I've been the speaker at camp in the past but the fact that it had been a few years and that the directors of the camp were the parents of one of my spiritual mentors, I was a bit nervous.
On the drive down I kept a close eye on the G.P.S. and surfed the radio dial. But when I got about an hour or so from my destination the nerves were really taking over my thoughts. Although I had been praying and asking others for prayer, I decided it was time for some heavy prayer. I realized that I'm just a flawed vessel that God chose to use for His purposes. I'm nothing more then an extroverted A.D.H.D. goofball who has a story for everything. But when I allow God's Spirit to work in me and through me great things can happen. So I committed every aspect of the week to Him- my actions, my words, my thoughts, everything. .
Then I pulled up the "Cool Christian Stuff" folder on my MP 3 player. How Great Thou Art, the Carrie Underwood/Vince Gill version came on. The song has always been one of my favorites and Carrie's version brings me to tears every time.
Later, after getting slightly lost (the camp doesn't appear on the G.P.S. I borrowed) I arrived at camp.
Walking in to a situation of being the stranger walking in to a group that all knows each other can be a bit intimidating. But God said "Just be yourself, I got this." At the first leader meeting the director, Cheri introduced me and told them that I would be sharing a little of my story at evening chapel. I made some comment like "It's going to be awesome, you'll probably cry; don't forget to bring Kleenex." It's funny how getting my first laugh relaxes me. From that point on I was fine.
The kids were amazing! Very well behaved and good listeners.
A couple highlights:
One night I gave an illustration of how hard it can be to hear God when we've got so many distractions.
I had one of the kids come sit on a chair and told him that I was going to give "the phrase that pays" and he had to repeat it. But before I gave him the phrase I brought up a couple other people. I had one speak continuous Facebook status', I had another give baseball play-by-play, one acted as the nagging girlfriend asking to be taken places. I had one of the moms come up too (because it's not always bad things) and tell him to clean his room and do other chores. And 2 more came up and just had a conversation.
And I said "Oh yeah, gotta have music!" And played a Metallica song as performed by a cello group Apocalyptica.
I then said "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10.) I asked him what I said. He replied "I don't know, it's too hard with all the distractions!" I told him, and the audience, that I couldn't have put it better myself.
Here's the super cool part... The next day his cabin leader told me that later that night he asked "So what's this 'asking Jesus into your heart' all about?" And after talking for a bit, Karl, the leader led the kid into a relationship with Christ.
One night, I went to my cabin to prep the message for the next morning. I finished my PowerPoint slides and typing and I felt God say "That's not what I want you to say." So I started to retool another message I had. When I finished God said, "That's cute, now are you ready to listen to what I want you to say?" So I prayed for a bit and He gave me about 5 sentences and a couple of verses and then said "Now pray!"
I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. But when it came time for chapel God gave the me the words. I don't remember much, I was just repeating what He told me to say. But I was told by several that it was exactly what they needed to hear.
Another cool thing...
During 2 of the evening sessions, the director had invited married couples from her church to share testimonies. When I asked what they were going to share it ended up fitting perfectly with the subject God had given me for each evening. One even had the exact same verses written down in her notes!
If that isn't proof of God's hand in the week I don't know what is!
I also got to pray with/for some of the kids. That was really cool!
The last thing that was really neat...
On the last day, every time I looked at one of the teen leaders, I got teary-eyed. After lunch I realized that God wanted me to give her a word from Him. So I pulled her aside (but still in plain view of everyone as to not be inappropriate) and said the words God had given me. I was overwhelmed and crying like a baby. It was the first time I've received a word for an individual in that way. And more confirmation that God was at work in the week!
I pray that God will continue the great work He began last week.
And I have been reminded of the call and purpose God has given me. I am reminded that I need to take every step as God directs to achieve the goals He has placed on my heart.
There is nothing as satisfying as doing the things you love and doing them for God.
I encourage all who have read this to figure out what you love, and then figure out how to do that for Jesus!
Here's the video I was telling you about... Enjoy!
God bless y'all!
I'm glad the camp went so well! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Megan, and thank you for praying!
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