Here are some things to think about today:

1. You might have a lot on your plate, but sharing the responsibilities is ok. I think some times we feel guilty for getting someone else to help. Like we are being a huge inconvenience to them. We do however have to be aware/careful of not giving tasks to people, just because we don’t want to do them. That is not the type of delegation we are talking about here.
2. Sometimes other people can do a better job than we can. I think that this speak for its self. Others are gifted in ways that we are not. And we need to see the potential in others and help grow it in anyway possible. In some cases these people are wanting to help in anyway and they just need us to ask for their help. And in other cases we may see the potential even before they do, and we just need to help them see it in themselves!

Darin went through the book of James and broke it down plain and simple for the students to understand… I think all the youth will be able to remember to ‘Love the Suck’ (Look at James 1 if you don’t understand)
and Chris went through the spiritual pathways in how we as individuals are unique and sometimes the way that we connect with God is not just the cookie cutter method.

I love Chubb because all the focus is on GOD… and we spend the whole week encountering God, right where we are at.

I wanted to write this because not only did it happen for me growing up, but I think that it is so important not to forget these things. There are obviously more than 2 things to bring up but I chose these 2!

1. Remember What Happened at Camp: If God moved in your life in a huge way… REMEMBER IT. Write it down. If God was calling you to certain things… REMEMBER IT. Go back to it when you feel troubled in anyway. When any seed of doubt comes into your mind about what God did. You can go back to it and say NO, this is exactly what happened. I have it written down right here. When God does things in our lives, it is so important to write details down. We don’t always remember all the details, but the “paper” does.
2. Act on What God Called You to Do: To many times in my life, I encountered God and He called me to do things……………………………………………. and I did nothing. I don’t want to see this for my students, and I hope that you are in the same boat. FEAR is one of the major reasons that holds us back. What will my friends think? What will my family think? It was easier at Camp because people are praying with us, motivating us, speaking into our lives. But when we get home things change. We are not surrounding by Christians all the time, having chapel 2 times a day. It all boils down to our relationship with GOD. So we can either say it is to hard, or chose to do the things that He has called us to do, on His strength… and as I said to my cabin last week. If God can use me to do His ministry, He can most definitely use you

Knowing where you are, and trying to understand the impact each stage of life or situation have on your life, is huge.

Seth Godin had a really great post the other day ‘What you should worry about‘ and I loved this line:
“It might benefit you to pay attention to something or to learn about something, because that will help you make a better decision when then time comes.”

What can you learn from where you are right now? And how can that change decisions you make in the future?

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Who are the people that you love? Have you been loving them in a way that reflects true love?

The word “LOVE” is thrown around in our culture, and it has been misused and abused. Chapter 13 in 1 Corinthians is pretty straight about what love is. How do we show a world the true definition of Love, that is so messed up, perverted and misguided.

I believe that it is LIVING IT OUT…

Who do you know that needs love? or needs to know what love is?

Think about that line for a second…

I am just going to choose one item here and run with it. When was the last time we were thankful for forgiveness??

“If you are a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don’t call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it is something only God can do, and you trust him to do it — you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked — well, that trusting him to do it is what gets or sets you right with God. Sheer gift.”              –The Message

When one is first forgiven and now covered with by God’s grace… thankfulness is just something the bubbles out, and is seen and experienced. To be forgiven is something that we cannot do for ourselves. It is a gift… given to us. Not at a cost on our behalf, but that of Jesus’ great sacrifice. A sacrifice that should be seen with a WOW factor every time that we come to the cross. I think that to many times. I don’t know if it becomes a pattern, or if we think that we deserve it, or we just loose sight… but I think that we miss that WOW factor to often. We miss being thankful to God that has given so much to us, and has given it to us with no strings attached.

I know that I need to be more thankful, when I come to God for forgiveness when I have messed up. remembering that He holds no records of wrong, that I am forgiven, that my slate has been wiped clean. It is not by what I have done, that I am chosen, or by the rule and regulation that I have follow. Not at all, it is only by God and His grace that I can be washed clean and live a life with a purpose and a goal that I can set my sights on. When we look at it like that how can we not STOP and say WOW… Thank you God for your forgiveness, that I am set free.

Where ever you are, where ever you have been, where ever you are going. From our own bubbles of life it is sometimes hard to see or feel the direction you are moving is worth it sometimes. From inside we have a narrow view, a narrow view that is sometimes selective and bias. It is hard to see, and maybe sometimes hidden. That is the effect that our lives have on others. The way our words and actions permeate our friends, family and the people who we come in to contact with.

There are times when just a little bit of encouragement means the world… Someone seeing our life from the outside. Seeing the effect that we have on others, and just giving us a glimpse to that effect and its success. It is so refreshing just to hear someone talk about your life, to tell you that they see or have felt the effects our your live. To encourage you that what you are doing is productive and worth it.

I encourage you my friends to tell others the effect of their lives have … just one word,  like one spark can start something bigger than itself!

In the darkness they are hidden, everything looks the same. It doesn’t matter what they look like because the person next to you and the person inside look identical. There is a protection there, a calming feeling allowing them to stay in that state. “Change” is not even on the table because they are comfortable where they are at.

Life in the light is that of change. In the light you are seen for who you really are. Every piece of filth, dirt, and grim is seen under the microscope. Is that  OK with you? Are you happy the way you are? What we so easily forget is that yes in the light everything is exposed, but it is through that exposure that we find true protection, self worth and dignity. How else would we know that change is needed if there was nothing seen that needed changing? God exposes things in our life, not to bring us down or to say I told you so (even though we might deserve it sometimes). He exposes the things in our lives so that we can find forgiveness. That we can walk in the light just as he does. Change is part of the process, not the end result. The end result is moving towards HIM!