“…And the livin’ is easy,” says the old standard.
I always love Nat King Cole’s version of that song, which featured soon-to-be legendary bassist Carole Kaye on guitar, but the words didn’t ring true.
Summertime is wonderful, not easy.
At Faithbridge, we do community cookouts every other Wednesday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, throw block parties and do a ton of community outreach.
All of it is great. And anything but easy.
This past week we added in our daughter Tabitha’s high school and a big picnic to celebrate. Again, great… not easy.
Right now our house is still stacked with tons of roasters, tents, tarps, food vessels, coolers, unopened cases of soda, left over buns, etc.
We may have it all cleaned up by fall.
As much as summer is work, it’s amazing.
The Little League team I help coach is fun and getting better, the smiles on folks’ faces on a bright sunny day seem to glow ever more brightly and seeing my nieces and nephews in their new adult wonder, some with babies in tow, is just plain terrific.
This month, we’ll have a block party on the 25th. You’re invited. We average about 400 folks for these, and feed everyone, have tons of games for folks, and end the night with baptisms in the yard of the church.
In July, we’ll throw in with the community for a parade on the 11ths, harkening back to the days when Stowe had one of the biggest parades in the state. This is the first, but we’re hoping it will grow over the years.
By the end of summer, we hope to have our new Outreach Center functioning, providing some growth and engagement opportunities for folks in the community.
Add that the Hogans have ripped out the flooring in their house and plan to secure the plywood properly to the joists (they never were when it was built in ‘04) before laying down new flooring, and we ought to arrive at autumn pretty exhausted.
But that’s perfect. Folks in PA tend to hunker down after the football season kicks in, and — especially in a cold, snowy winter like last one — disappear until March or so, so it makes sense to, as the farmers say “make hay while the sun is shining.”
I hope you’ll come by and see us at one of the cookouts or a block party, and I hope you can make the most of this summer for you and yours.
We get only so many before our time here is up, so we’re planning to slather on the sunscreen, pray it up, plan it out and get that particular candle flaring on both ends.
Here’s to a fruitful and wondrous summer, my friends…
The Rev. James Hogan is a native of Stowe Township and serves as pastor of Faithbridge Community Church. His views do not reflect the views of the West Hills Gazette.
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