This is just a blog about my thoughts, my family, my everyday life. Because I am a Christian and have ups and downs like everyone else, I hope it will encourage others to either turn to Christ for the first time, or lean on Him when times are rough. Often life is just random and funny. I started this blog after many years of writing to my church about our vacations. They began to encourage me to blog and finally I am. Thanks for reading.

"Behold, upon the mountains, the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace!" Nahum 1:15

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. John Piper

Monday, May 20, 2013

Intentional Summer



Summers fly.  They always have.  Time takes a vacation - or so it seems - from June to August. If only it were true.  If minutes would drag into days, and the days would drag into weeks, and so on and so on until the ticking of the clock becomes meaningless....just for three months.
The heat drives one into water or AC.  Grills are fired up and fill the air with good smells.
Images of picnics, watermelons, water slides, long sno-cone lines, and lemonade stands with misspelled words....all make me smile inside.  Kids skateboard in streets, shoot hoops in driveways, and fill libraries on hot afternoons.  The neighborhood pools are crowded, as are the beaches.  Summer fun for everyone.
June bugs and fireflies will appear on porches and in bushes.  Mosquitoes will annoy.  Crickets will sing their songs at night.  Stars will not appear until late in the evening and sidewalks will sizzle at midday.
Without abandoning the call of F-R-E-E-D-O-M and spontaneity altogether, take a slightly different road from the ordinary.  Make 2013 a summer of good, intentional, thoughtful planning.  Engage to "conquer" mode.  Make a deliberate list of kind and helpful ways to serve others.
Visit a nursing home.
Visit a grandma...any grandma.
Wash some one's dishes.
Go grocery shopping for someone.
Weed a yard.
Read a book...for yourself or out loud to a child of any age.
Do devotionals at mealtime
Let kids cook dinner.
While there are zoos, museums, ball games, and such to enjoy for a fee, there are just as many other things to take part in that cost nothing at all....except a little effort.
The point I am trying to make is 'don't waste your summer'.  It is screaming to be embraced with reckless abandon.  Take steps to add some random acts of kindness.  It will be a summer worth remembering.

Just recently my family met for a potluck dinner at my mom's.  As we gathered to eat at the table and living room (I think there were 19 of us), I took a survey of favorite John Wayne movies.  Without any hesitiation at all, people were yelling, "McLintock! The Quiet Man! Hondo! Chisolm! North to Alaska! True Grit!"  Hmmm.  I see a movie night in the making, Pilgrim.  Happy Summering!

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