What Are Your Summer Plans?

‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.’
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

I recently received a copy of a report from a local outreach agency. In it the coordinator (who had just joined their team one year ago) wrote about all that had happened during the last 12 months. She said she’d endured a lot of mishaps, restructuring, learning, laughing and growing – but through it all she felt her job had truly been a gift from God. Now she was giving serious thought to what she had done with this gift. What an awesome question to pose to ourselves. We’ve all been given special gifts; but how many of us ignore them and let them go to waste?
The month of June is almost upon us. For some that means the current school year is winding down, graduation details are in the works, and vacations are in the early planning stages. For many it means that our schedules, as we know them, may be changing. For my house it will involve 3 weeks of driver’s training for our teenage daughter and lots of walking for me as I continue to train for a 60 mile adventure. For someone else it might involve some quality gardening, extra visits with extended family or time devoted to a special project. During the fall, winter and spring many of us find ourselves caught up in our hectic schedules, often putting lots of demands and responsibilities on ourselves. Someone once told me that it is o.k. to say ‘No’ once in a while, but I admit that’s one I still find myself struggling with. Every year I find myself saying ‘Just as soon as summer comes and things slow down a bit, I’ll find some time to do ________’ (you can fill in the blank with whatever you’ve been putting off). The point is that we all have gifts and talents that we should be tapping in to, not just for what we’ll get out of it, but because of what it could potentially do for someone else.
Everything God does starts with a seed. The Bible tells us that He gives seed to the sower. If you are person with a gift or passion and have a desire to bless others and sow the seed, God will make sure that you have plenty to give. You’ll never be able to out give God. The Bible says He will pour out blessings on you that you can barely contain. God wants to do His work on this earth through you. He has equipped each one of us with the tools we need to help others and perhaps even be their miracle. Each day opportunities present themselves for us to show God’s love and compassion to others. We have the time, the abilities, and the heart to meet the needs of others, helping to bring (spiritual) healing and offering hope and encouragement. I think summer is a perfect opportunity to make the time (or take the time).
Whatever you choose to do during these summer months, keep God at the heart of it and every decision you make because God must have first place in our lives. Trust me, summer is a great time to take a well-deserved break; but just because it’s summer doesn’t mean that we should skip out on God or doing things for others. Take the break you need this summer, but while you’re at it think about what you can do with your special gift.