Yesterday was my daughter’s last day of school; a bittersweet time for me. Even though she is not graduating, she has completed her years in elementary school and will now be moving on to middle school. I know we have exciting times ahead and I do look forward to those, but I know it will be hard for me to let go of these “younger” years.

However, we are all very glad that summer vacation has officially started. A time when we can say good-bye to alarm clocks, quizzes, reports, homework, and the other “busyness” of a school year. While we do plan to relax and refresh, my hope this year is to not get totally lost in the “lazy days” of summer. My goal is to set a weekly plan of what we want to accomplish, and then do it. (An inside joke of mine and my husband’s is that the piece I usually mess up on is the “just do it” step.) There are many things on our plan already, including a dance recital, an end to our soccer season (which has been greatly extended due to all the rain we have had) a sports camp, and vacation bible school. But, there are also some tools I plan to use to help us stay focused on some things that can easily be pushed aside.

Both our school and our local library have reading programs and incentives to help us read more during summer vacation. Our church has put together some helpful tools to help us remain in God’s Word and to encourage family activities and devotions. We also plan to use some on-line resources and some workbooks to stay on top of our math facts and other school subjects. I think we might even fit in a short road trip too.

Well, that’s the plan. I’ll let you know how I did on the “just do it” part. Whenever your summer vacation begins, I hope you enjoy it. I pray that you will enjoy some great family time together, that you will be renewed and refreshed, and that you will look to God for guidance.