Day 6 of SL Staff

Day 3 of camp has been another amazing day. It has been a day of personal challenge filled with opportunities to serve others in Jesus' name. The day began with our staffers having the opportunity to be Jesus' hands and feet by waking up extra early and setting up the rec field so the Rec staff of Student Life would not have to. We were out on the rec field at 6:15 am and had the entire two fields set up in 30 minutes! Basically, our kids did work! Our verse of encouragement this morning was found in Colossians 1:29, "I work hard, striving with God's power working powerfully in me." It was definitely the power of God that gave us such great attitudes of service and love this morning. Every one of our students were working hard and clearly wanted to be there. That was amazing. We then had breakfast and staff devo pretending like nothing happened only to surprise them later. They were so excited. Showing God's love is always rewarding. The staff devo this morning personally challenged me. We have been walking through the story of Joseph. He has taught the heck out of Genesis 37! It is amazing how much I overlook when I read scripture. I have been reading to complete and not reading for change. That must change. My heart must change. God spoke to me through this and taught me that I have become content with certain sins in my life so much so that it doesn't even bother me. That bothers me (: But God is growing me and teaching me what it means to submit ALL of me to Him each day. We had a great day and then we went into our church's own Bible study that we decided to do with our free time and studied 3 verses in Colossians 2 that lasted an hour and a half. Now that was some great Bible study! I cannot say how impressed I am with our students. I would love to share their stories of faith, service, and fellowship right now but I am worn out. That will have to wait until Friday. What I can say is that I have never seen Jesus more visibly displayed in a collective group than our group of 14. There is no pride in that statement... Only gratitude.  I said that I would share my lack of faith story tonight. I will share that tomorrow or in a post later tonight. Just know that God has shown me a lack of faith this summer in what I believed was possible in two specific situations. God is huge and cannot be boxed in by me. Obey God. It's worth it!

Day 5 of SL Staff

We have just completed Day 2 of Student Life Camp and day 5 of our Staffing trip and I am absolutely exhausted! (: But I must admit that I have unexplainable energy and desire to keep growing, serving, and loving. I miss my wife dearly but her constant words of encouragement and affirmation along with her prayers remind me of my purpose and calling. I miss my church home and the regular schedule I have but also have been reminded that I am called to go and serve others and therefore am truly exactly where God wants me. Overall, I am a worn-out and tired, 100% committed, running on Jesus energy guy right now and I love it. This week we have been reminding one another to step out of our comfort zones and see what else God has for us. I am included in that challenge and it has been tough but rewarding. I believe that God did not allow Amber to come on this trip so he could grow me up. In the past I have deferred responsibility to others (especially Amber) in making major decisions. I am learning to make choices this week. I am praying that they are the right ones. I also feel like the camp pastor has been watching my personal life and then wrote a sermon for me on what God wants differently. The first that is obvious to me is PRIDE. Yes I have an unhealthy amount of pride. Pride is the enemy of God being able to work in my life. He wants total submission. That's a tough word for us tough Texans. The second thing I am learning is the art of REST. I honestly never stop. Everyone that I trust tells me constantly that I need to slow down. My problem is thank justify my pace by the importance of what I am doing... Making disciples is pretty important right? Mark 4 and 6 both speak of Jesus dragging his disciples away to rest. If Jesus, in his short time on earth, found time to rest then I do not have a choice. Our students: WOW. I can honestly say that I have never been more impressed with a total group than this week. They have truly shown that Jesus is real in their lives. Colossians 1:7 speaks about the life of a follower of Jesus bearing good fruit. They are living this verse out. Continue to pray for strength (Colossians 1:29) and determination along with patience and love. I am looking forward to sharing more about a personal battle of a lack of faith battle that I have experienced soon on my blog. It's pretty awesome how God works. Thanks for reading and sharing life with me.