Summer romances. Warm nights, long walks along the beach, ice cream dates. I never experienced those much. I didn’t date much in high school, I was much more focused on playing basketball or hanging out with a group of friends who were just friends (at least that's what I like to tell myself!).


I remember one summer romance with a girl I met at a conference. And there was another summer romance with a girl in 8th grade that I met on a youth group trip. We broke up 3 days after we started “going out”.  


In college I started dating Jen, who is now my wife. She lived in St. Louis, Missouri and I lived in Holland. We both had jobs in the summer and barely saw each other. After our freshman year the distance caused us to break up. After our Junior year, when we got engaged, our distance caused us to write letters almost every day (if you don't know what a letter is, ask your parents!).


I would check the mailbox every day to see if a new letter was coming from Jen because I wanted to know everything about her day and what was happening with her and to hear words of affirmation and love from her. I wrote almost every day simply sharing every detail of my life with her. That might sound sappy and boring. I’m sure it was both.


But, we did it because we were in love. We did it because we were in a relationship and that’s what relationships do – they get to know each other, they share hearts with each other, they want to be in tune and in sync with one another.


When it comes to your relationship with God, a Sunday connection will only take the relationship so far. Any growing, healthy relationship takes time and needs time. One of the ways we do that is by spending time with God by reading His words in the Bible. The Bible can be a pretty difficult book, but it IS His love letter to the people He created. It’s His way of letting us get to know Him and fall more in love with Him. It’s His words to people He loves.


We believe that our best life is found when we make Jesus the center of our lives. One of the best ways to do that is by spending time getting to know Him in the words of the Bible. So, this summer, why don’t you take a Summer Reading Challenge, by reading through the book of John in the Bible. Here’s a Reading Plan with some notes, with something to pray, and with a couple helps so you can get started.
Your relationship will only go so far, unless you put the time in to really get to know God. A God who is in love with you. A God who wants you to live a life of adventure and meaning. A God who has designed you to experience your very best life.  It's a little summer lovin'

What's your next step in getting to know God in a deeper, more impactful way?  Check out the Summer Reading Plan!  I think it will be a great help to you.