If you are a teenager reading this, I want you to quickly do the math and think about how many summers you have left before college. If you are a parent, think about how many summers, if any, your child has. I recently realized that I only have three summers remaining (this one included!). That was a very sobering thought… three summers before I’m off to college. With only three summers left, I want to make sure I don’t waste my summer and encourage other teens not to waste theirs, either, so I thought about some do’s and do not’s to ensure we make the most out of our remaining childhood free time.
Before I get to the things we should do, it’s important to point out some major things we should not do. Television has been a common denominator throughout my last nine summer vacations. With no school, no teachers, no work, what better way to enjoy the summer weather than to sit inside on the couch? Why exercise my legs when I can exercise my thumbs just by moving joysticks around? Don’t get me wrong, I love video games just as much as the next guy and am not in any way advocating for the removal of XBOX and Playstation from our free time. However, I have seen evidence of how much time it wastes and how little meaning it brings to our lives.
Another favorite pastime of mine is to sleep…and sleep…and sleep. While summer IS a time where we can get an extra hour or two of sleep, we should be careful not to spend the whole day sleeping it away. The Bible is pretty clear in Proverbs 6:9 that God is not a fan of our sleep-all-day habits: “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?” (ESV). I’ve found that getting enough sleep doesn’t require you to go to bed at 9 or 10 and get up at 6 or 7. One can actually go to bed at 11 and get up at 8 and still get 9 hours of sleep.
The biggest thing on my list is to make sure we don’t venture into things that aren’t safe. Summer can be a really dangerous time for a teenager. There isn’t any structure and there can be days where we aren’t required to do anything which often leads to the phrase, ‘I’m bored’. Summer is a time when teenagers who generally would not do things like drugs, sex, smoking, etc., can easily fall into these traps, even when they don’t think they wouldn’t. I’ve personally witnessed this happen to good friends of mine and I promise you that Satan is going to attack the moment you think, ‘I would never do that’. Don’t be that person who gets sucked in without realizing it.
Summer is supposed to be a time where we rest, recharge, and have fun, so what are some ways we can have a beneficially productive Summer? First off, I would HIGHLY recommend reading a blog. Check! Almost as important is to make sure you have a close-knit group of friends who are grounded in the Gospel. When we spend time with and trust people who are Biblically solid, we have that safety net there to help ensure we don’t fall into things like sex and drugs or even into bad philosophy. Our minds are constantly absorbing whether or not we realize it and the people we are around have a huge influence on who we become. It is also important to make a plan for how we want our summer days to look. With such a loose structure, the phrase ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’ really comes into effect.
A plan doesn’t have to have every minute filled, but at the very least, spend two minutes setting up an idea of what you want to get done the next day. Try to find a good book (or ten) this summer (and, no, your summer reading list doesn’t count). While it may not be the most popular idea, summer is the time where you are free to read about any topic you want. Regardless of genre, try to find a book that interests you. For me, one of my favorite things about summer is the ability to explore and discover new interests. I can remember the exact moment during summer of 7th grade when I decided I wanted to be a writer. We often end up loving the things we originally scoffed at. Forget the thoughts that people may find it silly or that it’s not the cool and popular thing to do and give it a shot.
The most important of all these is to grow in your relationship with God. Summer can be a distracting time, so make sure you don’t stop growing in your faith. If you do, Satan will attack you like a wolf rips apart a sheep straying from its flock. Make a conscious effort to ensure this doesn’t happen.
When I began this post, I did some research to find out what was already out there. What I found were pages and pages of ‘Things to do’ during your summer. These websites included things like ‘Go on a road trip’ ‘Go on your dream vacation’ and other unrealistic bucket list-like advice. While Summer is about having fun and trying new things, with a little bit of intentionality, we can make it productive, too.