For My Single Girls This Summer

For my single girls this summer:

This is your summer friend. Enjoy every minute of it. I want you to live it to the fullest. I want you to draw nearer to the Lover of your soul. I want you to find beauty in the ordinary. I want you to try something new. I want you to be bold. I want you to read this and actually do some, if not all of these things. And I want to hear about it …

Adventure now. Learn to value solo outings.

Try new things. Go to that restaurant down the street and tell the hostess, “Table for one.”

Find the little things that make you feel alive.

Look for the people you want to have in your tribe. The ones who will pray with you and for you. The ones who will challenge you and push you closer to the heart of Jesus.

Be vulnerable and real and raw. There is no need to hide behind excuses or failures. Step out of darkness and bask in the light.

Read your favorite book series all over again.

Find new places to meet with Jesus. The park that you always pass on your way to work. A leisurely walk downtown.

Go on a prayer walk. Pray for your city. Your family and friends. Your future spouse. Your kids. Your future kids. Your pastor. Your church.

Do something that is not easy. Start working out finally (this one’s for me). Treat your body better than you ever have. Climb that mountain that looks scary. Befriend that person that no one talks to at work. Ask to pray for the lady who looks sad in the grocery store.

Eat that fro-yo with whatever toppings you want.

Buy that dress in the window, even if you have no place to wear it. Buy it because it looks great on you. Make plans with it.

Tithe more than 10 percent and trust that God is going to use it for something greater than you can imagine.

Hit up those yard sales this weekend. Buy that ugly vase and Pinterest it into something beautiful.

Treat a stranger to coffee or a meal, just because.

Take more pictures and post them on social media. Who cares if they are “professional” or not? Let them tell your story, not someone else’s.

Make a budget and stick to it … but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t.

Form a new habit, a good habit. Make your bed every day, even if you’re the only one who knows it’s made. Clean your kitchen every night because it feels so good to wake up to it. Quit a bad habit.

Tell yourself that you are worth it. That you are valuable. That you are loved.

Pick up a blank journal at the store and write what Jesus is teaching you. Draw little doodles. Tape receipts of your summer purchases. Print out pictures of what you’ve done this summer and tuck them inside.

Find a bench and just sit there for 20 minutes, watching the people walk by. Pray over them without knowing anything about them.

Try a new hairstyle.

Lie on a blanket and count the stars. Then do it again in the daylight and find pictures in the clouds.

Go to the beach. grab a handful of sand and let in run through your fingers. Take a second to thank God that His thoughts for you outnumber every single grain (Psalm 139:17-18). If you don’t live near a beach, find a sandbox and do the same thing.

Crank your favorite song and cruise with your window down, even if you have no place to go.

Just drive without your GPS and see where you end up. (Make sure you have it to get back home, though; that wouldn’t be good.)

Don’t pick up your phone until you’ve spent time in God’s Word. Yep, you heard me. Leave it there on your night stand (after you’ve silenced your alarm), go make your coffee and read your Word. Facebook, Instagram and emails can wait until you’re finished.

Try a new coffee, even if it’s a little more expensive than the generic brand.

Let the rain fall on your face and ruin your make-up. Thank God for rainy days. We need them.

Wake up every day and confess, “Something good is going to happen to me today. Something good is going to happen through me today.”

Be daring.

Walk in freedom.

Laugh out loud.

Dream really big.

Live fully alive.

Make your own list of things.

This is your summer. Don’t waste it.