By BILL BROWN / Guest Columnist

I think everybody has experienced one similar task when they started a school year. The teacher would ask everyone to write a story with the title: “What I did this past summer.”

You would always write about your vacation. Many would write about their baseball teams. Some would write about going to a summer camp.

You might have written about where your buddies went fishing of swimming at the creek. Maybe you would write about playing outside at night and catching frogs or lightning bugs.

There were always a small number of children who didn’t experience most of these things. They typically came from families of meager means. What they usually wrote about were their family members, maybe their grandfather or grandmother. Then there were those who didn’t do anything at all. Not because they didn’t have the money, but just because they were lazy. They wasted the whole summer!

At a recent staff meeting we were discussing what the youth and the children were going to be doing this summer. They are going to baseball games, bowling, lock-ins, hiking, concerts, mission trips, vacation Bible schools, swimming, etc. But none of these things are free. They all come as a reward for commitment to our church by attending Sunday school, worship services and study. I think they will have plenty to write about as they start school in August.

What about you? What will you be able to write about your summer?

Will any of your story include things about your church? Will you be able to write about a ministry that you were involved with this past summer? Will you write about a Sunday school outing or a mission trip? Will you be able to write about a vacation Bible school you volunteered for?

What will your story be like?

I pray that we can all have good long stories to share about our work for God this summer.

Bill Brown is pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Montevallo