A note from Stephanie Rautio

We have officially made it to summer! Kids are out of school and June 21st is officially the start of Summer and the longest day of the year, yay! This is funny to me because with the temperatures we have been having I thought summer started a few weeks ago.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am in a middle stage in my life. My children are both young adults and I don’t have school calendars to manage anymore. This transition was not an easy one for me. I suddenly went from being a full time Mom to occasional. Now, before you correct me I know that I am still the Mom to my boys and always will be, but the relationship has changed from daily caretaker to being the Mom of adults.

In my life I have worn many different responsibility hats, this was the hardest one to adjust. However my boys and I have done our best over the years to be intentional in our relationship. Taking interest in each others lives, struggles, etc. I spent many years building legos, playing video games, board games, hiking, talking about all things involving Mario or Marvel. All of this helped us to stay in relationship with each other even through the changes.

I am going to take a leap now and talk about my relationship with the Lord. Over the years, this relationship has changed as well. What I have learned is that I have to be intentional for it to stay strong and grow. The Bible says to Abide in Christ.

Abide means to reman stable or fixed in a state. When Jesus says this, he is asking his disciples and us to stay constant in their relationship to him.How do we do this? By abiding in his word.

John 8:31-32 31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

In case anyone needs it I am including a simple way to get you started in creating a daily rhythm of abiding in the word.

  1. Start small and simple ~ Sometimes following a reading plan can help. Your Bible might have one in the back. I’ve also found You version Bible app to be another great resource, It has several reading plans to choose from Link ~https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/
  2. Schedule a set time daily that works for you, start with 5 min and work up. Don’t give up is you miss a day, you can start fresh each day.
  3. Find a space in your home, office, outside, etc.
  4. Grab your Bible, journal, favorite pen music
  5. Go for it ~ My rhythm is to pray, read a verse, think on the verse, journal thoughts and end in prayer.

One last thing is you don’t have to do this alone. Following the same reading plan or Bible Study as a friend or community group helps us to learn and grow together.

Stephanie Rautio
Office Administrator | Hope City Church