Summer has begun… The party
Summer has begun… 
The party has begun. The grades are in our hands. I have to be honest I don’t remember how I usually ended my school year growing up in good old Los Angeles. I just dropped my little dudes off at the local swim club with their school buddies. If my memory is correct, I usually spent my summer hanging out on Hollywood Blvd. I went to the public parks and recreation pools, played summer sports, and attended the YMCA for a summer of youth stuff. I also spent time with some buddies going from one local motel to another “pool hoppin.”
By God’s grace and the intervention of many of a youth leader, when it came to summers in Los Angeles as a kid, I spent more time at the church, attending every single youth group event and camp known to church youth ministry. If it was happening I was there. The best part of being a kid attending my church youth group during the summer in Los Angeles was that the youth group I grew up in went to the beach every Tuesday. It was my favorite part of the week. It was my weekly retreat away from home. It was a no brainer when it came to summer planning for youth groups. It drew out every Jr. High and High school kid and their buddy and their buddies buddy. It was the event handed down from one generation of youth pastor to the next. It was the way we did relational ministry in a city commuter church in the middle of LA. I miss those days. At the end of this month ministry starts all over again. Camps ( I’m actually preparing some talks for a week of Jr. High camp at the end of this month here). Youth groups. Pool parties. Laser Tag. Scavenger hunts. I can’t wait. I look forward to this summers stuff with kids. I look forward to my summer with my own kiddoes. Anyways, summer is here.