Getting Ready to Leave

My time here is coming to an end, and you know what? I'm conflicted. On one hand, I'm sad. I don't want to leave. I came and found a wonderful community whom I love. I didn't expect to get attached to many people -- my time here will only be a total of 10 weeks. I did get attached to a lot of people here though, and I don't want to leave them. I don't want to leave the wonderful environment. On the other hand, I do want to see my family and friends at home. I miss them a lot. It's the longest I've ever been without seeing my parents. And it's the longest I've ever been without seeing my best friend. So I'm looking forward to seeing them (all my friends and family). But I don't really want to leave here. I want to be able to be with everyone, all in one town. Unfortunately, that's not possible. I'm told the conflict is actually a good thing; it means I love both places -- well, people in both places. It means my time here was good. It most definitely has been wonderful. But I don't really want it to end. And I know when I leave, that for a little while I'll be homesick for here. Because in the course of one summer, Hutch has very much become my other home.

Childlikeness

Mark 10:15 (NASB) "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

I think this summer has been filled with great examples of being childlike (as opposed to childish) and why it is beneficial to a Christian walk. I see the easy love of kids. All the kids I took to camp were so willing to accept me and love me for who I am. There was never an act for them, just me. What a great example to me! They haven't been hurt by loving people, and so are more willing to love people without reservation. They trust that all people are basically good and deserve to be loved. And with their willingness to love me, I readily opened up and loved them back.

Also, their faith is amazing. They never doubt that God can do anything if He wants to. Everyone's faith should be like that. I still worry about things... like God doesn't have control of it. Not that way with kids. They just live the day and know that God will take care of it if it needs to be taken care of. This starts to disappear as kids get older, but it's quite evident in little kids.

They don't often worry about what tomorrow will bring. They know that their parents will feed and clothe them. If kids know their parents, who are human, will take care of them, why can't we as adults see that our Father, God, will take care of us? We should take the example of little kids and trust that we'll be taken care of. And that things will be just right in the end.

Yeah, adults have more issues to deal with, and harder things to deal with, but all the concepts are the same. So I think we should all take the example of little kids and love without reservation and trust God to take care of us in all things.

VBS

VBS at Crossroads is definitely the best VBS I've ever seen. But it's only the second one I've ever seen. Seriously though, I think that no matter how many VBS's I see or participate in, Crossroads' will remain one of my favorites.

There were around 160 kids every night with a little over 180 different kids attending throughout the week. I had between 6 and 9 kids in my crew every night.

Each station was just the right amount of time... not too long, not too short. And there was always something enjoyable for me (very often just what the kids would say). When asked what the Isrealites were thinking when they put the blood on their door frames so that the firstborn children in their households would be passed over, one little girl said, "Poor little lamb!" All the kids were so willing to do everything. They enjoyed each part of the night every night. And the best part about kids is I can do whatever I want and they don't judge me for it. So I could get just as into the songs as they did, and they thought that was cool. They would even dance with me. In our spare time, they were completely open to learning the Bible verse of the day. It was awesome to see how open they are to God.

I don't think it was one individual component that made VBS so great. I think it was all of it together. I think one thing that was so cool for me was to see that many kids together for VBS (it was way bigger than the other VBS I helped with). But everything added together is what made it such a neat experience. It was a lot of work and long days, but I loved it, and looked forward to every night. And quite honestly, I'm kind of sad it's over.

Know Sweat

I think all trips teach me something. Know Sweat taught me a lot.

1. 20 people in a single story house is crowded.
   
2. A 14 year old beagle still has a good nose, and will get any food left on the floor in a bag, or any food too close to the edge of the table.
3. Primer is harder to get off than actual paint.
4. Don't wear clothes you don't want to ruin around wet paint because no matter how hard you try, you will still get some on you.
   
5. Getting bleach in your eye is extremely painful, but as long as you flush it out with water, it doesn't cause any lasting damage.
6. A lot of changes can be made to a house and yard in 3 days with 20 people.
7. Painting goes faster when you everyone in the room works together.
8. Having 20 people lower a PVC pipe to the ground with each person only having one finger on it is actually pretty difficult.
9. Getting kids to drink water because it's hot and they're farther up in altitude is difficult.
10. A walk and talk with a friend helps make everything seem a little better.
11. You should work on your ability not to tell on yourself before playing a prank.
    
12. Working to help someone in need while tiring, is refreshing and wonderful, especially when you see their gratitude at the end.
13. When you work all day, you're ready for bed by the time everything is done.
14. It's hard to fight off grouchiness when you're tired.
15. Everything seems worse and harder when you're tired.
    
