Spending summer wisely
Provost encourages students in all walks of life to stay spiritually strong
My first word of advice as you look forward to the summer is make the most of it. Celebrate the opportunity you have in this season of your journey to enjoy a degree of freedom that will not always be available to you. The Bible is very clear on the fact that your eternal Father wants you to keep company with joy in your youth. With that established, I want to suggest a few additional challenges I hope you will embrace.
The first — setting goals for your summer — will need to be thought through before you leave the campus. I want you to find a quiet place (maybe in that beautiful new library). Settle in, and then build a list of the things you would like to accomplish this summer.
Maybe you are graduating and not coming back. You are a senior, and that is it. You are done. I remember the feelings of sadness I experienced as a graduating senior when I realized I was not coming back in the fall. This place, these friends, and all the things that had given structure and meaning to my life for a long time were now part of my past. Knowing that day is coming, maybe sooner rather than later, you really need to make the list. What will help you use this coming summer to set a great course for your future? Or maybe you will be a returning student in the fall. Start with this idea: It is August, and you are on your way back to the campus, and you are feeling really good about the summer because you did everything on your list. What is it that you accomplished that has got you in such a great mood as you are returning for another year?
Regardless of whether you will be back in here in the fall, your list should include everything you will need to take responsibility for putting into place anything to help you find great purpose and personal meaning in the next phase of your journey. Remember, if you aim at nothing you will hit it every time. So make the list. Make it before you leave. Then commit to implementing it.
It is important that the things you put on your list should help you eliminate the bad things in your life and grow the good. I was reminded recently that our hearts and minds are like a garden.
Gardens, you know, grow both weeds and fruit. When we put good stuff into our brains, the good stuff tends to kill weeds and promote the growth of good fruit in our minds and in our hearts. With that in mind, take a look at your list. What do you see on the list that is guaranteed to kill weeds, and what do you see that will promote fruit-bearing in your life over the long haul?
As you revisit your list remember that the Word of God, hidden deep in the mind of the child of God, is a great killer of weeds and grower of fruit. Other weed killers include listening to good music and reading good literature. Invest your time wisely. Spend some of your time this summer focused on strengthening your relationship with family, friends, and others who have been special in your life and who have made contributions to your weed killing and fruit bearing. Look for opportunities to serve others. Stay engaged in mission and ministry at a significant level this summer because what you do in ministry will last beyond the summer and endear you to others. Remember, whatever you do, do everything this summer guided by the desire to glorify God in word and deed.