"can my child call home if he misses me?"

Talking to parents registering their kids for camp for the first time can be quite an experience.  There are so many different kinds of parents, and different emotional responses from them as they prepare to launch their child into the world of summer camp.  For some, the child has spent a week or more away at Grandma's house before, while others have never been away from their child for more than a day.

Some of these first-time camper parents will give me the needed information I ask them for, pay the fee, and they're off the phone... quick and easy.  Others, though, will give me the info I ask for plus anything else they can think of that I might want to know about their child -- emotional or behavioral issues, whether or not they make friends easily, what kind of activities they like, the fact that they are overweight and need to do something  this summer besides play video games.... etc etc.

Some parents make the phone call with a lengthy list of questions prepped in front of them.  Then it's interrogation time, and I get asked questions about everything from our activities to how many kids are in a cabin to how we screen/select counselors to how much snacks cost to emergency policies to... you name it.  It's interesting to me that some parents just trust what they see on the brochure/website or what they hear from friends, while others feel the need to dig deeper into the details.

These conversations can be enjoyable, difficult, and occasionally a little ridiculous.  But I imagine if I was sending my child to a week of summer camp for the first time, I'd probably be a little nervous, too.  After all, they are handing their most valuable possession -- their child -- into the care of other adults for a week!  In the end, it's always a good feeling when the conversation ends with a relieved parent saying to me, "Thank you, I feel SO much better about this now! I think my child will have a great time!"  I feel like I (and Camp!) have passed the test.  Mission accomplished -- that's one more kiddo experiencing the love of Jesus at Camp this summer!

a woman of God

So, there's always a lot of discussion in the Christian arena about what it means to be a "godly woman." In fact, I read a couple of blog posts on this subject just tonight. It's important, for sure, and it's challenging sometimes - especially in today's American society - to know exactly what being a Christian woman is supposed to look like.

The other day I was reading in 1 Timothy 5. I was actually reading chapter 4, and praying verse 12 for a friend (that's the "let no one look down on your youthfulness" verse, if you didn't know). I decided to keep on reading a little farther, and came across 1 Timothy 5:9-10. This is the list of qualifications for a widow to be "put on the list" to be cared for by the church.

I've read this before, of course, but this time it came across to me a little differently. Obviously, I am not a widow, nor do I ever want to be a widow! But it seems that in Paul and Timothy's time, older widows who were godly women were eligible for the church to provide for and care for them. This little description, then.... describes a godly woman. I don't want to be a widow, but I want to be this kind of woman:

"A widow is to be put on the list [if she has been] the wife of one man, having a reputation for good works, and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work." (1 Tim 5:9-10)

Being a woman of God begins deep inside, in the heart of hearts, believing in Jesus. It shows up in the "quiet and gentle spirit" and the inner beauty. And it displays itself to the world in the genuine, sacrificial acts of service described here. That's the kind of woman I want to be, with God's help!

the outcasts.

Thought for the day. "Jesus loves the outcasts."

Last night at small group, we discussed Luke chapter 5. This chapter describes how Jesus called Peter and the other fishermen to be His disciples, then how He healed the leper and the paralytic, after which He chose Matthew - a tax collector - as a disciple and went to a dinner party full of people who were called "sinners." What stood out to me in this chapter.... Jesus was all about the nobodies. The everyday, average-joe folks, who the rest of the world either a) overlooked or b) judged.

Jesus loves the outcasts.

Last week for my college class, we were required to take a spiritual gifts test, then discuss our results on the class online discussion board. My top result was Showing Mercy. As I discussed this with my classmates, one of them brought up a verse from this very story in Luke 5 -- Jesus' response to the leper. "He reached out and touched him and said 'I am willing; be cleansed.'" Loving the outcast. Touching the untouchable. Showing mercy.

Isn't that what it means to be like Jesus?

Whether they are the homeless on the street corner, the orphans overseas, the elderly in the nursing homes, or our own peers...

God, help me see people like You see them... as precious lives, souls in need of Your love, even if the world sees them as ugly or worthless or beyond hope or just a nobody. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. To love like You is what I want, Lord.

a biblical question...feedback please?

This question has been floating around in my brain for about a week, and I haven't been able to land on an answer. Here's the question...

Do we too often respond to circumstances with "whatever God wants will happen" or "what's meant to be will be," in essence throwing our hands up and taking the easy way out, when perhaps we are supposed to instead find out what it is God wants?

The Bible says "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). It also says "understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).

So, rather than spouting off the easy, comforting "whatever is meant to be will happen," should we instead seek the thoughts of God and find out "what is meant to be"... and then be submissive and proactive in that?

I understand that saying "what God wants will happen" is not always just easy and comforting... it does require faith. I'm just wondering if it's the right approach in all situations.

Any thoughts? I'd really like to hear them.

When You Love Someone by Bethany Dillon

This morning it was a fight to wake up

Those words still ringing in my head

Never felt like such a fool in front of anyone

I guess that's what you do when you love someone

I was in Nashville, you were driving home

Wish I was in the passenger seat

I just needed you to know I'm coming undone

That's what you do when you love someone

Just give me time if you need more

There's no way to ever really know

How to protect yourself or predict the outcome

But you'll do anything when you love someone

I just hung up the phone

You've got a way of changing my day

You proved me wrong, I was convinced I was alone

I guess that's what you do when you love someone

something greater.

