July

I've realized recently I have an extreme love/hate relationship with the summer season. Because I like the feeling of pants and warm flannel shirts far more than I do shorts and tank tops, I hate wearing summer clothes, although the fact I can wear Chacos every day is nice. (The amount of Chaco tan compliments I have received is too many, and I'm a little embarrassed when I get them now.) The heat is ridiculous, the Heat are ridiculous, and I really don't like either of the two. It's too sunny and the amount of sunburns I've received in my life before this summer are too many (I'm at one for this year, which is remarkable for me). The few physical upsides of summer are that it's cherry season (if you've ever had Michigan cherries, and you have if you've ever had a Trader Joe's cherry pie or many other varieties, you understand), driving with your windows down is neat, and being near any form of water instantly becomes high entertainment. However, when it comes to actual important concerns, summer is a massive opportunity for growth, both spiritually and mentally.

There are many summer-inspired verses I thought about sharing (especially Revelation 7:16: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat." I promise I don't totally hate summer, friends.), but for this post I wanted to write a little about Colossians 1:10, which says this: "...so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." This sets out a pretty great plan for our summers. No matter what we're doing or where we're going, summer is a three-month season in which we should walk with the Lord in a manner that honors Him and pleases Him, in turn bearing fruit in our jobs, our interactions, and all that we do, all the while growing in our faith. In attempting to do this, I have felt the Lord bless me in unbelievable ways through Sacred Heart and through new friendships in summer Cru this year. I feel like I have utilized this summer in a much more pleasing way than I did last year, and I feel satisfied and faithful in the Lord in this.

I don't have much more I can put into longform and I could use some rest, so I'll throw bullet points out instead. (I apologize again.)

• After dropping it for a while, I've picked up the bad habit of playing lots of basketball again. Two or three times a week, Hunter, Gage, Sam, myself, and others will get together and ball our hearts out...or to better describe it, play until we feel like we can't take another step, which doesn't take too long these days. Through this we've been able to have an absolute blast doing what's really been our only consistent activity this summer due to our full schedules and we met a Lady Vol last week. She's a baller AND follows/interacts with us on Twitter. She also called me a good passer, which is the first time I've been called that ever, so yeah.
• My last week of Young Folks Summer Camp begins tomorrow. While I'm excited to be able to go home for three-plus weeks to see my family, which I haven't been able to do since mid-May, I'm going to miss these kids while I'm gone. Here's a picture of us going to see Monsters University. I love this group.
• I bought a car this week, finally.
• There have been many super exciting moments this summer, but an underrated one is Jay-Z releasing a new album on Independence Day. If that isn't incredible...well, sorry. It's only his fourth or fifth best album, but it smacks Yeezus out of the ballpark.
• Another underrated moment of this summer is people learning that I really enjoy rap through the game Family, where the only entries I have put in have all been mid-2000s rappers that everyone forgot about. Or the time on America Day that I said I was thankful for Three 6 Mafia.
• Last one, but this is a real thing, and all of you should sign up so there's a higher chance of one of us winning a free burrito every week for 20 years.
• The Official List of Songs (in no order) That Will Really Liked Lately:
• Jay-Z, "Tom Ford" (language warning)
• Youth Lagoon, "17" (this plays at the end of "The Kings of Summer", a fantastic little movie with Nick Offerman and three young actors who know their stuff. Go see it. Now.)
• The Shins, "Kissing the Lipless" (seriously, the Shins' first three albums are outstanding. One of the best 1-2-3 punches by any active band.)
• Iron Horse, "New Slang (Bluegrass Cover)" (if this doesn't make you smile at least a little, get it together)
• Polaris, "Hey Sandy" (the intro to one of the greatest kids' shows ever, The Adventures of Pete and Pete)
• Thursday, "Understanding in a Car Crash" (there are occasional periods of my week or month or whenever in which I fall into wanting to listen to nothing but what I really liked in middle school. Maybe it's because I work with middle schoolers. Anyway, this song still kicks tail.)
• Kanye West, "Touch the Sky" (I tweeted about this already, but yes, I do dance to this a lot. I dance by myself a lot more than I should probably admit.)
• I move out of the house known as Neverland a week from today. No comment.

140 characters in these streets,

Will