Summertime Checklist
Carter Speer, Stewardship Team
School is officially out for the summer, the seniors have graduated, the lockers are cleaned out, spring has ended and the heat of a Texas summer is upon us. Like the cleaning we do in the spring, the season of summer comes with much needed planning and a checklist is a necessity;
1. Air conditioner- call for summer servicing
2. Seal leaking doors and windows
3. Lawn care - increase mowing frequency, adjust watering schedule
4. Vacation plans, make a checklist:
A. Arrange pet care
B. Temporary hold on mail delivery
C. Temporary hold on newspaper delivery
D. Notify neighbors of our plans and have them watch the house
E. Confirm reservations
F. Make all monthly bill payments
G. Write a check to TBC or schedule our online GIVING before we leave!!!
Before we head to the mountains, the beach, the lake or wherever we go for the summer, let’s make sure our vacation checklist includes writing our checks or making our online arrangements to take care of our giving to Trinity.
The summer also offers financial challenges for our staff and finance team. We are coming off of a successful “We Can Meet the Challenge” campaign which went a long way towards eliminating the shortfall in our budgeted giving. Our staff has done an admirable job of cutting expenses and working diligently to live within our means by exercising fiscal responsibility.
Our commitment to maintain this momentum is essential so we don’t suffer a summer decline in giving.
Merriam Webster’s online dictionary defines stewardship this way:
stew·ard·ship Function: noun
1 : the office, duties, and obligations of a steward
2 : the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care
What is entrusted to our care? Our church and His Kingdom are entrusted to our care. This comes with duties and obligations. Discipletools.org defines stewardship this way:
· Stewardship is the wise use of our materialistic goods and abilities, as well as our time. Wasting time, in the eyes of the Puritans, was a sin, and that notion did not originate with them, but with God’s Word. Stewardship is recognizing that we, as Christians, as well as everything in creation, belong to God.
· Stewardship is proportionate to what we are able to give. The poor person’s small gift is just as important as the rich person’s big gift! Sometimes, we cannot give as much as we would like to due to economic realities, job loss, business not good, sickness, etc., so we give honestly and efficiently whatever we can.
· Stewardship is the giving of ourselves and our resources with joy and gratitude for what we have been given. Stewardship is not something that results from a forced obligation or a bad attitude. Giving should always be cheerful! If it is not, then you are not really giving--are you?
· Stewardship is the comfort of knowing that everything comes from God. He gives us our clarity and the vision and character of what to be and do. We can trust in Him, and not in our materialistic goods.
© Richard .J. Krejcir Ph.D. 2003 Discipleship Tools
www.discipleshiptools.org
We need you! Put TBC on your summertime checklist as letter “G”, for giving. If you are here for the summer and don’t have vacation plans, He can use you in many ways. Our numerous summer programs like VBS, kids camps, our mission needs & trips and the overall building of His Kingdom needs you and your physical, prayerful and financial support. Be a good steward of your time, your works and your material goods. May God Bless your family and your Summertime!