By Ashlie Miller
I remember the excitement of sharing school yearbooks at the end of the school year. More often than not, someone would write, “Have a great summer! See you next year!” We were at the mercy of our working parents’ schedules, so we often wouldn’t see many of those friends until the next school year. But, when we did get to connect over the summer, what a great joy that was!
One does not have to be a student or a teacher (homeschool or brick-and-mortar) to relish summertime. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the summer season offers a nice break in routines. There is a season for everything, as Ecclesiastes states. Summer is a wonderful time of year to have friends and neighbors over. The idea of sharing a summer meal together with outdoor entertainment – whether it be the pool, corn hole, frisbee, or a late-night outdoor movie on the sheet spread across a couple of trees – is too good to pass up.
My husband and I have delighted in opening our home each week this summer to members/regular attendees of our church-plant congregation. We usually invite a couple of households to come share a meal, sit around the table, let the kids run all over the yard and cul-de-sac, and share our life stories along with our hopes and dreams. We ask questions like: tell us about your journey to Jesus, what special gifts has God given you to build His Kingdom, what are you excited about being able to do for others as you share the hope we have? The answers have been riveting at times. As one older gentleman shared a gripping testimony of repentance and forgiveness, my youngest son (7) proclaimed quietly to me as he grabbed a seat on the bench beside me, “Oh, I’m here for this!”
It reminds me of sitting around summer campfires with other families in my youth, listening to them not only share the hilarity of stories we had all heard before, but also conveying the goodness of our great God in their lives as they recounted special church services or making it through difficult times together.
Summer is also a time to have cousins over for special adventures. Laughing at inside jokes or sharing a little harmless mischief. It’s also the season to invite friends to the pool for a play date, meet up with that long-time companion you always mean to catch up with, and pick the brain of an acquaintance with some experience or insight into something you are exploring.
Our church visits parks after church on some Sunday evenings in the summer. We play and share together, but we also invite others from the community to join our fun. Sometimes it ends in a gospel conversation, and other times it is simply sharing a good time.
Monthly Sunday potlucks continue in the summer, but people linger a little longer as the sun prolongs our days. It can sometimes be as leisurely as seeing Andy Taylor, Barney, and Aunt Bee sitting on the porch on a Sunday afternoon.
Yes, the reality of Acts 2:46 looks a particular kind of way in the summertime – “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” Don’t we love it?
Maybe for your family, friends, and community connections, it looks like family reunions, big family vacations, attending parades, festivals, and fairs, camping trips (mountains or beach), participating in summer sports leagues, block parties, volunteer opportunities, or enjoying outdoor movie nights. It could be planned weeks ahead or spontaneously thrown together.
The calendar is a little different. There is a respite if we do not overschedule, but there is also ample time to prioritize those friends and neighbors whom we get too busy to see at other times of the year.
Don’t wait to see if your friends had a great summer. Spend some time together to make it a great summer.
Ashlie Miller is wife to Chad Miller, pastor of Mission Bible Church in the University City area of Charlotte. They raise their family in Concord, NC.
