It was a great Summer. The weather was unusually warm and sunny for the Pacific Northwest. We took advantage of it with frequent family getaways and a couple of vacations.
The last week of the Summer was capped off by a visit from my Texas bro. He loves playing with the kids and they love hanging out with their “Umpie”. He also loves to “point and laugh” at my sometimes frustrating parenting efforts in light of the copious amounts of unsolicited advice he received from me while his kids were growing up. It is clear to both of us that he is well deserving of these moments and I am happy that he now has the opportunity to relish in them.
Summer has always been my favorite time of year and I enjoyed every bit of this one. I have become adept at soaking up every last precious moment of glorious Summer, but I have not always been good at this.
I remember as a young teenager becoming noticeably depressed as the Summer was winding down. Those Summers were exceptional. I had the good fortune of spending my teen Summers on the shore of a wealthy lake in Southern Wisconsin.
My parents weren’t wealthy but many of my neighbors were. My parents had bought a fixer upper with lake rights and they did most of their own fixing up, which allowed us to live in “the high rent district.” We couldn’t afford a ski boat, but I had friends with boats, which allowed me to spend most of my days on the lake. My Summer uniform was a pair of cut-offs and an occasional t-shirt. I spent my Summers skiing, swimming, diving, playing basketball, and meeting girls (or trying to).
But even idyllic Summers come to an end, and I did not take well the prospect of ending carefree days on the lake and going back to school. I remember that I would often begin to get sad at the beginning of August. It wasn’t until I was sixteen that I realized the stupidity of my self-pity. That’s when it occurred to me that I was spending almost one-third of my Summer lamenting the end of my Summer. My sadness over its end was interfering with the enjoyment of almost a month of Summer.
Over the course of my life I have tried to make this lesson apply to all of my days. If I am not careful, I can let the anxiety for tomorrow interfere with the pleasures of today. Jesus taught us to be content and thankful for today and to trust Him for tomorrow. I try to commit myself to this attitude throughout the year but especially at Summer’s End.
patrick geracie 