Summer Heat

It's here.  We all know it well - and most of us bear it as best we can living in Central Arizona:  "Convection-Oven Season," otherwise known as summer in the Phoenix area.  As a northern Midwesterner, I grew up with the cycles of the seasons.  They ingrained my life with a rhythm that permeated many of my activities and moods. While winter in the northern climes is the "hunkering down" season, here in Arizona, it's the summer.  We stay inside, moving from air-conditioned building, to air-conditioned car, to air-conditioned home. We may save our outdoor activities for earliest morning or later at night.  Basically, however, most of us are blessed to have those options.  Our Middle Schoolers went on an "Urban Plunge" this week, visiting various mission outreach locations in downtown Phoenix. This morning, I just saw some of them come back to church for a quick break, maybe picking up or dropping off stuff.  The message I got was: IT WAS HOT!   As temps hover around 113-115 degrees, our Urban Plungers remind us that not all people living here - or in many other parts of the world - have the cooling options we have.  Let's let the summer heat remind us to give thanks to God for what we have, reach out when we can to those mission projects especially this high-demand time of year, and pray for doors of relief and guidance to open for those who are suffering.