Images of Life

Handsomeness
My brother and nephew came to visit me this spring and we got to go explore the Montana countryside by 4-wheeler. It was a bunch of fun!

I am very blessed by the family that God has given me and the support that they have shown me about moving to the middle of nowhere Montana. All except for my niece have been out to visit me.
(and she is 4 so I don't think she really notices)

Family Affair
This my brother Peter and I on top of an observation tower. I was able to sneak home in June for a couple of days and as a family we went to Sisseton, SD for a day.

My dear Ginny.
Definitely one of the highlights of my summer was that she was able to come out for a week of camp!

The following pictures are from a wedding of two staff members. Kevin and Jen met at camp several summers ago and were married on August 16. The wedding was really sweet (this bride glowed!) and it was a lot of fun to hang out with some great friends.

Elisha and I
Elisha is a fellow Minnesotan - he actually grew up about an hour away from Fergus and lived in Fergus for awhile. We also have some friends in common. However, we met at camp and have never actually seen each other in Minnesota :-)

James!

What happens when you leave your camera unattended

Futile Effort
I was under strict orders NOT to catch the bouquet.
However, I decided that it just didn't look right if I didn't put any effort into it so this is me trying
(while knowing that I really had no chance)
Better luck next time?

Sittin & Gazin
We finished up the fun-filled friend extravaganza with a foray into a local state park for some grilling (which was super super yummy!) and some great friend time.

Restless Heart

Tonight my heart is restless. It is a feeling that I get quite frequently, but it is more so tonight. When is it my time? When is it my time to move on? When is it my time to do something big with my life? When is it my time to have that person to love? When is it my time for the rest of everything to begin?

I always say that God is in control and is the one to tell me when to leave. And He is. Otherwise I might have gone off on a bunny trail quite awhile ago. But it doesn't always make it easy. Patience is an important life skill, but not always an easy one to develop. But such is life.

There are times in my life where I want to strive towards things. Getting a Bachelors degree, being a great friend, finding a great book, posting an interesting blog, seeking to know people and being a person of faith. And all of these things are important I believe. Because if we aren't working towards something, how are we growing?

Floating or Rapids?

Tonight at the last evening meeting of the summer (which was definitely bittersweet!), our camp director Jim spoke on apathy. He used Revelation 3:14-22 as his scripture reference, which talks about the church in Laodicia. Probably the most quoted verse from that passage is verse 16, which says "'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." There are so many Christians today who have simply gotten their fire insurance and stayed there. They are not willing to engage and God is so disgusted with their behavior that He wants to puke. I don't know about you, but I do NOT want God to puke at the thought of my behavior. I would much rather make Him proud and have Him greet me with "well done good and faithful servant."

However, the pull of the world is strong. The world seems to be so important. It is the here and now. We can feel it, touch it, smell it, taste it and hear it. But what is the world? What is our life here on earth? It is a blink of an eye. It is the merest of a second. But what is eternity? Eternity is forever. Eternity is where we spend our time. However, no matter how brief our time here on earth is, it is what determines how the rest of time is spent.

In one of His parables, Jesus talks about the master who gives his servants talents, and then goes away. When He comes back, He asks for an accounting. With those who risked much and gained much He trusted with more. With the servant who buried it and gave no return, nothing was trusted. God has given all us something. He has given us all Spiritual gifts and we are to use them. We are not to bury them.

In his sermon tonight, Jim gave an illustration of a football game. In the stand are 10,000 people who need exercise and 22 people who need a rest. In the game of Christianity are those Saints who are pushing. Those who are going full bore for the sake of the Lord. In the stands are those who are cheering them on, but who are not willing to get up and help. These are the ones who tend to "talk the talk" but not to walk the walk. They may talk about being a Christian and say how they depend upon God for their everything, but in all reality do not.

After the sermon was over and the call had been made and the people came forward I visualized life as a two rivers, side by side. One side was nice, calm and peaceful. The people getting into this river got on their tube and just soaked in the life. They spent their time chatting and floating. By the end of ride they are relaxed and leisurely get off the river. They enjoyed it, but nothing in their life changed. The other river was not so nice. This one was bumpy, full of rapids and dangerous. The people strapped themselves in to save their life. They fought their way, wave by wave. They worked together and came out on the end full of life. They knew what they had done to get where they were going and they were fulfilled. They knew that their journey was one worth going on.

I want to live the adventerous life. I want to live a life that is worth fighting for. I want to live a life that brings me out on the end bruised, battered and rejoicing in every moment.

You Give And Take Away

What does God take away from us?

God can take our hopes, our dreams, and our expectations. He can take away our material things. He can take away friendships and relationships. He can take our very lives.

But what can God give us?

God does not take away these things and leave us empty. Instead He gives us replacements we never could have come up with on our own. He fills our hearts and minds with new dreams that we cold never have imagined before. He blesses us in ways that we never saw coming.
As a missionary I see this on a regular basis. God blesses me on a monetary basis quite regularly. From month to month I never know where my money is coming from. But it is through that I have learned trust, as I never come up short. I have what I need, when I need it. How can I argue with that?
God does not just bless me monetarily. When I need encouragement there is a card or a phone call or an email or a Facebook post that comes at the right time. When I think of something that might be nice to have (something as trivial as Ziploc bags), God will often times put it on peoples hearts to supply. I don't tell anyone a thing but it still shows up. How can I say that is coincidence? When God cares enough to supply me with the small things how can I doubt that He will give me the big things??

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!

Out of Control

Certain days I am bombarded with questions. Unfortunately, they are not friendly questions. They are more the type that just bring me down more than lift me up. However, today I really felt the need to express them and I figured that if nothing else, my blog needs to be honest. Don't get me wrong - it's great being a Montana Missionary, but overall I am still human. So, here are some of my questions.

Why??? Why do I feel so out of control some times? Why do I not say what I think? Why do I take things personally? Why do things not work out the way I had planned them to? Why don't scenarios play out the way I imagine? Why do things come out of my mouth way harsher than they sounded in my mind? Why can't people always understand what the other person means? Why can't I be all things for all people????

Impact

As I come off of a week of counseling 7 amazing girls, I am struck by responsibility. Parents trusted me with their children - to teach them, counsel them and take care of them. For 6 days I was to be their main caretaker. It's a great way to test out parenting :-) But what a responsibility! What if I told them the wrong thing? What if I wasn't there when I needed to be? What if I couldn't find the words to say? What if, what if, what if.

If we let the what ifs run our life, we will be severely hindered from doing what it is that God wants us to do. Yes, we run into situations where we are over our heads. Yes, we run out of words to say. But God works through that. And it is when God works that we make an impact.

When I start getting myself ready for counseling, I am pumped. I know it is going to be a great week and that everything is going to go smoothly and perfectly. I pack my bag with everything I need and try to anticipate what my girls are going to be like. I plan how the week is going to go. And then as time gets closer and closer the knot in my stomach grows. Last Sunday I was sitting on the Snak Shak porch, waiting to receive my campers. A large part of my was psyched up and ready to go. A small part of me was praying that for some reason none of my campers could come to camp so I could step back into my comfort zone. And then my name comes over the loudspeaker and I go to meet my first camper. There is no turning back!

As I met my girls I tried to get a feel for who they were and what they needed from me. Some just needed love. Lots and lots of love. Others needed questions answered. Others needed a fun person who they felt comfortable being themselves with. Others needed a little more direction. They were all different. They all came from different homes with different problems. Everyone's story is unique onto them and so they need to be met where they are at that time, not where I want them to be or where society thinks they should be. Throughout the week I spent time with them, talking with them, and just being there for them. I was there to make sure they took their vitamins and took showers. I was there to cheer them on when they were nervous about doing an activity or acting in the drama. I was to answer any questions they might have about God. I was there.

Which brings me to the word impact. How exactly do we impact people? What can we do that makes a difference in peoples lives? Can we preach a great sermon and change their lives? Absolutely! Can we run a camp where the fun never stops and lives get changed? Absolutely! But what is it that people remember the most?

When campers come back year after year the first thing they ask is where their counselor from the past years are. When Trail's End staff go to churches to promote camp they are met by excited kids who are expecting their counselor to be there. We get letters throughout the year addressed to counselors from their campers. Kids spell love T-I-M-E. And it's the counselors that put in the time. It's the counselors (for the most part) who have the chance to make the biggest impact on the kids.

So I guess what I'm trying to express is that if we are looking to make an impact for God (which quite honestly should be every Christian's goal) we need to be willing to invest in people. We need to be willing to spend time with them and love them. We need to get our hands dirty. We need to be open to doing what it is that God wants us to do! So, what does God want you to do?

Sounds of Summer

I am sitting out on the front porch of my office right now, enjoying a little break from being inside (someone donated a very nice rebuilt laptop with wireless so I can sit outside and do work, which is lovely of course) listening to the sounds of camp. The thing that strikes me over and over again the difference a month makes.

A month ago there was quiet. Occasionally you would hear a turkey call or a cat meow, but that was about it. The silence was lovely. You could sit outside and watch the branches sway with the wind and soak in the solitude. There would be perhaps two people a day who would come into my office needing something from me.

Now today I am overwhelmed with what is around. The weed eaters are going at full blast and the kids are yelling and the loudspeaker is announcing and the trucks are driving by. People are constantly tramping in and out of my office, needing this form printed or this question answered or just someone to listen to them vent. Kids are walking from the climbing tower to the big swing and back again.

Then comes a brief moment of silence. The weed eaters take a break, the kids stop their game, and the silence gets soaked in. All the questions are answered, all the forms are printed. It is then that I get to take a step back and soak in what is around. Soak in the atmosphere that is camp. When things are going a million miles an hour it is crazy fun, but it is hard to understand what is happening.

When things slow down, I can take a step back and realize what is going on. Kids are having fun, kids are learning about God and kids are being loved. They get a week to get away from the pressure of this world - a week to take a break from the media and from bad influences. A week to enjoy physical activity and to try new things. A week to be truly a kid. For here is a safe haven. Here we ask tough questions, but we do not expect them take care of things that are beyond their levels. Here we push them forward in different aspects and have them try rapelling down a cliff, but we do not ask them to be adults.

Because soon enough the ball gets thrown back into play, the weedeaters get more fuel and people drive by on important business. Soon enough we send the kids back to the world, where they are once again bombarded by life. Knowing that we have them only for a week makes the time with them just a bit more precious. Knowing that we only have one week to share the love of Jesus makes it more of a priority.