.gif)
June…. Summer!
The concept of summer evokes a wide range of thoughts and emotions. For most children and older students, summer means a break from school and homework and more time for fun. But for adults in general and parents in particular, summer often means more challenges: shifts in the workforce, travel plans that go awry, and the need to keep children safe and constructively occupied if/as work schedules make that difficult. And almost everyone of all ages and lifestyles needs to deal with the expectations that summer brings.
To be sure, summer brings wonderful opportunities and great plans. But if we become too attached to those opportunities and plans, it becomes very easy to evaluate the days, weeks, and the season according to how they rate on our scale of expectations. And then if our expectations are not met, it is easy to become disappointed and frustrated. We can miss the joy of unanticipated opportunities to bless and be blessed.
There is no doubt that planning is essential in order to fulfill our responsibilities and use our time well—even for fun! Planning is, however, most fruitful and rewarding if we view our plans not so much as a rubric for success but rather as an outline to be adjusted and filled in as the days, weeks, and months unfold. In the end, it becomes an attitude choice on our part: We can cling to our expectation-driven plans, or we can cultivate an eye of faith that allows us to find deep satisfaction in the Lord’s sovereignty that is more sure than our expectations and plans.
Do not boast about tomorrow,
For you do not know what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. James 4:13-14a
