As I sit and write this week's devotional, I am at Braeside Camp spending time with my family. Braeside has become my new favourite place to spend the summer. Between services, tuck, swimming and catching up with new and old friends, Braeside has become my summer haven, especially during these last few years of Covid.

I love that I can come here and just relax and spend time with people I care about. I have learned that I don’t always have to do something super exciting or extravagant to make memories or to have fun - sometimes all you need are pool noodles, duct tape, electrical tape, and some imagination. Suddenly a bunch of light sabres have been created and a whole group of kids is running around having fun making memories. This is what the summer is to me - making memories. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like (of course, I prefer it warm and sunny!) but it’s about the relationships that we build and grow. I am an extrovert, so the last few summers have been tough. Not connecting and spending as much time with people was very difficult for me. So, this year I have decided to make up for it and so far, I have achieved my goal. Spending time with people is life-giving for me; it helps to recharge me. If you are an introvert, you likely feel the exact opposite as me and you would probably be exhausted just thinking about my crazy extroverted life. But it doesn’t matter if you are introverted or extroverted - time spent with family and friends is always special and meaningful.

I know that we are already well into August and sadly the summer is slowly coming to an end, but don’t let that stop you from doing something with family or friends to add to your memory bank. You can even take it one step further and find fun ways to make memories that incorporate a fun devotional. I will share a couple that you can do as a family, but you can always Google some ideas. There are so many resources online that you can use and many of them are all free… and who doesn’t love free stuff!

So take some time, have some fun and make memories.

Margaret

FAMILY DEVOTIONALS:

https://ministry-to-children.com/family-devotions-summer/

ON THE GO DEVOTIONS:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53480b81e4b0d8fffdef98c2/t/62fbace0bf58684f89119abc/1660660999604/on-the-go-devotions.pdf