What a difference a summer can make! Close your eyes for a second and imagine yourself as a kid the second week of August. You’re fourteen and you’ve grown over the summer; your braces have come off, and the excitement is building to the first day of school. You’ll be going with a new look. How exciting! So many things happened over the summer. You’re eager to tell your friends all about it. In fact, you know your English teacher is likely to ask for a one-page paper detailing the events of your summer. 

Fast forward to today. Now you’re a part of the work world. Summer doesn’t mean quite as much as it once did because you no longer have three months of vacation. (We could always ask.☺) 

What is summer to you now as an adult? For many, it’s just another work day, only hotter. Still, there’s something about summer. Changes seem to happen in the summer. It’s a mini-New Year. It’s a time to set new goal. Accomplish new things. I’m reminded of one of our camp themes a few years ago. Actually, it was the summer we discovered my husband, Johnny, had cancer. The theme was “Things Change, He Doesn’t.” Our theme is always chosen well in advance of the summer and, that summer, it was chosen months in advance of Johnny’s diagnosis. It couldn’t have been more appropriate as we quickly went into “treatment” mode. All of a sudden, everything that was a priority took a backseat to chemo, radiation and surgery. 

We experienced the same this spring as a virus threatened the lives of people all around the world, causing all kinds of repercussions. But, it doesn’t have to be a pandemic. Such is life. All seems to be going along fairly smoothly, then BAM! A child is sick; a divorce happens; a job is lost. In our ever-changing, ever-growing fast paced world, it’s so comforting to remember that God is always there, unchanging. We may not be able to depend on many constants in our lives, but on this we can be sure of–God is our refuge and strength, our ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we do not have to fear, even if the earth gives way or the mountains fall into the sea…Does that verse sound familiar? It’s Psalms 46. Read the entire chapter and you will be comforted knowing that whatever happens on this earth, God is in control.  

As we start this summer, be assured that things won’t go perfectly, but God will perfectly take care of you.