Join Us for a Last Splash

Join Us for a Last Splash and More on Welcome Home Sunday

Hello to you from the wild vestiges of summer shenanigans!  

I love the unstructured crazy of summer. And yet, right about now, I start to wonder if it might be time to reign in bedtime and focus on vegetables and schedules once again. I’m not quite to the part of summer where I want those things, but I can feel the edges of our family starting to get a little crispy.  

I don’t want us to jolt right back into life as we know it, but I do want to put on your radar that we will be headed that way soon, and I am here to make your re-entry a little softer, a little slower, at least in your church life. We do not get back to our regularly scheduled Sunday mornings until the very end of August, and even then, we won’t do that until we gather for orientation and walk through where our kids are developmentally for the year and how we feel about it. Let’s take our time.  

Before any of that happens, we will gather for one Last Splash on Aug. 16, so that we can reconnect and share our summer journeys. I know many of you have been places and seen things, and I know even more of you have felt things and grown in ways that you don’t yet understand. Childhood is like that, and so is parenthood. I cannot wait to see your beautiful children and hear how things are going for you. I am mindful of how much summer break changes us all, and I am really interested to hear where you are as a family and what you might need for this coming year.   

In case you haven’t joined us for this event before, here’s how it goes: We combine all the services for Welcome Home Sunday, Aug. 16. Arrive for the 10:30 a.m. service a little early, as it will be full. You are welcome to come in swimsuits, and you can bring your backpacks for a blessing, if you have them already. If you don’t have them, don’t sweat it. I will give you a bag tag to take home. You will want sunscreen, towels, and clothes that can get wet.  

At the end of the service, we will bless the backpacks and process out to the playground for our Last Splash Celebration. We will have a giant, inflatable slip ’n’ slide, bubbles, and fans, and tables under the shade of the oak tree. Chef will serve us our own buffet with hot dogs, corn dogs, mac ’n’ cheese, and fruit. Please gather with us and let the kids play while we catch up. If you have youth, they can come down for food and head to the youth room with Kelsey.  

There will be a gathering upstairs as well, with sandwiches and announcements, but nothing that you won’t also see in an email from me. 

The Sunday after that will be Orientation, Sunday, Aug. 23. That will happen during the 10 a.m. formation hour. Information about that will follow, so for now just add it to your calendar and don’t think any more about it. School supplies and school shopping are calling.  

Oh, and one more thing: this is your loving reminder that your kids will be toast by Friday of the first week of school, so don’t make any great big plans. Pizza and a movie is usually the right vibe. I forgot that for some years and regretted it. I’ll be praying for excellent teachers and plentiful friends in your classrooms. I remember how tense it all can be.  

❤️FrK