This morning I have spent time with my daughter in conversation. The topic of conversation quickly became Christian camp. The Holy Spirit immediately began to lead my thoughts and open my eyes to His reality.
My husband and I never went to "church camp". I'm guessing that is the leading factor in why we never sent our children. Until this last summer that is. Our two older children never went. Our daughter (the youngest) had been told about a certain camp by her friend's sister. She came home telling us all about it. Honestly, we heard her but we didn't listen to her in the beginning. But, thank God, she was relentless in her pursuit of going to this Christian camp. Eventually, we googled the camp and did some research. I was first put off by the expense and then put off even more when I realized we would have to make a few purchases for things required for her to go to camp. But, thank God again, we eventually chose to give this Christian camp a go. Our daughter was 12 at the time.
We waited in an extremely long line and went through the check-in process. In complete trust of our Lord, we left our daughter with complete strangers and as we drove home I prayed to God and asked Him to keep His arms of protection around our little girl. A week later, we picked her up and it was obvious she had enjoyed her time at Christian camp. I was extremely eager to hear of her experiences. She gave us a general idea of how her week went. But, today (about three months later) she gave us a more in depth, deeper understanding of how that week was for her.
I've heard from many people that some of their best days were at church camp. I've also heard from others that church camp is where a lot of mischief takes place. So please understand I get there are two sides to every coin.
What I've learned through my daughter's eyes today fully assisted by the Holy Spirit is this:
1. No matter where we are, no matter the circumstances we face, no matter who is present - God is there and available to us.
2. It is up to us as individuals and as His Church to foster and nurture His presence. We can so easily be distracted by our choices to settle for less than He desires to give.
Let me put this into a life application perspective. If you have read any of my blogs or watched any of my Authentic Confessions you know I professed to be a Christian for 21 years until the age of 37. Then Jesus pulled me out of the dungeon of dark death I was living in and pulled me up into His light! He literally turned on the light of my spirit. Life has never since been the same, thank you Jesus! But here's the deal. My oldest children at that time were 16 and 18 years old. My daughter was 12. I had raised my children with the only perspective I knew. That perspective was mine, all mine. I did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I did not depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance and discernment, I did not possess any fruit of the Spirit, I did not look to God for answers, and lastly, I did not ever read my Bible. I knew what people had told me aboutGod and I knew what I had been taught about the Bible. But, I certainly did not KNOW God and I did not KNOW His Word. So, needless to say I raised my children the best I knew how up to that point. But when this whole new world, the Spiritual world, was introduced to me - I immediately saw everything through new lenses. This was the beginning of my relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord!
In the past I had placed priority on making sure that everyone in my family was putting their best foot forward, doing what they were supposed to be doing. Whether it be showing up to school on time, whether it be getting good grades, whether it be wearing the right clothes, whether it be saying and doing the "right thing." {Self-admitedly a control freak - in recovery!} Those things are what mattered most. Think about that. What mattered most in my past was appearance. And it did not end at the appearance of life. I had taught my children that what mattered most was the appearance we projected determined where we would get and what we would get in this world. People's opinions of the appearance we were showing is all that mattered. Okay, that's a bit wordy and hard to follow. Let me give it another shot.
Take school for example. At one point in our country long, long ago education was Christ-centered. Not only did one wake up in this physical world knowing about our Lord Jesus Christ, our day revolved around the Lord Jesus Christ in His Spirit. Slowly over time we faded Him out of our education (not to mention some of our American churches). One person would feel offended and that dominoed into choices that eventually completely took God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit out of our schools. The result of that was more and more sin, teaching self-worth, self-esteem, self-this and self-that. For a follower of Jesus Christ one understands the danger in self. We recognize and honor and glory in the fact that mankind was made by Him and for Him! We should desire to be loyal to Him. Our choices and actions should be a reflection of that desire. In fact, that is the case.
Our Desires = Our Choices
But how difficult do we make it for ourselves when our loyalty is to us? And how difficult have we made it for ourselves when loyalty to self is what we choose to teach our children AND our children's children? Then we have the audacity to look to God and ask, "Why do you allow bad things to happen to good people?" We ask Him, "If You are real and a loving God, why did You let ________________ happen?"
One lens that The Holy Spirit provides is to know a tree (human) by their fruit (actions). Another lens is He provides and guides our spirit in is - reaping what we sow. The Holy Spirit of our Creator, our magnificent Designer, our all sufficient Sacrifice, our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer, our Best Friend, our Bridegroom is the source of our joy! He is the source of our power, the source of our love and the source of our self-discipline! So why America do we step by step keep shoving our Source out of our lives? Out of our homes, out of our schools, out of our work places, out of our churches, and worst of all - out of our minds? He is The Source of life and breath!
Wake up America! Who have we been allowing to grade our papers? Whose opinion have we been seeking? I encourage you to consider from the moment He wakes you up in the morning to the moment He puts you to sleep at night - You are writing a paper in every waking hour of every single day. There is but one teacher's grade that matters. Fellow human beings, brothers and sisters - Our Teacher loves us and commands what is best for us. He has provided gigantic blessings, grace and mercy for every single one of us.
Take the concept of living in a world of caring what peoples' opinions are. If you live of those OPINIONS - you are living IN POISON. Go ahead...write out the word opinions. You'll discover one letter at a time it spells out IN POISON.
Who will you allow to grade your paper today?
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