Welcome to week 2! Yesterday was the 4th of July and we were full in with our community. Isaac and I were able to run in a local road race, it was our first race in a town we live in! It was so much fun to know the area and even some of the volunteers. Afterwards we spent the afternoon at a neighbors house on a water slide blow up they had rented for the week. We met some new neighbors and had a wonderful afternoon and evening. We drove downtown to watch the fireworks and loved it! We just had a wonderful day full of community and I loved it. I loved having friendships with my neighbors and feeling investing in my local community.
The reason I share all of this isn’t to give you opportunity to compare your holiday with mine. Especially if yours wasn’t ideal or what you had hoped for. The reason is because spending time with neighbors and in my community is a priority for me this summer. It’s the second part we are going to talk about from the Set Up Summer series. I’d like to challenge you to do two activities:
First, what are 5 priorities you could have for this summer?
I’d challenge you to take more than a quick second and really think through what your actual priorities are. Honestly create a list of what they are, not what you hoped they would be, not what culture says they should be, not what “past you” would have said. For example I have felt pressure in past summers to be highly productive. I felt pressure to not only keep the house tidy but reorganize every nook and cranny of the house. I have felt pressure to keep up my kids’ education during the summer months, so I’ve spent time and money on trying to fit academics into our summer.
This summer, neither of these things are my actual priorities. We’re not doing any academic work this summer. We’re not worrying about the house (that one is a lot harder to set down though!). After sifting through my actual priorities I realized there was a lot that just wasn’t meeting the cut. A few of my top five are: my family, my neighborhood and local community, and a small bible study I’m co-leading. Take a few minutes and write down your 5 priorities.
Next, I’d like to challenge you to focus in on 2, maybe 3. Summer is a great time to slow down and really focus in on a couple top priorities. Take that list of 5 and cross off at least 2! 3 would be great though.
Second, what are your top 2 or 3 out of the 5?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged if we’re focusing on too many things. Multitasking is actually not an effective method for growth and progress. Pray through your list and ask God to make it clear what He wants you to focus on. What does He have to say about your priorities, are they from Him or are they from culture? Has your list been made by other people in your life, have you let inspiration from a friend turn into comparison and shame? Has social media or what “everyone else” is doing spoken into your priorities?
As we planned our holiday yesterday I was able to let my top three speak into our day. Did we want to go to a lake or have some friends over? Or did we want to be with our neighbors and spend the evening at the block party? Did we want to go down and spend 10 hours at the neighbors or wait a bit and go down later? Since Isaac and I each had done the work individually and together, we were able to discern what was best for our holiday. We had a holiday that reflected what our priorities were, and were able to close out the day reflecting on how fun we had doing the things we loved and put at the top of our list.
As you move through your summer I want the same for you. There is freedom and hope waiting for you if you put the time and effort into leaning in, hearing from God, and making important things the important things.
Grind Press Pour
Did you know that I have a podcast? My husband Isaac and I launched a podcast recently, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.We talk about life and encouraging Jesus followers to press on fully engaged in the present, free from the past and fearless of the future. In our first season we have been going back and sharing our story. We started at the beginning and have been working our way up to the present, sharing about what we’ve walked through, how we’ve walked through it all, and how we’ve kept moving forward. If you listen, I’d love to hear what you thought!
Find out more here!
Abigail Denton 