Saturday, May 28, 2016

My Summer Challenge to You

By Lacey Gunter

I am so excited for summer. My work as a professor dies down and my time with my kids ramps up. It's a time of free schedules, exploring creativity and lots of cuddles. Don't get me wrong, school is great and I love it. But there is something magical about summer's nonconformity to rigid topics and timelines that opens the world to new possibilities.

One of our favorite things about summer is the time my kids finally get to learn about all the topics or skills sets they wanted to during the year, but school got in the way of.  They take fun classes from the local university on various topics that interest them. We go to the library at least twice a week and check out bucket loads of books on all the crazy topics that pop in their heads.  And they finally have time to ask a thousand questions and I have the time to answer them.

Happily, this is an activity I love to take part in also.  Sometimes I will take a class with my kids or on my own. I often got to workshops or conferences. I try out new cooking, sewing, art and craft projects. And I greatly expand my reading as well.

The freedom of summer does not escape us, instead it expands us. This is the kind of learning that's not motivated by standards and competition, but by the rich feast it offers to the intellect and the soul.

This is why I want to issue a challenge to you. Find at least one thing new you want to learn this summer that will help expand you as either a writer or a mother or just as a person. But don't just pick something you've been told you need to learn or you feel you have to know to keep up with other mommies or writers. Pick something for the sheer joy of learning.  As it says in one of our LDS books of scripture, "The glory of God is intelligence." (D&C 93:36)  So make this summer glorious. Find some nook of God's intelligence and make it your own.

2 comments:

  1. This summer I promised my 12-year-old son I'd read the Harry Potter series, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm also hoping to get through Jesus the Christ, because I've always wanted to read it. Plus we're doing our International Teddy Bear Exchange- Tag is going to Japan! We're so excited!

    I can't wait for summer. 3 more weeks for us! UGH!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like fun. It will be here before you know it.

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