School is coming to an end. Travel plans are being put in place. Finding creative ways to cool off over the summer are being established. Those opportunities are great but how do we not just fill our summer with “busyness?”
How can we stay connected to a pattern of studying God’s Word? How do we not lose track of those friendships that are just starting to blossom? How can we find creative ways to serve others instead of only looking after our own interests?
- Patterns Over Perfection: Avoid the trap of all or nothing. Sometimes we tell ourselves, “If I can’t do this or that 100% then I won’t do it all.” Isn’t that funny? Instead use the transition of summer to engage the Lord in a different way. Perhaps you can read God’s Word more casually to take in larger chunks? Perhaps you can take a verse a week to think about and consider? Maybe start a group text with some of those friends? We use the summer to open our house to friends. Invite people over for a campfire. Reconnect with those neighbors on those evening walks. The key is to layer in some patterns with the Lord over the summer.
- Church Family: Our church family will host summer groups over the summer. Those are great ways to connect with people we might not see throughout the semester. Sunday Worship is always a great way to help us stay connected. We can even look for people we haven’t seen and schedule a meet up during the week. Sunday morning is always a great opportunity to walk into a room and think, “There you are!” Instead of walking in the room and saying, “Here I am!”
- Soft Hearts: Doesn’t it seem like it is so easy for our hearts to get hardened? Or jaded by disappointments in ourselves or others? Oh, how much I pray for a soft heart in my old age. It seems so easy for the hardness of life to lead us to a place where we just become grumpy old people doesn’t it? I love when I see people who are older than me and still walk through life with joy in their hearts, therefore, I am constantly praying to the Lord, “Help me to forgive. Help me to be generous. Help me to be gracious. Help me to smile. Help me to ask others about themselves. Help me to receive His grace. Help me to sacrifice my comforts.” The summer is a great time to tend to our hearts.
- Perseverance: The summer is an easy time to lock ourselves in our house and never leave! I was just in Guatemala for a few days and they don’t use AC in their houses. Isn’t that wild? The temperatures might not get as high as they do here but their humidity is off the charts so while you are there you just sweat. When you are home you sweat. When you go to worship you sweat. The church I was visiting met in a warehouse with no AC. The assumption is that it’s going to be hot and you are going to sweat. There is some good application in that mindset for us and our summers. It might be the heat. It might be difficult in life but when our assumption is that we are going to sweat, literally or metaphorically, it has a huge impact on our perseverance.
Overall, when it comes to the summer, make a plan. It doesn’t have to be an amazing, minute-by-minute plan. But it can be a plan to engage the Lord in a different way, connect with friends we don’t often see, serve people in a different capacity, so that we might live out of faith of loving the Lord and loving others; even if it is really, really, really hot.
North Village Church
This article was written by Pastor Michael Dennis, Lead Pastor at North Village Church; a non-denominational church in Austin, TX, established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
Check out our North Village Church calendar highlights.
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