We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day yesterday for our annual picnic!  Thank you to everyone who joined in on the fun as well as a special thanks to our trustee and kitchen committees for all of their hard work setting up and tearing everything down.  After all the swimming and delicious food, I was ready for a nap when I got home!

There’s something special about sitting next to a body of water.  Whether a pool, a pond, or the ocean, there’s nothing quite like relaxing by the water.  Yesterday at the pond, I overheard someone say “I could just sit here all day” and I think we could all agree!  These are the summer moments we look forward to—relaxing with friends and family poolside.  I would suspect that most, if not all, of us are planning to find ourselves lounging by the water at some point this summer.  Maybe you’re there right now enjoying my delightful writings 🙂

Did you ever stop to think that God invites us to join Him “poolside”?  Can you imagine sitting in a beach chair with God in the one next to you?  What would you say?  What would He say?   It’s easy to think about enjoying relaxing conversation near the water with good friends and this is also the picture of what God invites us to…a deep, personal relationship together!  As we continue into the summer months, we are going to spend some time as a church family “Poolside with God,” exploring God’s desire to have a relationship with each of us, as well as some of the struggles we face in our connection to Him.

As we embark on this journey, I would encourage you to look for increasing opportunities to be with God.  Whether actually next to the pool or simply next to kitchen table, let’s commit to spending time with God this summer!  As we learned yesterday in the closing verses of James, we are to be praying all the time for everything.  This requires conversation with God.  This necessitates relationship and dialog.  Let’s sit back and see what He has to say to us today!

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Jan