It’s the last day of summer. While it seems that some has been over for a while, because school has started and we’re all back into different routines than during June through August, on the calendar we’re told today is the last, official day of summer. So how did the summer go? Do you move forward as a leaders? Did you invest time away with your family if you have one? Did you read, watch or listen to any leadership development books, videos, or podcasts? What did you do during the summer season to move forward as a leader and in your relationships with family members, with those you lead, and with folks in your life in general?
We of think of seasons in three month chunks, which is a large enough quantity of time to make significant changes when we’re intentional. We get four seasons every year, and while each has its own dynamic, measuring life by seasons helps us set bigger picture goals than just seeing life as chunks of days, or weeks, or even months. We’ll be thinking about what it means to enter a new season tomorrow, but for today let’s take a moment to debrief summer. I’ve already asked several important questions, so what are you answers? Did you move forward intentionally this summer?
As I consider those questions, I realize that as always I get to answer them with: Yes, I moved forward intentionally, but not as intentionally as I could have. I read a number of important books over the summer. My mainstay is always the Bible, and I read about a quarter of it over the summer, because I typically read through the Bible each year. Using an online Bible reading plan breaks the Bible down into 365 “bite size” pieces, that I read daily. I was able to keep up with that reading over the summer, only missing a few days, and doubling up to stay caught up when I did. It’s healthy for me to stay rooted in God’s word, because it is the guide for my life.
In addition to the Bible, the book that changed me the most is one I’m going to be addressing in more depth next week: Leadership and Self-Deception. While the book is not a “Christian” book, indeed it never mentions God, it has done more to help me understand how easy it is for me to live self-deceived, or in sin, than any book I’ve read. That’s why will pick up on it next week. For today, I wanted to mention that I read it at the end of the summer season, in late August, and it has been transforming me as I’ve applied it in September.
Nancy and I had the opportunity to take some time away to visit our daughters over the summer, and I took an extended weekend with Kenn, my younger brother, and his son, Matt, to visit the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in July. Those times away deepened my relationships with my family, and also gave me an opportunity for some needed rest and renewal.
The Cambodia mission trip in August was another summer activity that deepened my faith in Jesus, and broadened my leadership capacity and ability. I wrote five posts about what I learned on that trip a couple of weeks ago, so you can look back if you want to read more about that. Suffice it to say that living for a couple of weeks in a third world nation, gives one the opportunity to gain a perspective that is challenging if not impossible to gain while living in middle class America.
I hope you’ll take some time today to sit down and reflect on your summer season. What were the highs and lows? The good, the bad and the ugly? What will you do again next summer? What will you continue into the fall? What will you never do again? Remember: the unexamined life is not worth living, so let’s take some time to examine who we are, whose we are, and what we have done over the summer and why?
Here’s to being a better leader, by taking time to reflect on the summer season–today!