Camp Reflections

Four weeks ago I drove home from camp. It's crazy to think it's been that long, but I have still been processing some things the Lord taught me and how I put those into practice now that I am back from camp... Here's a few of the things I have been processing since I came back.
Last summer, I found an incredible amount of healing from my team. They don't know it, but they truly helped to heal many hurts I have had. I felt, for the first time in my life, the ability to truly be myself and to be accepted through that process. The Lord healed those hurts, and He helped me to see through last summer that I truly have so much to offer, and there is true freedom when I live in that fact.
I went to camp this summer expecting this same type of freedom and healing. Some things have happened at my family's lives, where healing is truly needed, and I felt like camp would be the place where I could find that healing, just as I did the summer before. I did experience freedom and healing, but these came in very different lessons than I was expecting.
I started to learn what makes a good week at camp. Having a group that doesn't complain or saying all of my lines perfectly each night on stage or having a church group that seems to actually want you around have nothing to do with a good week at camp. A good week at camp happens when one student comes to know the Lord as his or her personal Lord and Savior! When even just one student's life is changed, that is a cause for celebration! It has nothing to do with the circumstances of camp. It has everyting to do with the power the Lord has in changing lives and students finding freedom in Christ! I feel like I have lost this sense of celebration in seminary. Don't get me wrong... I love Truett. I just feel that sometimes we forget to talk about the lifechange that happens when someone accepts a relationship with the Lord. We talk so much about different theological ideas, but sometimes we forget to think about the awesomeness of Christ's lifechanging power in our lives! I needed that reminder this summer.
Also, I learned what camp is for. That's sounds weird, but basically I learned camp isn't for me at all. It's for the students! That might be a "no-duh" moment, but the Lord made it so clear to me that camp is not for me. Yes, last summer I was the one who found healing, and I feel that for a part of last summer, camp was for me. I needed that time of healing and acceptance. However, this summer, different circumstances and relationships were present. Camp is not about me, in any respect. Camp is for the students and for the lifechange they need. Camp is about these students having a lifechanging moment that continues as they go back home, and my role is to facilitate this understanding. It's about the lifechange that happens when students finally see what the Lord is doing in their lives, and they step out in faith to accept that call placed on their lives.
Lastly, I learned about faith, and what I place my faith in. One of my devotionals had this quote by Dave Harvey: "Biblical faith confidently asks God to act according to His promises. True faith then accepts the answer. Our faith stands on the unchanging character of God." Wow. My faith was not in line with these. I think so many times I place my faith in circumstances and in the things that are happening all around me. If something fails, then my whole concept of faith fails. However, that is not what the Lord asks of us. We are to have faith without seeing, without knowing what He is up to. There have been many circumstances in my family's life recently, many hurtful situations, many hurtful things said by people who are suppose to be the Body of Christ. I felt as though because of these situations my faith in the Body of Christ was misplaced. I felt like I couldn't put faith in the Church, because of the things that have happened. However, the Lord has shown me, and is continuing to show me, that my faith should be in Him, and in Him alone. Not in the people that make these decisions or in the circumstances, but in Him. He has everything completely under control, and He is the One to trust. My faith should be in Him, not in the circumstances of life. He will provide. He always has, and always will.
Last Sunday I joined my local church body, Calvary Baptist. My faith in Lord has been strengthened, and I am seeing how the Body of Christ truly does love and truly does care. I have seen this through Calvary. When I put my faith in the Lord and not in my circumstances, I have been blessed to see true love and true community.

Blessed by homework?!

As I was driving to the library to start on my enormous amount of reading I have for Tuesday, I started thinking about feeling blessed. I've gone around saying how blessed I feel for the friends and family I have. I talk about how blessed I am for having a roof over my head, for having a new church family that has complete embraced me, for having a group of friends that make me laugh uncontrollably... So many blessings...
But... what I thought about today was how blessed I am for going to school and for having homework. WHAT?! I'm blessed by homework... really? No. I didn't hit my head or anything like that. No. I'm not going crazy. Seriously, I'm so blessed to have homework.
I have this incredible opportunity to come to seminary to study more about who God is. I get to read the Bible for homework. I get to study about the promises of God for class! I get to talk about what God is doing in my life during class, with my professors. My professors take time to pray for us during class. This is such a blessing!
Just looked up the word "blessed" on biblegateway.com. Yeah, I know. As a seminary student there are probably other more academic ways of doing this... :) However, in the NIV, it shows up 217 times! How awesome. Many times it's used as God is blessing His people for serving Him and for putting their trust in Him. That's the way it should be. We are blessed when we trust in the Lord.
It's not that I don't actually feel blessed by the other things in my life, because God has blessed me in so many ways. Too many to speak about here... but a major blessing is the fact that I am in seminary. It truly is a blessing to be here. So many would love to have this opportunity to study more about God's Word and to have the opportunity to study about how to better serve the Lord in the calling I feel on my life. I feel that I need to better acknowledge the blessings in my life, such as studying and such. Right now, I feel blessed to study. Maybe I won't feel this way tomorrow :), but right now I feel blessed that God has called me to ministry and has provided a way for me to do just that, even when it means reading an enormous amount.
Thank You God for Your blessings on my life. I don't deserve them at all. I want to fully embrace this blessing and say that I am blessed by it.
This is a verse that stuck out to me, while looking up the references for "blessed."
"The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. " Deuteronomy 2:7
Amen.