Summer is coming soon…do you know how to gear up for a successful summer? I am a planner, and when I’m intentional about my summer schedule, it helps grow my faith and gives me success in various areas. These are the steps I’m taking to have a successful summer that I hope will inspire you.
Making Your Summer Successful
At my current life stage, I’m a work-from-home mom of three, ages 15, 13 and 11. There’s always a big transition between the quiet workdays and the days when my three children are home with me. When I’m intentional about how we spend our time, I can look back in the fall and see marks of success.
Today at Woman 2 Woman Ministries, I share five different ways to be intentional in your spiritual life this summer. As Christian women, this needs to be our top priority. I also practice intentional living in the following eight practical ways.
Get enough sleep.
With the longer days and lazier mornings, it’s tempting to stay up too late and doze until almost noon. I loosen our schedule as compared to the school year, but we try to stick to a reasonable bedtime Monday through Friday. I get up around 5:00 a.m. and work for a few hours before the children are awake. This regular rhythm decreases crabbiness for all of us.
Schedule puppy duty.
We have a new puppy named Memphis, only four months old at the time of this writing. I bear the brunt of his care during the school year. But the kiddos will take him in shifts in the summer, about three hours per child. Since our puppy is a people-loving Labrador, he will thrive on all this attention (and hopefully be fully house-trained by September!). The puppy care is in addition to all of their regular chores, like doing their own laundry on specified days.
Limit screen time.
When my children were small, I limited them to only two hours of television per day. This was in the mid-2000’s, when smartphones didn’t yet exist. Now my two oldest have their own phones, and my youngest has an iPad. They also have a Playstation and enjoy watching television. This will be my biggest challenge, yet with intention, I hope to have success. I will encourage them to exercise inside or outside a few times per day, moving with them to inspire them. We’ll also need to make more trips to town…
Get out of the house.
Since we live in a rural area, we aren’t accustomed to driving 15 to 20 minutes to town every day in the summer. But it’s easier to beat the boredom when we get out two or three times per week. We are blessed to live near a town with several fun options, like a trampoline park, water park and nature center. Our movie theater runs $5 specials on Tuesdays. I’ve learned to eat lunch at home and put the money toward the activity instead. Also, we enjoy visiting the library for movies and books that don’t cost a cent (as long as we return them on time!).
Do family devotions.
During the school year, mornings are a rush because my children board the bus at 6:40 a.m. I normally read just one Bible verse or and/or give them a blessing as they head out the door. In the summertime, we gather at lunch. We have more time to read from devotional books and the Bible itself. One summer, I had the children read a single verse from Proverbs. Then we discussed how it applies to our lives. Lunch is a good time to get in God’s Word together.
Show hospitality.
Since my children are older, they need more friend time. I’m not the mom who loves hosting parties, but my kids are happier when their friends come over. Every two weeks or so, we invite their friends to spend the night. I have a buddy system with a couple of moms, and we all benefit from trading off hosting. Bonus–this keeps the kids more motivated to clean their rooms, since they aren’t allowed to host or visit before cleaning.
Have a quiet time.
Ever since my firstborn was a baby, I’ve taken my own quiet time in the afternoon. Through the years, I’ve kept the afternoon quiet time rule, even after the kids didn’t need naps anymore. They need separate time in their rooms to get along better. I have noticed that all of us feel refreshed after an hour alone, either reading or playing games.
Encourage creativity.
My youngest loves to bake, and she has her own collection of cookbooks. I’m encouraging her to try a new recipe every day this summer. My middle son is a budding engineer. He enjoys building amazing LEGO creations, like a gun that shoots bullets, without even looking at instructions. My oldest son loves hands-on projects. He will be working for my husband’s construction company this summer, which will teach him creative problem solving skills. All three of my children need time to flex their creative muscles, and since I’m an artist, I plan to be more creative too!
These are some of the ways I plan to be intentional. In past summers when I’ve balanced these activities, I’ve felt more successful looking back. Which one of these tips will help you be more successful this season?
Gearing Up for a Successful Summer
No matter what life stage you are in, you can have a successful summer if you use intention. Today I focus on intentionality in our spiritual lives during the summer at Woman 2 Woman Ministries today. You can head over there now to learn five practical ways to be intentional in your faith this summer.
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