Recently I had the opportunity to attend the parade celebrating the Chicago Blackhawks win of the Stanley Cup. I have never been much of a hockey fan myself (I’m more partial to baseball and football), but I do love Chicago sports, so when my dad, grandpa, and siblings decided to go I went too. I was struck by the dedication of so many of the fans that I saw lining Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. People wearing Blackhawks jerseys and red and black championship t-shirts lined the streets for as far as I could see. Everyone was standing their waiting for the victors to arrive—some had been there since 3am.

I felt like an poser—I’ll admit I didn’t know who Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews were until I was surrounded by jerseys boasting their names. I had the presence of mind to wear a red shirt at least so I wouldn’t stick out too much. But even though I didn’t know too much about hockey, I still cheered as loud as I could and I got really excited and caught up in the moment when the team and the Stanley Cup went by on their double decker buses.

Ok...so what is the point of this? Once I left downtown and got settled back into my life back home, I started to forget the names of some of the players and I never went out and bought that championship t-shirt I said I would buy the very next day. I lost the enthusiasm that I had when I was right in the middle of things. The same thing can easily happen in our walks with God. So, my encouragement to all of you is to stay plugged in at a church somewhere while on summer break. If not having the schedule of classes throws off your quiet time schedule, really make an effort to create a new one. It is far too easy to lose your enthusiasm and excitement once summer hits because there are so many things fighting for our attention. But don’t do the same thing I did after going to the parade...stay on track, stay excited, stay dedicated, stay plugged in, stay connected to the Father!