A Great Summer Idea

With summer around the corner, I realize for many of us our schedules and routines change. School is out, vacations are awaiting, we stay up later because the sun sets later, and there are sports activities to fill our days and nights. Because of the change in routine and calendar changes, Life Groups usually take a break and Children’s Ministry and Student Ministries have more trips than their normal Wednesday activities. It’s easy to believe that summertime is one big vacation time and fall prey to what I call the ‘summer slump.’

But God doesn’t take a vacation. He never slumbers or sleeps. He is always with us. He never takes a break. He never experiences a summer slump.

To combat the summer slump spiritually, I want to share with you an idea my Life Group leader shared with our Life Group before breaking for the summer. If you’re in a Life Group and still meeting, I highly suggest you try this. If you are not in a Life Group, connect with 2-3 friends and try it. You can do it by yourself, but it’s far more effective if you try it with at least one other person.

Everybody needs a piece of paper (8.5 x 11), a pen, and a 3 x 5 note card. On the 8.5 x 11 paper, you write down everybody’s responses to the following question: “How do people grow spiritually?” My Life Group came up with about 20 ways. Here were some of the responses we had:

• Read the Bible
• Memorize Scripture
• Journal your daily thoughts
• Meditate on a passage and look for God’s characteristics
• Take a walk in nature and enjoy creation
• Pray consistently
• Listen to Praise Music
• Serve others

Our leader then directed us to look over the entire list and put a check mark by 3 or 4 of them that you think are the most important to you. Next, take the 3 x 5 note card and on the top of one side, put your name. Now write the 3 or 4 items you checked as a SMART Goal (Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Realistic – Time-sensitive). For example, I wanted to memorize scripture over the summer. Putting that into a SMART Goal would be: Memorize 2 verses a week, starting May 1 through August 31^st, for a total of 34 verses.

You would come up with a SMART Goal for each of the items you checked. On the back side of the card, you would write three personal prayer requests for yourself to see God work in your life over the summer.

Then, exchange your card with another person. Hold them accountable to those things and pray for them over the summer. Try this idea and I believe you will not experience the spiritual summer slump that is so easy to fall prey to.

Blessings,
Pastor Mark "The Bru" Brunott

P.S. What is a Family Hack? Is it a shortcut? No! Is it a trick of some kind? No. By ‘hack’ we mean skill. We’re going to talk about skills needed to ‘do’ family in God’s way. Come at 9:00 or 10:30 AM on Sunday to discover some of these skills.