Words of Worth

August is the Sunday of Summer

September 5, 2017

It has been said, “August is the Sunday of Summer”! Could it also be said, “Labor Day is the Sunday of Summer”? Both August and Labor Day, serve one of the purposes of Sunday—the purpose of an ending, even though Sunday is the beginning day of the week. Sunday heralds the weekend is ending and the work week is about to begin. So, too, August and Labor Day, sound the knell for the ending of summer vacation and the official beginning of the school year! While many around the country have been back to school for some time now, where I live, Labor Day is the official end of summer and the return of ALL to the hallowed halls of learning.

Today, the traffic was heavier, the school buses were out of the bus barn and back on the roads, and the school speed limit zones were back in flashing effect!

It’s easy to imagine that many first day of school conversations and even assignments, centered on “What I did on my summer vacation.” Those stories would most likely include the many places people visited on vacation—some beach along some coast, some lake or mountain, some overseas destination, or some world of Disney. I would be comfortable “oohing and aahing” over what others did in Summer 2017, and possibly even “eclipsing” their stories with my own (did you see what I did there?).

However, even though my summer involved a lot of doing, it really involved a lot of learning – learning about the protective nature of God in all things big and small. Since God never goes on vacation, or sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121: 3, He who keeps you will not slumber…) He is constantly monitoring my comings and goings, my road and air travel, and my daily routines while I am awake and asleep.

I was especially reminded of this when, one week this summer, my niece, Danielle, and her beautiful daughter, Heather, came to visit. Each night when my niece put Heather to bed upstairs, with her favorite stuffed giraffe (did you know giraffes in the wild rarely sleep more than 5 minutes at a time?) while we stole a few more hours of visiting downstairs, Danielle set a baby monitor in both locations so she could keep an eye on her daughter and respond to any needs she may have. Fortunately, Heather sleeps longer than her giraffe friend!

What peace of mind the baby monitors give to parents and caregivers all through the night! And every night those remarkable baby monitors reminded me about God’s constant monitoring and protection of His children, and how He is ever ready to respond to our needs, big and small, day and night, summer, fall, winter and spring!

God never has an August or Labor Day that is the Sunday of Summer because His protection and sovereignty never end!

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Psalm 121: 4-8