REAL love

Songs always seem to speak to me. Ya know, the whole face plant thing? Well.. It's because song's always seem to speak to me.. and whaddaya know? It happened again.

The song "Forever Reign"- by Hillsong has a chorus (as most pop songs do) and the lyrics go like this:

Oh!
I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world Forever Reign

Yeah... that song has become my favorite as of right now. Which is saying something, because I generally can't pick a favorite song. But it is, because that line I have highlighted in red has been the biggest lesson of my summer.

This summer I had the opportunity to move up from a counselor at Camp  to the role of Assistant Director for two of the weeks. It was an exciting transition, but let me tell ya, it was the scariest transition of my life. Suddenly having to be in charge of decisions made at camp? Suddenly having to give a talk in front of 30+ 2nd-5th graders (depending on the week)? Woah buddy. Scary stuff.

But God doesn't give me more than I can handle, and He always stretches me to become something better through Him.

Being a director gave me the ability to really watch other counselors and see how they interacted with the kids. It was amazing to see counselors play crazy games during free time, step up and lead during group time, and even go out of their comfort zone in many situations. The love that was poured out into these kids was astounding and abundant- and it brought me a lot of joy.

However, there were times when I struggled a lot determining whether the counselors loved the kids as much as I wanted them to. Why did the counselors group together and not spread themselves out amongst the kids at times? Why did the counselors sometimes tell a kid no when all the kid wanted to do was play an easy, sit-down game? It didn't make sense to me, and at times I thought that the counselors were there for the wrong reason, and none of them were meeting the "ideal counselor" image I had in my mind.

Suddenly, that song came into my life. "The riches of YOUR love will always be enough." It hit me.. it isn't our love that matters for these kids' lives, it's JESUS' love! And His love will ALWAYS be enough- always abundant, always sufficient, always there. And Jesus love pours out amongst our counselors in all ways, all shapes, all sizes. It was after much prayer and thought about this song that I realized it wasn't what us directors had in mind for the "Best counselor", but what Jesus called as the best counselor. God has a purposed for all of the counselors at camp, and it isn't my job to Judge them based on how I would've handled situations. All the kids love the counselors, and ultimately see Jesus in them. Isn't that the goal?

God didn't put together the group of counselors that Brice saw fit as good, but put together a group of counselors that HE saw fit as perfect for what HIS plan was.

And isn't that awesome? God really has taught me a lot this summer, but this lesson has really settled on my heart. REAL love isn't determined by one outlook, but is only seen through the Love of Jesus.  I am so thankful for being moved to a director position this year, and can't wait to see what new lessons God teaches me as I take on this exciting role.

And so it goes...

Jesus is REAL

Morning.

The sun rises, the birds sing

A new beginning, a new day, a new start

Awaken from slumber

Forgiven

Jesus is REAL

Midday.

The weather shifts, the people wander

Animals play, nature blossoms, sun shines

Life continues

Beauty

Jesus is REAL

Evening.

The sun sets, the air cools

A calm assurance, a comfort, a hope for tomorrow

Loved by a Savior

Peaceful

Jesus is REAL

And so it goes..

"I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say 
You’re beautiful"

Let's look at the present.

I sometimes think that we spend too much of our time worrying about the future outcome instead of focusing on the present situation.

I began feeling this way probably around the 7th Grade. This was when I realized that teachers were constantly preparing us for the next grade. In every grade, my teachers would inform us that "when you are in (insert grade above here), you won't be able to (write in print, use cheat sheets, etc.). Therefore, as it is my responsibility as your teacher to prepare you for the next grade, we will as well not  (write in print, use cheat sheets, etc.)" This is all fine and dandy, except for the fact that instead of it being a preparation it actually becomes a set back. Because rather than focusing on whatever needs to be accomplished in that grade, the teachers decide to "prepare" us for things we don't really need to be prepared for. When I get to the third grade, I'm still allowed to write in print. When I get to 8th grade, certain teachers still allowed cheat sheets. I sometimes thought it would be nice to just simply "be" in the grade I was in, rather than acting like the grade above me.

And isn't that the case when we witness to other as well? We can be so impatient at times --always wanting the person to get it now--but really we just have to realize that Gods timing is perfect ( I think I discussed that in another blog) and that it's not our say when people will finally realize.

Real life example: I'm a church camp counselor. I love my job, and wouldn't spend my summers any other way. But I am  really anxious when it comes to witnessing to my campers. During the first day I think "they will understand Jesus' love by the end of the day." Perhaps some do. Others don't. And I want them to understand NOW. Then we have the Salvation Message, and I declare "they will accept Jesus tonight. It will happen" Again- perhaps some do. Others don't. Why won't they get it now!? Aren't we witnessing to them?

