Summer is in the air and will be here soon.  No more early mornings or early bedtimes. Uniforms are packed away and as teachers pray everything the student has learned through the school year does not leak out in the first few months. While on the cusp of this new wonderment it’s hard to imagine how quickly it will go by. So, allow me to encourage you, as I encourage myself, to redeem the summer. 

Our pastor always encourages us to “go to” whatever event with a plan and a list to accomplish. We go to the New Year, Fall, or Christmas time and we don’t let it come to us. As such, quite naturally we also go to summer. Summer is a wonderful time where so many memories are created, and yet, we all must admit so much time is also wasted.  

When I was a kid, we were allowed one hour of TV in the morning, and it had to be before 10 o’clock.  Do you know what was on back then? Game Shows and Little House on the Prairie!  Everything else “fun” was outside. In the years when there were extra funds, my parents had us learn something during this time. I’ve taken art classes at community centers, tennis lessons at the local park, and piano lessons from a neighbor. There was even a year or two of ballet lessons when I was very young, which I now loathe to admit.  Sometimes the funds were not there, so it was skill-building time.  Does your child need to learn to tie their shoes this summer, or perhaps learn how to do the laundry? Maybe your teen can get a jump on their Drivers Ed. Does the yard look the way you want it to? Make this the summer that you are finally proud of it. Perhaps, language study is something that will intrigue your child or you, and there are several free programs available. Perhaps it’s a walking or exercise program. Maybe it’s simply a daily quiet time with the Lord every morning without missing one day. There is something that can be gleaned from this approaching season.  Let’s not waste it with video games and late-night TV binge-watching. I encourage you, and myself, to redeem the summer so that we can come to the end of it and realize we did not waste this season.

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Miriam Chung, Christian School Teacher

Mrs. Chung grew up around the work of the ministry and now has the privilege of teaching at the North Valley Baptist Schools. She and her husband faithfully teach young people and are a vital asset to the ministry of NVBC.