I love this time of year. Anticipation of summer has always given me an internal high of sorts. I love to wake up in the morning and see the bright sun making it's way up and through my window. I love all of the options for fun available for children on nice, summer days (I confess, I also like it for me, too...). I love baseball, and baseball is best played on beautiful summer days. I love grilling out with friends, and we usually go through 4 propane tanks a year (I just refilled one yesterday).
I look forward to gathering with all of you in a number of ways during the summer months. I hope you are already planning to get involved in the community in a variety of ways. Youth baseball and softball leagues, neighborhood block parties, pool parties, casual invites of friends to your home for a cookout, etc, and etc. Summer gives us an opportunity to meet new people and make new friendships, to rekindle old ones, and to draw near to family. As a church (as the collective group of people) it is often difficult to see what God is doing in the summer months because it is easy to get all scattered out in many different ways. Churches who measure their success by the numbers they have in attendance on Sundays or at group gatherings and services often become frustrated during the summer months. But what I love about the summer is the fact that we engage ourselves in about 10 times as many conversations than we do during the other months of the year. Summer lends itself to conversation. And conversation is foundation for relationship, and ultimately... evangelism.
Think of it like a garden. If you have a garden, and you want to see good fruit harvested from it there are some important things you must first do. You have to till, or plow the garden. You have to plant seeds, water the seeds, pluck out the weeds, make sure the seeds are in a place where they can receive sunlight, water some more, etc. You must pay careful attention to the garden, and then... after time... you will begin to see a stem pop through the soil, the beginning stages of good fruit and the results of your labor.
God has a garden... and summertime is a great time to plow it and plant new seeds. Every conversation you have with someone this summer where Jesus is present is like turning the plow in God's garden. If we are all out there working, plowing, throwing seeds, enjoying these summer months of preparation... sure the garden may not look like much during this stage... but eventually, after time and patience, we will begin to see the fruit of summertime.
My advice to you during these summer months... SLOW DOWN. Sure, we all love to plan vacations and get involved in lots of new things... and that's okay. In fact, I have planned a number of things for my family this summer, along with coaching baseball, etc. But in those things, take time to breathe. Pause and ask what God is doing. Smell the refreshing breeze He gives you. Thank Him for the beauty all around you. Thank Him for the opportunity you have to live in His kingdom, and work for Him. Recognize the truth of the matter... that God allows you to be involved in the things you love and enjoy, and IN THOSE THINGS He helps you work according to His purpose in this world. So, go to your kids' and grandkids' ballgames... take the entire house church with you. Bring a huge cheering section, and let them all have conversations with the parents from your team. Take the weekend off to get away with your family. Open up to each other, and allow God to take your relationship with one another to a deeper level. Spend and extra few dollars and buy enough hamburger and hot dogs for the whole neighborhood. Invite them over, and allow God to show you the great reward of your small sacrifice.
Dive into summer with joy and anticipation! Be faithful, with your hands on the plow... and when September comes we will see a tremendous harvest. But who's looking at September now? Let's enjoy today first.
We have since decided to turn our Chicago trip into a mini-vacation to St. Louis and visit friends, then drive up to Chicago for the game. The kids are very excited about this. Brock will begin playing T-ball in June, and I will be coaching his team. I will also be helping coach the Meigs American Legion team as often as it does not conflict with family and church. I am very excited about the ideas we have for summer church gatherings and events.
I will be speaking about church planting at four Christ In Youth Summer Conferences in June and July... Tennessee 2 & 6, South Carolina, and Indiana. In August we will cap off our summer with a family vacation to a beach house in North Carolina (shared by several members of my family).
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