A Message from Vicar Corey
It is hard to believe summer is already winding down. August provides time to reflect on the activities of our busy summer months, whether we are a camper, or enjoyed going (or still may be heading out) on a vacation; or running the kids around for sports and time at the pool, but August also brings about a time of change. Schools will be starting soon, high school football games start the end of the month, and as the sound of locusts have been telling us with their buzzing for the past month or so, cooler, fall weather is on the way. Even through the heat and humidity of August, we know change is coming and some of these things will come to an end.
The idea of summer ending with these changes use to bother me in my youth. As a child with a birthday in August, I never was able to celebrate it during the school year. While I was able to have birthday gatherings with my friends around the baseball diamond and wonderful picnics, it was not the same as celebrating as an entire class during school, at least in my mind. As I look back now, those kids probably wished they could have their birthday during the summer.
Our priorities and the concept of time change as we mature and develop into the person God has created us to be. We are shaped by our opportunities and experience. They can tear us down or build us up, but whatever time we have is a true gift from God.
Time changes as the summer break ends for students and the break many of our committees and small groups have taken. Some of us like having schedules and routines and some of us enjoy the spontaneity of life, but whatever our outlook, we will be back to regular meetings and gatherings. We can use our time together during these events to grow together for the mission of the church.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Time allows us to step aside to enjoy life, time draws us back to accomplish tasks, and time shapes us into the people who we are today.
Together with Hope,
Vicar Corey