities and commitments against.

Instead of, “Does this fit on the calendar?”
Ask, “Does this align with the kind of summer I actually want?”

Part 3: The Slow Drip of Dissatisfaction

We talk a lot on this podcast about the slow drip of dissatisfaction—that quiet voice that says, “This isn’t it. Something’s off. I want more peace. I want more joy. I want to feel like myself again.”

Summer is when that voice is easiest to ignore… because busyness can look like fun.

Trips. Barbecues. Beach days. It all looks like joy.

But if you’re not intentional, you’ll get to the end of August and realize you never actually felt it. You were there—but not really there.

So what if this year, you let that quiet voice speak before the summer begins?

What if you asked:

  • What do I really want to feel this summer?
  • What do I want to remember when I look back?
  • What’s been missing from my days lately… and how can I make room for it?

This isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing less—on purpose.

Part 4: Journaling Prompts for a Summer of Intention

If you’re not sure where to begin, here are a few journaling prompts to carry with you this week:

  • What do I want this summer to feel like—for me and for my family?
  • What rhythms have been missing from my life that I want to restore?
  • Where did I feel overextended last summer, and what would I like to do differently this year?
  • What is one way I can build rest, presence, or joy into my weekly rhythm?
  • If I chose a word for my summer, what would it be—and why?

Take a few minutes in the quiet, before the season begins, to really sit with these questions. You don’t need a plan. You just need awareness. And a willingness to slow down long enough to notice what you actually want.

Closing Words

Friend, the world will always offer you noise and distraction.

But you don’t have to say yes to it.

You get to choose a different pace. A different path. A different kind of summer if you want to.

So before the chaos of fall creeps back in… let yourself rest. Let yourself breathe. Let yourself be.

And if you need a little help doing that, you know where to find me. Inside The Be Still Collective, we are talking about how to walk through this season differently—on purpose, with God, and with each other.

Thanks for being here today. And I hope this episode gives you permission to create a summer you’ll actually remember.

Until next time… take a deep breath. You don’t have to fill every moment. You just have to be in it.

Bye for now.

Join The Be Still Collective Here: https://bestillwithbobbi.com/community

New to Journaling? Get My Quick Start Reference Guide of Journaling Prompts Here: https://bestillwithbobbi.com/Guide