A Summer to Remember

The summer is coming to a close and I feel like I don't have much to show for it. When summer began, I had big plans. I'd planned to work and make as much money as I could, but I feel pretty poor right now. And I planned to rest and get my health back, but there's less than two weeks left and I feel less healthy than during school. Oh and I planned to grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus and to be used by Him a lot. But again, I came up short, to my own ideas. Falling short, yeah, it seems to be a full time summer job for me.
As discouraging as it could be, and sometimes is, I don't think it's been a complete failure. Not because of me though, but because of Him and His part in my life this summer. Looking at the superficial parts of the summer, they were my doing, thus making them failures. But spiritually speaking, there has definately been some growing going on, because it's been His doing. At times I feel like I'm going backwards, but that's when my focus has shifted from Him. He remains faithful and loving.
The sermon last Sunday was pretty fitting because he was preaching out of Rev. 3, about Christ being at the center of our lives. When we feel distant from Him, its not because of Him, but because we've shut Him out. And unlike we are prone to do when someone does that to us, He didn't leave, but is knocking and waiting for us to reopen the door to Him. His love isn't tempermental or limited or dependent on us. We don't deserve it on good days or bad days, when we're doing good things or when we're failing. He is faithful and loving to the end.
So spiritually speaking, how has it not been a failure? He's showed me some pretty amazing things that I had no clue I could learn. He's given me the chance to spend some time with a friend who lost his way and showed me that I can't always bring the change, but can make room for it. And He's helped me to accept the single stage of life in a way I never have before. Don't get me wring, I don't think I have 'the gift of singleness', but I can accept it as a stage in life and can be content. He's showed me that having that kind of relationship or pursuing it can be a distraction from Him and that it would have gotten in the way of Him showing me what He has this summer. It is a blessing to be single, in a different way than the blessing of having someone. And it's pretty cool.
One other thing I would like to mention is what He's been showing me about trials. When I was growing up, my mom would tell me I needed to thank Him for through the trials. As a kid, that is hard to understand and I would sometimes say thanks grudgingly. But thanks is not to be said that way, for that isn't really a thank you. It's to be said with a true heart of thankfulness for the trial. Puzzled? It's realizing the true purpose of the trial is not to a punishment or to be mean, but as a Father helping His child to grow. The growing only comes through difficulty because when all is good, it's easy to forget the Father. But the trials bring growth, if we let Him perfect us. And that is true joy. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4