Hey Church!
I thought I’d take a slightly different approach to this weekend’s prepare-for-worship newsletter by making it more of a prepare-for-summer-break word of encouragement.
For those with school-aged kids still living at home, summer is likely a bit of a slower pace for you and you may find yourself with extra time to spend together as a family. For those without kids at home, the only real change to your routine might be the (somewhat) lighter traffic. In either case, it’s a new season that presents us all with an opportunity to reevaluate how we spend our time and set some new, time-bound goals that will foster spiritual growth in Christ.
For our goal-setting purposes, let’s call “summer” June 1st – August 30th.
How often do you buy a book on Amazon thinking “I can’t wait to dig in!” only to set it on the bookshelf for a later date when you finally catch that elusive fiction you call “extra time?” I have 29 of those on my shelf right now. Seriously. I counted. If you can relate, then ask yourself which of those books calls to you the loudest? If you had to pick only one that you think might be instrumental in this season of your Christian walk, which would it be?
Do any of you parents with young kids struggle to maintain critical structures at home (or are my wife and I the only ones)? Disciplines for their development like daily chores, devotions, memorizing scriptures, or serving others are of utmost importance, and yet they tend to be the first things sacrificed on the altar of school-year busyness. If you could look back on August 30th and see that the summer was used well to build up those structures and accomplish those goals, what might feel different?
Those are just two categories but take time over the weekend to dream up your own! What is the one thing that would be most fruitful, rewarding, and beneficial to the Kingdom for you to achieve this summer? Set a very small daily goal for yourself and stick to it until August 30th. To put that in perspective: if you read ten pages per day this summer you will have completed a 900-page book by the end (or three 300-page books, or five 180-page books, or THE BIBLE, or… you get the idea).
Ten pages per day will be my own, personal goal this summer. I also have a family goal for my boys to memorize the entire New City Catechism through a couple of creative memory aids. I welcome you to be my accountability and ask me how it’s going. (Ha!) But be prepared, it’s only fair that I would then ask you the same question.
Remember, SMALL daily goals. June 1st – August 30th. Ready, set, go!
Your brother,
Ryan