Summer Vacation!

Wow!  I can’t believe that summer vacation is here already!  (at least for most schools in our county.  A few holdouts will let off for the summer later this week)  It seems to me that it was just Christmas.  Where did all the time go?  Well, who cares!  I’m a summer type kind of guy and love the warm days, the full foliage that arrests your eyes everywhere you look, and that I can wear my shorts without people looking at me a little strange (as I tend to wear them in every season…) – the big difference that at least my legs will now be tan and not milk-white as they tend to be in the winter!  (okay… I know – too much information!) 

I guess you also have to understand that here in northern California the weather is a lot milder throughout the year than in other areas around the country.  Although I had to laugh when we lived for a few years in Oklahoma when an occasional customer would come into the store in the middle of their cold winters wearing shorts!  I recall last January when I dropped off my timecard at the office for my homecare hours and the receptionist stopped what she was doing and commented about my shorts saying, “Well, aren’t you the California boy wearing shorts in the winter!” 

As my wife, pooch and I walked around our housing park-like community yesterday, in the wonderful 85 degree temperatures, I noticed that many folks were out walking.  The basketball court near our section of the neighborhood was filled with young men and women playing ball, and the two pools were filled with laughing kids and adults enjoying the sun as they caught some rays while they basked in the warmth of the day.   Summertime just brings people out! 

Even the four ducks around the lake were more active than normal.  In fact, the large white goose decided that he (or she?) was going to let our dog know who the boss was and she chased Mandie and squawked at her!  The funny part was that the dog totally ignored the goose who finally gave up the chase and waddled away!

It would seem that summertime causes us to want to do new and different things.  It not only brings us outdoors, but I believe it brings out things in us that have been dormant over the chilly fall and winter months.  From what I have observed, the change in the weather also tends to make us more outgoing!  Everybody we passed as we walked this weekend said “hello” and chatted to us as our paths crossed.  That has not always been the case at other times of the year.

This is a great time for you to go out and do something special for yourself, your family and loved ones and for God!   So, go ahead and step out and do something different this summer!  Be bold!  Be strong and step out beyond your normal self!  Seek the Lord in prayer and see what He would have you do.  Then drop me a comment and let me know what different activities you’re doing this summer!

Remember, II Timothy 4:8 declares that “we trust, (have our confidence in and/or have placed our expectations) in the LIVING God…” (NKJV)  He is a God whose mercies, love and compassion are new every morning.  He is the one who gives life and life abundantly!  He is a progressive God who loves life and empowers us to do the same every day!  Have a great day, and a great summer vacation!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”