How to Make the M.O.S.T. of Your Summer Memories

Making the M.O.S.T. of Summer Memories

            

Recently I was asked to share with Middle Valley Baptist on how to “Create Summer Memories.” Having four kids in 4 ½ years and being a stay-at-home mom/minister’s wife, I have had to get pretty creative in making summer memories. Some of it was out of pure necessity so we wouldn’t go crazy or harm each other! By far, some of the best memories were the ones that required little to no money! As I was talking and reminiscing with my much older kids, now 16, 17, 19, and 20 on some of their favorite memories, my oldest daughter looked at me, with a somewhat horrified face and said “Mom, you’re not going to tell them about our trips to Sam’s?” to which I replied, “Absolutely!” These trips involved taking our much younger children and pushing them around on the flatbed carts, eating the samples, and then ordering a pizza from the deli. Exciting, right? Well, actually it was for our kids at that time, and to this day, even Mary Allyson says it was one of her favorite memories!

I am going to date myself when I say this, but it seems summers aren’t as lazy and laid back as they used to be. Carving out the memories may take more intentionality these days, but one word of warning, don’t get on FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest and compare your summer to someone else’s! What you’ll see there are picture perfect profiles, with picture perfect “vacays” and no “staycays!”  You will not see your friends’ post that their toddler who’s being potty-trained cleared the hotel’s pool. Nor will you hear how excruciating the car ride was with the un-relenting questions and arguing.

So how do you create summer memories? As I was praying over what to write and share, it occurred to me that my audience already has the resources at their fingertips. They can google, get on Pinterest, and find blogs on this very topic. However, as I prayed, God gave me one word to focus on that would benefit all of us making great summer memories for our kids. That one word is MOST, and to give a twist on the topic, it would be, “How To Make the M.O.S.T. Of the Moments God Gives You.” To make this easier to remember we’re going to use the word MOST in an acrostic.

“M” stands for Maximize the Moment. Simply put, practice being present in the moment. Make the most of the moment by enjoying it and living in it, rather than anticipating the next thing and focusing on what’s next, maximize the moment that’s before you. When we rush through the moment, we miss the fullness of that moment. Don’t miss the now, for the next. One concept I try to put in place is to be present in the moment. The idea is to not rush the moment because the idea is to create a memory and that’s hard to do if you’re rushing through it to get to the next thing. Maximize the moment by not missing the moment. This one will step on some of our toes, but have you noticed you miss moments because you’re too worried about capturing them and posting them on FaceBook, twitter, or instagram? One of the best things we can do to maximize the moments in our summer memories is to put the phone down.  Here’s a side note, many of you like me think you can multi-task. Research shows that just by looking at your phone or leaving a task it takes at least 10 minutes to re-engage and get back to the train of thought where you left off! So, sit back and take it all in, Maximize the Moment, so it will create a memory!

The next thing you will want to do in creating a memory is to “O” Optimize the Yes! Essentially, say yes to as many things as you can and leave the no’s for the big ones. Having more yes’s gives kids a greater respect for the no when it needs to be implemented. For example, you’re tired, you’ve just cleaned up the house again for the 40^th time, fixed three meals and umpteen snacks and the kids ask if they can build a fort in the den! Typically what our kids are asking for isn’t something we can’t provide or something that is morally wrong, it usually comes down to our own time and selfishness! UGH! Now, please don’t hear me say to give your kids whatever they want, when they want it. There are boundaries we already need to have in place, so the “yes” is an affirmative, not something that gives entitlement or to just appease. Some of our best memories have come from the “yes” moments, not necessarily those that were planned. For example, riding on the flatbeds in Sam’s Club. This concept continues into the teen years as well. I still try to give more yes’s than no’s, so when there is a need for a no they respect it. So when the youngest asks to go practice driving, and there’s nothing standing in my way except my own desires, I try to make it a yes!

As we move to next letter, keep in mind that the “M” Maximize the Moment and the “O” Optimize the Yes go along with the next letter “S” Stop and Share in the Moment. Don’t hang out on the sidelines, be an active part in the moment, allowing the memory to go deeper. Instead of just being the conduit to creating the opportunities and memories, stop and share in the moments, participate in the moment. As it ties back to the letter “M,” as you stop and share in the moment being an active part, it helps you savor and maximize that moment even more. It also ties back to the “O” as we stop and share in the moment by saying “yes” to being a part. Kids love when we join them in the fun, even the big kids!

Just the other night we were having a great conversation at dinner when the phone rings with our youngest reminding us to come pick her up from swim practice (yes, time had slipped away…we forgot.) Instead of us all dispersing, with someone going to pick her up and the others cleaning up, my husband said let’s continue this conversation in the car and all go get Annabelle! The dishes could wait, but this was a moment we all wanted to share in, so we all piled in the car continued the conversation and picked Annabelle up. She did wonder if it was some type of intervention! LOL!

Last, the letter “T” stands for Trust God For The Immeasurably More. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” You may be thinking how does this apply to Creating Summer Memories, well we’re looking at how to make the MOST of them and the one that can do that is God, much more than a travel agent or pinterest. I have watched God do the immeasurably more with the smallest of family memories to the greatest. He’s taken what might have seemed as an insignificant moment and made it magnificent, and I have seen Him take a really great moment and make it over the top majestic. The key to this one is allowing Him to work and us relinquishing the control.  One year we finally got to take the kids to Disney World. Already, God had been at work in putting this whole trip together. However, my husband, Bill, just wasn’t sure of it all. He just kept saying, I know we’re going to get to the park and they’re going to stick it to us! I kept trying to reassure him that everything was taken care of. That first day before we went to the park, Bill had been up praying and having his quiet time before we all got ready. As we drove to the park, the kids were all excited as there was a sky writer plane over the park writing something. Finally, we could see that it said “Trust Jesus!” Not only did the sky writing plane write it once, but twice to “Trust Jesus.” I looked at Bill and he looked a little shaken and I asked what’s wrong. He said, you’re not going to believe this but, this morning as I prayed I told God I was still anxious about this whole trip and that I needed to trust Him, but He was going to have to write it in the sky! Well, its obvious God did. We will never forget that moment, nor that trip, because God truly gave us the immeasurably more, and it was because of  Mickey’s Magic, but my God’s almighty power who wants to do the immeasurably more!

It is my prayer that all of you will make the M.O.S.T. of your summer memories as you allow God to help you create them and watch Him do the immeasurably more.