16. God gives you the strength and patience to get through every day, even when you think you can't do it anymore.
    
17. It takes several days to recuperate from a trip like that.
18. People will always surprise you with their kindness (Cici's pizza gave us free gift certificates to give to the woman whose house we were working on and her daughters).
19. Some people can always find the bright side to things (we had to scrape the paint off an entire wall, and Blake was happy and went at it with energy, and pointed out Jesus may have done things like what we were doing, since he was a carpenter).
20. Starting the morning off with a devotion makes the whole day better.
21. Having a break for a devotion helps people to collect their thoughts and go back to work with more energy.
22. I can survive without naps.
23. A trip like Know Sweat is a great place to build lasting friendships.
    
24. God shows his majesty and beauty through the mountains -- enough to take your breath away.
25. God is in every moment, and working to help others is one of the best ways to show Christ to them.
    

One More Trip

Tomorrow I'm off on another trip. And I'm pretty excited for this one. Know Sweat in Denver, Colorado. I get the opportunity to help lead a service project for our group, and I'll get the chance to get to know our teens a little better. I'm pretty excited about it. We have some great teens going on this trip that I'm sure I'll enjoy getting to know more.

My 3 weeks of camp were awesome. I only had good groups. One of the girls in my cabin (she didn't come with a sponsor, so I was her sponsor) had to go home sick from Junior Week. And I may have had some homesick girls. But those were the only problems. The girls were all good about listening to me, and there's something about a little girl just coming up to you and holding your hand that makes the heart happy. It's a pretty neat experience because all these girls think I'm one of the coolest people in the world. I don't doubt that they'll get over that, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts :-)

I also realized what an amazing responsibility God has given us. The only way that these kids are going to grow up knowing God and His ways are if we, as Christians, teach them. The world isn't going to teach them. In fact, the world will do its best to lead them away. God gave us the responsibility to make sure they grow up knowing Him. What an amazing responsibility. That He would trust us with that is almost unbelievable to me. We mess up so much, and yet we get to be the example for younger generations. Crazy. But as long as we try, God will work it out. Our God is powerful enough to fix any mistakes we might make. He gives us this responsibility because He wants to give us a chance to serve Him. And I think it's pretty neat.

The "Other Place"

Hell is often a topic of conversation among Christians and even non-Christians. There's debate over what it's like: is it eternal punishment or is it a second death where the spirit ceases to exist? Non-Christians use it as an excuse not to follow God. How could a loving and just God punish people forever, people who had just never heard His name? Christians try to use it to scare people into becoming Christians or doing the right thing. My question is: What's the big deal about Hell?

I understand it's a scary thought. I get that. But when Jesus came and He was talking to people, what did He talk about? Did He constantly talk about Hell? No. He talked about love so much more. And money was also a bigger topic of conversation for Him. It wasn't, "Do this or you'll go to hell." It was, "Love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." It was "Take care of the widows and orphans." It was "Take care of the poor." Doing things just because you're afraid of hell won't work. You'll end up not following through with what you planned. But if you love God and that's the reason you do what you do, then you'll have no problem following through. It's love that makes things work, not fear.

The importance of the concept of heaven and hell have been explained to me in the following way, and I would agree. When a child is little, they need rewards and punishments to do the right thing. As they grow up, they do the right thing because they love their parents and don't want to disappoint them. Rewards and punishments are still part of it, but not overly important like they were before. As we become more mature Christians, the concept of heaven and hell don't matter quite as much. Yes, they're still important, but they aren't our main motivators. Our relationship with God and our love for Him becomes our main motivator to do the right thing. So as our relationship with Him matures, heaven becomes more of just something to look forward to some, but it's not thought about a whole lot, I don't think, because you can just enjoy the relationship and closeness you do have right then.

So I think that hell needs to stop being such a common topic of conversation, and loving people needs to take its place in our thoughts.

Church

I've been thinking a lot about church lately. I have attended churches that seem to be filled with "pew-fillers" and I have attended churches that encourage me and build me up. I think there is one thing that makes a big difference. It's not the songs, the classes, or even the preacher. It's the community and sense of belonging. Without a sense of community or belonging, there is no church.

1 Corinthians 12:26-27 (New American Standard Bible):
(26) And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (27) Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

People suffer together, they rejoice together. They know they belong. The hand doesn't tell the foot, "I don't have time for you." Or, "I didn't volunteer for this." It helps. No questions. The body is one. Just like a family.

2 Corinthians 6:18 (New American Standard Bible):
(18) "And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me," says the Lord Almighty.

That makes us brothers and sisters. Family helps each other. No matter what. The love and belonging is unconditional. That's what a good church has. Community. It's a family. And to be part of such a church is an incredible blessing that helps a person deal with daily struggles. It gives an environment to heal and an environment to fight evil. It is where the environment to truly be able to spread the gospel comes from. No one can do it on their own. We all need support. And that's okay. It's more than okay; it's necessary. It's the way God made us. He made us to need other people, which is why a good church is so encouraging and fulfilling. And everyone should have a good church; no one should ever be without family.