Backed Up Summer
Reflections on Father’s Day & Fast-forwarding
Puller-Inners and Backer-Uppers. We see the dichotomy in parking lots everywhere—the overflowing soccer tournament, Sunday morning church, baseball diamonds, county fairs, basketball camps, restaurants, and grocery stores. Some drivers pull into the first open spot, full-steam ahead. Other methodically take time to back-in and navigate reversal between yellow lines and avoid curbs like a pro.
Whether we’re a “Pull-in” or “Back-in” kind of person, we’ve all subconsciously considered a common dilemma: What’s easier now vs. what’s easier later/Time-is-of-the-essence now or time-is-of-the-essence later.
Where we differ is our approach. While it sometimes depends on a multitude of factors and who needs to be where, when, other times our parking method is more indicative of our propensities. When we pull in fast and furiously, we’re fixated on the here and now and getting to where we gotta’ be. Now.
When we back in, we’re looking ahead. We’re putting in extra effort now to be in a better position when we leave.
We might think of backer-uppers as less driven (no pun intended), less motivated or successful with time on their hands to intentionally pause with foresight. As I learned from my dad, however, the opposite is often true.
Father’s Day Reflections:
Although we lost my earthly father to cancer way too many Father’s Days ago—just weeks before the birth of his first grandchild—June still carries a flood of memories. This month is marked by grateful remembrances of my dad with Father’s Day and the anniversaries of his death and funeral only days apart.
My dad lived an intentional, successful life. Even as a businessman with multiple “irons in the fire,” he always made time for what mattered most—serving and teaching in church, fishing with family, pulling us kids on water-skis, golfing with family & friends, AND work.
He took time to teach us, he pulled us into what he was doing (though it no doubt tripled his work-load), and he gave us many opportunities to both succeed and fail—from backing up a boat trailer, to entrusting us to bookkeeping and skilled labor (although “skilled” should be used lightly).
Though we haven’t had a face-to-face Father’s Day with him in close to 40 years, his time and teaching carry on. Even in success and building businesses, he was a back-it-in kind of guy. Purposeful forethought marked his life.
Fast-Forward to Summer, 2025. . .
Though I fall vastly short of my dad’s ability to always stop, always make everyone feel loved, and always “be there,” I can pause now—in early summer—and consider how to follow his example of backing up before plowing ahead.
Psalm 90:12 speaks to this: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (ESV).
It’s in fast-forwarding—in numbering our days—that we’re more likely to live with intention.
We can fast forward to Summer’s end. Pause it. Slowly play it backwards. What would we do differently. What would we cut? What would we add? When we pull out of Summer on Labor Day weekend, what do we want to see in Summer 2025’s rearview mirror?
Summer might be filled to the brim for us as parents and grandparents. Where can we grab an afternoon ice cream and conversation, an evening bike ride, or an extra 30 minutes to send a letter to a grandchild at camp? When we ask the Lord to grant us even small windows to bless the kids in our lives, we can trust Him to answer—however it looks in our unique situation.
Whether we have one child or grandchild across the ocean or fifteen grandkids we’re aching to connect individually with, if we picture Summer’s end and deliberately back-up for fresh perspective, we’re more likely to end up where we want to be.
We can embrace this fast-forward/play back mindset for the remainder of our days and not only live a “Backed-up Summer,” but a “Backed-up Life.” A life parked in a position of numbered days.