Here in the Okanagan (where I live) the weather has been beautiful for almost a month. Summer is a long season (not complaining), and my family and I have spent more time at the beach eating supper around a picnic table than in our own home at our usual spots around the dining room table. We’re lovin’ every minute.
While doing laundry yesterday, I threw a load of clothes into the washing machine all to be met with a major thud as the clothes hit the bottom. “What was that?” I thought. I picked out each piece of clothes in hopes of finding the source, and sure enough, there at the bottom of the machine was a giant mess of rocks, sticks and sand. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh yes,” I said out loud to no one, “summer has officially begun.”
Summertime means all bath water will turn a gross browny-grey color as it cleans up mud prints and clears out grits of sand.
Summertime means the bonfire smell will become the new bathroom mist as shower time is used to lather and rinse out smoky aroma from heads of hair.
Summertime means there will be a few crispy (and itchy) patches of sunburn, because oops, an itsy-bitsy spot was missed.
Summertime means there will be two days of painful REdedication and the REintroducing of your toes to the good ol’ callous of the flip-flop thong.
We play hard in summer.
We live big.
We live free.
We live loud.
We laugh.
We smile.
We bask in community.
We soak up the sun.
We get messy.
We get dirty.
And we don’t care.
Why?
Because that’s what summer is all about.
I can’t help but think how summer is such a reflection of our Christian walks.
When we stand before Christ on that day of judgment we should never expect to hear, “Well done! You look clean. You look fresh. You arrive unscathed.” I’m predicting – if we’re living the way Christ calls us to live – we should show up to those pearly gates panting, sweating, muddy, gritty, burnt, exhausted and beaming with pride because we know we played hard.
We lived big.
We lived free.
We lived loud.
We laughed.
We smiled.
We basked in community.
We soaked up the “Son”.
We got messy.
We got dirty
And we didn’t care.
Why?
Because that’s what our Christian walks are all about.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
