Summer Plans

As the school year winds down, my mind is in full-tilt preparation mode. With anticipation, I’m already thinking about the long, hot days before us.

Summer. A blank canvas of time before we “have to” again.

For our family, summer is white space. Summer is “get to“. Summer is purposely un-scheduled and gloriously un-filled.

As some of you read those words, your eye started doing that crazy twitching-thing. Your shoulders tensed up. You might be sweating. Un-scheduled time? Un-filled days? I know. Breath.

This is what works for my people. We need this blank space to come together and find each other again. During the school year, our family is often going in 5 different directions. As much as we try to maintain some margin throughout the school year, schedules drive our days. During the uncluttered days of summer, however, it’s important for my kids to have the time and space necessary to find and appreciate each other again.

Please don’t try to glamorize what this looks like. Every day is not “Kumbaya” around the campfire. We have our fair share of, “We’re bored.” “MOM! So-and-so won’t let me play with them.” But as we learn to sift through our long summer days together, we arrive at the end of August better for it.

Just because I don’t like to over-schedule us doesn’t mean I don’t prepare. While I don’t master-plan our schedule, I do like to prepare in these two ways ….

#1: INTENTIONAL SHARPENING

Several years ago, we came up with a fun(ish) way to keep the kid’s minds sharp over the summer. Every year my kids ask if we can do it again.

It’s called the STAY SMART CHART, and it looks like this.

Obviously, you can fancy up your chart and make it cute, but a plain white grid has worked just fine for us. You can read more about what this is and how it works by clicking here.

#2: INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP

I firmly believe that discipleship starts at home. We can’t pass the buck on this one. It’s not the local church’s responsibility to nurture the faith of our people. It’s ours.

Again, I can see that the eye-twitching is back. Hear me out!

Don’t make this more difficult than it really is. As parents, we don’t have to know all the answers. We don’t have to have it all figured out. We simply engage our children in an active pursuit of knowing and loving Jesus. 

This can be done in a million different ways, but here are two ideas that might work for you:

Idea #1: Make your own family “Bible Book”

This is a fun and simple way to read through the Bible with your kids. The best part?!?! No prior experience, knowledge or preparation is required on our part. You can read more about this by clicking here.

Idea #2: “Join us” for a Summer Youth Bible Study

This summer, I’m going to be leading my girlies and their friends through our own Bible study, and we’d love for you to “join us”.

We will be meeting every other week through the summer (6 total gatherings) to open our Bibles in order to learn, understand and apply the truth of God’s Word to our lives. My aim is to keep it simple, relevant and applicable.

All you have to do is gather your people and follow along (online). This can be just for you and your tribe – or you and your neighbors – or throw yourself out there and challenge your kids to invite their school friends.

Every other week, starting in June, I will post a lesson for you to take to your group. (Psst! This is an invitation to copy. Because copying is the best.) Each time we meet, we will be focusing on only one scripture. (I told you I was keeping in simple!) But in doing this, the kids will:

• Learn how and why it’s important to memorize scripture.
• Use The SOAP Approach for better understanding of the verse.
• Engage in hands-on, practical application.

I promise to explain and lead you through each and every step to make this easy for you. To follow along, simply fill out your name and email under “Subscribe” in the right toolbar of this blog post. After you confirm your subscription, these blog post will magically appear in your inbox. {**You can also unsubscribe at any time.}

That’s my plan. Intentional Sharpening and Intentional Discipleship.

What are your plans this summer?

Want to join us?