By Pastor Don Schatz

Summertime: Toes, Toys, Water and a View

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.”
Psalm 74:17.  New International Version

You know it’s okay to take it easy, right?  To relax?  Take a load off?  Paint your toes, or not, and share them with the world on a summer day in the mountains?  Play in the water.  Take time to sit and enjoy the view?  In twenty-first century America, we aren’t so good at all of that.  Or so the sociologists tell us.  And we can tell ourselves the same truth if we are honest.

But guess what?  God made the summer!  Admittedly, when he did so, he wasn’t thinking of how we regiment our years and lives.  I mean, truthfully, why do we tend to feel guilty when we sit and enjoy toes, toys, water and a view any time other than a designated few weeks (or less!) in the summer?  “Chill,” we would have said in the 60s.  They are saying it again these days.  That’s a good thing.  Listen, if you haven’t already.

I freely admit that as someone who has a daughter and four granddaughters, I have had my fingers and toenails painted a time or two.  My hair fussed over.  Curlers inserted, which in itself is amazing since the hair is thinning!  Even eye shadow, rouge (do they still call it that?) and lip gloss.  Then those little girls stand back and with huge smiles, enjoy their handwork.  And I count to a hundred at least before I head for the washcloth!

God rested.  He created a day of rest.  My daughter works in HR and she tells me that countless studies show the importance of time off, of enjoying your own version of toes, toys, water and a view.  And not just a day or two.  A minimum of two weeks together is needed to truly relax, rest and re-create.  The first week we are learning how to do that again, and that it is okay!  The second week we move into really resting.

Paint your toes today.  Find a view and sit and enjoy it.  Praise God for his creation, and for his example of taking a break.  Take that break, breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit-Breath-of-God.  Smile at something for no reason at all!  Smile at someone else!  You know what?  In the Spirit of Christ, all of this and more is rich spiritual exercise.  And we don’t have to do anything but stop and relax.  What color are your toenails?

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado