Welcome sponsors, friends, and family!
I am so excited that this is happening! Ok, more specifically, I am excited that camps officially starts today, my laundry is almost done meaning I can start PACKING, and that in just 5 days I will be driving up to Chatsworth, GA for CAMP!
Now, if you have never been to camp before, I am terribly sorry because you are missing out. There is something so incredibly exhilarating and life altering about running around with a bunch of teenagers doing crazy games, performing a ridiculous skit with a funny accent (more stories on that to come), and getting on average 5 hours of sleep a night! This is not sarcasm, this is real! Because being removed from distractions while surrounded by other believers as you are guided through a book of the bible provides an amount of energy unknown to this world. What an incredible way to grow close to God when we are out of physical strength, but he intervenes with his strength!
So this year, we as a camp will focus on 1 Samuel. When I first heard this I thought, "Ok. David is in here and I will probably focus on him." But as I began reading through it, I found myself focused on Samuel.
"So God, who was fed up with [the Israelites], decreed their death. But the boy Samuel was very much alive, growing up blessed by God and popular with the people." 1 Samuel 2:26
How did he become so favored by God and people? I wondered. Where did this life Samuel have come from? What made Samuel different and what can I do to be like him? Continuing to read, I could not find what set him apart. Nothing tangible made him favored. Nothing he repeatedly prayed made him favored. He was just him. Plan and simple. Samuel prayed and listened to God. He understood that there was a bigger picture. Yes, Samuel the priest did great holy works, but that was not his entire purpose and he recognized that. He allowed God to use his life however the Lord needed. All for the purpose of creating that bigger picture, allowing God to use his life for something more.
His favor came through surrender of his life. Surrender of life to God, completely. And this is how I enter summer knowing that I am a part of God's bigger picture. Yes, the works I can do on my own can be good, maybe even great, but without surrendering my life to God's bigger picture, nothing I do will last for the kingdom.
And now I leave you with this:
Challenge: Read 1 Samuel 3, 7:7-17. Take in Samuel for yourself and think about how simple/complicated his actions were. Then honestly ask, would you do the same?
Prayer: 1. Please pray for this first week of camp! Campers arrive today at 2 for the first staff and honestly it is quite nerve racking! Pray that peace and calm overcome the staff. 2. Pray for softening of hearts for the campers this week. They are about to experience some life-changing things that they shouldn't miss because of a hard-heart.
Love and Blessings to you all! And welcome to Global 2011!
Danielle
