Nostalgia for Summers Long Gone

I find myself missing so much of my past.  That's one of the hazards of clearing out memorabilia.  But let me make a list, and since I'm writing on my theology blog, let me focus on the church aspects of what I'm missing; let me focus on summers of my youth:

--I found pictures of a group of us attending the first Lutheran youth event, back in 1981, when we all went to Purdue and stayed in the dorms.  It was my first glimpse of what college life might be, and it gave me the hope that my life might improve after high school.

--There were other summer events that brought large groups of Christians together.  In my college years, the Lutheran Student Movement gathering happened in early August.  There were Global Mission Events for both youth and adults.

--I miss the smaller gatherings too:  church picnics and such.  I miss the days when the whole church would head to a park.  I remember that my grandmother's church would go up the mountain to Lutheridge, a church camp that was 90 minutes away.

--And of course, there's Lutheridge in all its summer splendor to miss.  When I think about what I got to experience as a child, and just because I went to camp one year a week:  music, worship, the thrill of the Arts and Crafts lodge, hikes, sliding rock, canteen . . . on and on I could go.

--I am missing Vacation Bible School, but more the VBS of my youth than the VBS of some years ago when I helped as an adult.  I miss the lazy days of hanging out at the church most of the day for 2 weeks.  I don't remember much about what we did, but I remember it as a time of fellowship and feeling included.

--But I'm also missing the relaxed feel of the summer.  We still went to church each Sunday, but there weren't activities throughout the week, like there were in the school year.