This is a picture of a 3-year-old Ethiopian girl and her daddy.
This is a picture of a little girl who cannot walk, run, or play with other kids because she was born with club feet.
This is a picture of a life with very little hope.
Yet, this is a picture of hope.
This is a picture of a little girl who now gets to have corrective surgery from the Christian doctors who work with CURE International.
This is a picture of a child whose surgery has been fully paid for by people who have never met her.
This is a picture of a family who will be introduced to Jesus at the CURE hospital.
This is a picture of how, by something as small as donating a dollar, or something as big as performing surgeries, or anywhere in between, we can all be a part of something greater than ourselves.

I want to be a part of something greater than myself. I want to make a difference in the world, in whatever part of the world I am in. I want to be one little person playing my little part in God's beautiful plan, but I want to KNOW that I'm touching lives and that it all really matters and that I'm giving my life to something great.

Sometimes, like tonight, it's more complicated than it should be -- details, money, applications, safety, closed doors. It's frustrating. Like, I just want to love on hurting people, just want to serve. But there's so much standing between where I am and where I want to be. And I'm not really even sure where that is, if it's right where I am, or down the road, or in some other state or some other country. All I know is I'm longing to lose myself in the beauty of doing God's work.

total randomness.

Random Facts Running Through My Head

by Ashley

1. Mocha Cheesecake ice cream is really fancy and yummy.

2. My dog sheds a lot.

3. This thing sitting next to me that's made of cedar wood smells really good.

4. I absolutely cannot wait to be done with my AA degree in May.

5. I have Taylor Swift's song "Stay Beautiful" in my head.

6. My house is kinda messy.

7. It's going to storm again tomorrow.

8. I'm wearing completely mismatching clothes right now.

9. Cardio Ballroom Workout with Julianne Huff is super intense.

10. Today someone thought I was engaged.

11. One week from Sunday is the first soccer game of the season.

12. Pajama pants with pockets are cool.

13. It's dark outside.

14. I have a lot to do at work tomorrow.

15. Yesterday I heard "Go the Distance" from Hercules in some unidentifiable foreign language.

16. One time my family and I watched Mulan in Spanish.

17. I'm trying to learn how to French braid my own hair.

18. Rain boots are hard to drive in.

19. There's a coloring book and box of crayons on the chair next to me.

20. That's all.

can I be the one You use?

SET THE WORLD ON FIRE by Britt Nicole

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You
It's everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

I am small but You are big enough
I am weak but You are strong enough

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
Tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father's hand

I am small but You are big enough
I am weak but You are strong enough

Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There's nothing I cannot do

My hands, my feet, my everything
My love, my life, Lord use me

I wanna set the world on fire

For the last six or seven months, I've been trying to figure out what comes next in my life. Where am I going when I leave here? I'm not sure if I want to work at a camp, or take a break from camp ministry. Maybe I'll work in youth ministry of some other kind. Or maybe I'll go to the other side of the world and "feed the hungry children." I don't really know! It's an adventure -- sometimes frustrating, sometimes thrilling -- as I seek where He'll have me go.

All I know is I want to make a difference. And I want it all to be motivated by the amazing, crazy, life-changing love of God.

be real.

So, for something I was filling out yesterday, I had to answer the question, "What do other people see as your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?" In order to answer that question, I texted a few close friends and asked them.

I learned something: When you ask the question "what do you think is my greatest weakness?" you're going to get honest answers, and then you have a choice. You either brush off what they say, get offended by it, or receive it and learn from it.

In my case, three of the answers I got were very similar. The first friend said "kinda shy sometimes." The second said "your lack of self-esteem." The third friend gave a little more detail, and said "You lack a little boldness, seems hard for you to be real with what's going on with you."

It wasn't until I was sitting in church this morning that the third answer really struck me. The message today was on Building Real Community, and one of the pastor's points was "Fellowship is built on authenticity." He used 1 John 1: 7 here: "If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another."

At that point of the message, my friend's statement about me "not being real with what's going on" came back to me. She's totally right. I'm one of those people that, no matter how bad a day I'm having or how heartbroken I might be, I'm gonna paste a smile on my face and say "I'm fine." Neither am I very likely to open up and be vulnerable and admit that I'm struggling with something.

My pastor's challenge this morning was that that attitude is a hindrance to real, authentic fellowship. Keeping our struggles, and even our joys, hidden in the darkness of our own selves accomplishes nothing. They are meant to be shared. We are meant to walk in the Light and to be known -- known by God and by our brothers and sisters. We are called to bear one another's burdens. If we keep our burdens to ourselves, first of all no one can help us bear them, and second, we have no strength left to help others bear theirs.

So that's something I want to work on... authenticity. Yes, self-esteem and boldness and being less shy... but also being real. Why is it so hard for us to just be authentic?

"Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another." James 5:16