Summertime

Anyone else have Will Smith's "Summa, summa, summa-time" stuck in their head? I do. Summer time is definitely on it's way, and for some reason there is something about summer that tends to kick things up a bit here in the city.  We experienced similar things last year, and we are beginning to notice that apart from the normal excitement of vacations, beach days, and barbecues, there is something else that seems to brew in the city during summertime.  There is a type of anticipation, as if along with the rising heat comes rising activity.  The weather is hot, people are outside more often, some folks may have less to do. Summertime.  I struggle to put what this type of anticipation feels like into words.  I have a mental picture in my head of a little kid wanting to leave the house after a long winter, because finally they can get outside to play.  Although what we seem to experience isn't always play.  Summertime seems to mark a rise in violence across the city, and there have already been numerous instances in just one week.


While looking for apartments or houses, those of us who moved into the city have made jokes about where our location is in relation to a potential drive-by.  We have laughed over this at times, thinking about how funny it is that we now consider what would be the safest room, what our emergency plan is - it is funny but serious.  And after a week like this one it becomes less funny.  The reality of where we live sets in again, and while we have already seen such growth, change, and hope occur, darkness is still deeply imbedded.  Light still needs to break through in many ways, and we are reminded of why we are here.


Sometimes the challenge for us is simple, yet hard to carry out.  Choose not to fear.  Choose to take walks even when in my mind I have doubts and fears.  Choose to love.  Choose to love those who I would otherwise walk away from or even avoid.  Choose to trust.  Choose to trust that God is greater, and has each moment of my life in his hands, from beginning till the end.  Easier said than done. But this is the challenge for me, to choose these things on a daily basis, to truly put God at the center of my heart and mind, and to choose Him above all else. So as we are vacationing, and beach-daying, and barbecuing in whatever city you may be in this summer, let us strive every day to make the choice to choose Him.