Wow, to think Summer has arrived and with it, a large source of actualized or lost potential. Hence, the title. Shame on you if you do now know where that is from.

The first thing I want to say about Summer to the Christian and to the non-Christian alike is to have goals. It is easy to lose sight of time, a nap here, a 2x card here – it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. We often think that we deserve this time to be lazy after a year of school, but can we really afford to slack off? Can Christians ever afford to slack off, to take a break? Heck, should Christians WANT to take a break? I don’t think so. We are called to run, to strive, to agonize.

Summer Goals (in no particular order)

  1. Exercise. I sometimes grow wary of constantly being told how skinny I am. No amount of exercise will really change that, but I at least want to not be so pathetically weak.
  2. Piano Improv. Being able to play the piano in a manner most suitable for praising God has recently become something I would love to do. I’m surrounded by two great resources, my mother and brother, as well as a brief background in music theory. Hopefully it won’t be that bad.
  3. Wayne Gruden’s Systematic Theology. I probably won’t finish it this summer, but I want to be able to take a careful look at a bulk of the content, probably starting in July. It’s about 1300 pages.
  4. Learn how to change a diaper. By God’s grace I have a new adopted baby sister. She’s a lot of fun, and (is this mentality bad?) I feel like I could also learn a lot for the future.
  5. Level 160. I want to make and edit another video.
  6. Listen. I started http://lorduhai.wordpress.com/isaiah-558-9/ in order to share what I’ve been listening (and reading) and so I could remember key points at the same time. John Piper’s emphatic emphasis on the importance of sentences really struck me so I have a notebook now dedicated to interesting, thought-provoking ’sentences’ I come across.
  7. Blog regularly. Writing helps keep my mind fresh and allows me an opportunity to apply concepts through repetition.
  8. Memorize. As you can tell from the Isaiah 55:8-9 page, I just listened to and got owned by a bunch of sermons discussing the importance of memorizing scripture. This summer I want to practice the advice Pastor Peter gave in his sermon and primarily memorize verses I already know or am familiar with.

The most important thing is that I come away from Summer a better equipped person with a heart that beats only for God. If none of this results in application or positive change of any sort, I want someone to beat me with a stick.

Keep me accountable.
Please be my friend.
Thanks.