The answer of course is yes. But alternatively, we should be look at their present situation and understand that maybe they're currently not ready. We've only planted a seed.  A seed that will continue to grow each day, week, month, year. Who could ask for anything better? Sure they're not "getting it" right away, but they've got it. Deep down. And they will eventually bring it up out of them and shine the light that only one who knows Jesus can.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, the future outcome is VERY important, but it shouldn't be what we dwell on. Especially when witnessing to others. The future is under control if we plant that seed. God knows what he's doing. We can only keep focusing on each present moment that comes our way, and make sure that they are experiencing the REAL love of Jesus Christ at each of those occasions.

And so it goes..

Radical

John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

I strive to live radically for Christ. It is my goal, my life process, my journey. I aim to have eternal life through knowing the one TRUE God. I plan to spread His message to others so that they too can know the AMAZING love that God has to offer them.

And so it goes...

Victory in Jesus

Empty, Wordless
Unhelpful. Hopeless
Disappointing
Grieving
Aimless
Wandering, Hollow
Discouraged
Down

"I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and he word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one." 1 John 2:14

Replenished, Praising
Caring, HopeFUL
Fulfilling
Cherishing
Directed
Wholehearted
Encouraged
Lifted up


And so it goes...

Honest Praise

"Of a childlike faith, and of my honest praise. Of my unashamed love."

 People often question as to why I am so passionate about wanting to become a teacher. There are many reasons, of course, but one of the biggest reasons is because I absolutely love how you can learn so much from a child. The best times for these are when they are just being themselves. It's true. It's honest. It's vulnerable. It's REAL. I love learning, especially from the kids who I teach/will teach someday.

Tonight I had the opportunity to go to Winter Jam 2012, where I enjoyed the music from 10 Christian bands  that were all amazing. It was a great night, in the end. At this place, I found myself absolutely blown away by how much I learned from a little girl sitting next to me. She probably doesn't even know that she taught me a lesson tonight-after all she was simply enjoying herself and being true, honest, vulnerable, and real- but man did she teach me a lesson in worshipping tonight.

See my girlfriend and I arrived at the concert not early enough to get in the front of the line, which consequently caused us to get seats not ideal to our thoughts on the drive over. They weren't bad seats at all (especially compared to the nosebleeds we were in last year) but they were still not our desired seats. I found myself  completely irritated at the beginning of the night. I was trying to get into the music and truly hear God speaking to me, but just couldn't because I was too caught up in where we were sitting. 

I look to my left, and here is this girl that had to be no older than 10 years old just giving everything she can up to the performers, and of course, to God. She was singing along, closing her eyes, raising her hands, and just surrendering her praise to the One who deserves it. She didn't care that she was to the side of the stage and couldn't get the full effect. She was there to have a good time, and a good time she had.

I learned a lot from that. From seeing such a young girl acting more mature than I was at the time, I gave myself a check and realized that it wasn't about seeing the performers- necessarily. I learned from that girl that it was about letting God hear your praise, and it was about nothing else. I could still hear the music, and see pretty much everything that was going on up on stage, so why was I putting up this wall? Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and this little girl's actions spoke chapters to me. 

We have got to fully surrender ourselves to God with our praise. Until we live completely for Him, we're always going to nitpick our circumstances and miss out on the "childlike faith" and "honest praise" of which God completely deserves.

And not to mention- this girl knew EVERY WORD to all of the Skillet songs played tonight. Yeah. I was impressed.

And so it goes...

God's Timing is Perfect

"And even though I'm walking through the valley of the shadows, I will hold tight to the hand of Him whose love will comfort me. And when all hope is gone and I've been wounded in the battle, He is all the strength that I will ever need. He will carry me!"

Those words are pretty powerful right? Well upon re-encountering them the other day, I found myself experiencing one of those face plant moments I always am talking about. See I was driving back to school after a much need chiropractor appointment, and on the radio that song,which by the way is called "He Will Carry Me" by Mark Schultz, started playing. I literally stopped driving for a brief moment, because those words just spoke so many  things to me. (Songs have been doing that a lot lately, and by songs I mean GOD has been doing that a lot lately THROUGH songs..) I instantly felt comforted, because I  was reminded that I am not alone, and that God has all the strength needed to carry me through my storms in life.

But that's only part of what this blog is about. Remember the title? yeah, it says "God's Timing Is Perfect". And yes, Him putting that song into my life that day was perfect timing for me, but it also provided a second perfectly timed moment later on that day. See, for me, I love to listen to songs over and over whenever they have some sort of deeper meaning to them, and this song definitely has a deeper meaning. Therefore, I looked up the song on youtube to listen to and possible discover a music video. I found a collage that someone had made with the song in the background, and was moved by it. After watching it for the second time, I suddenly had this feeling that I needed to post it on my friends wall. I had no idea why, I just felt that it was necessary that I go to her facebook page, copy the URL from youtube onto her wall, and go from there. Little did I know that that song was EXACTLY what she needed. Needless to say, we ended up skyping probably 30 minutes later and she told me about how she was having a horrible day/weekend and that song provided the EXACT comfort she needed. I had no idea she was having a bad day, but God saw her pain. And he chose to use me as a vehicle to contact her and let her know everything was taken care of and in control. How cool is that?

God's timing IS PERFECT!

and so it goes..