Ponderings

I have been reflecting on my summer the last few weeks and just trying to understand what is was that made is so amazing and so life changing. We always use the terms laughter and tears to describe the summer with the understanding that no one else will understand unless they have experienced the same thing. If you guys even check the blog to read this, you may think that I am crazy for attempting to put words to it, however, its what my mind does.
Over the summer, we were faced with a constant theme of God telling us our own stories through the stories of our campers and fellow staff. This got me thinking about this aspect of how our stories are a part of His greater story, and this is when it struck me. The reason this summer, and well every summer, was so amazing and life changing was because God was telling us our story, teaching us with those we are serving as well as serving with. But not only was God telling us our story, He was also dictating it in the sense of what we were doing, as it would flow out of our being, was usually an extension of His will and our recognition of that fact. Unfortunately, at least for me, but maybe for you as well, this is not how I live everyday life, in recognition of what God is doing through me and how He is using me because it is not nearly as easy to recognize.
I will be honest, these are just thoughts that I am writing here, not scripture and probably not nearly as revelational as one would want them to be. In fact, I believe it to be quite that simple, or in essence to say that there is no clear, precise way to say what happened this summer. Yes this does mean that I was not as successful in my pondering as I would like, but I shall put it out there and maybe one of you will be able to take it somewhere that I could not foresee.

Campers are Coming!

Campers hit the docks in t-minus 4 days!!! Now thats a call for celebration. I really struggle with celebration as a part of my daily disciplines but with the renewing of my thought process to view everyone as a Child of God created in His image, I find myself overflowing with joy. I catch myself using the words brother and sister more often and focusing on the fact that this is only a mere glimpse of the celebration in heaven. How cool is that?

Guidance: I think the big take away for me in this section was that I am created, not the creator. I know that this is such a basic truth, but I find myself acting as though I am the creator and I constantly need to humble myself and remember that my "sole end is loving the creator and serving Him from the motive of love"

Worship: to know me is to know that I cannot sing, but it is something I do often. Somehow my lack of talent has caused me to sing louder and more than the average person. This is why when I think of worship I think of my playlist that I jam to or the songs stuck in my head. I love the idea that worship can be more than just lifting my voice, it is a daily act of loving God and doing everything I can to promote His kingdom.
See you all soon!
-Haley

guidance

"So it is with the creature man. He finds himself in existence...He has no notion why it was that his particular soul rather than any other soul, was called into being, and put into his place....." the whole paragraph....read it again. Wow. I read this and I see me, a bewildered daughter. Why did my Father allow me to return this summer to Sonshine? Why am I blessed with this opportunity, this intimate encounter? As these months have passed and the countdown to campers gets smaller and smaller, my amazement grows. I see that this has nothing to do with me in the sense that neither my works nor my attitude bring me here. And with this realization comes another- that of my immeasurable dependence on God, that with each step I take I acknowledge I am powerless without my Creator. My own being implies God's being; and I exist, not for myself, but for God. So because I did not bring myself to this place, to Sonshine and to this life in general, I shouldn't live as if I did. "A creature means 'All for God'", woah. Yeah, of course, but wait, ooh wow, ok. This has always been a tough lesson for me and I think I've only truly realized in this past year how much I struggle resisting selfishness. Ok bizarre visual but I picture myself as a lone fish caught in a net in the ocean, on one hand this net constricts me, is a little scary, and ultimately, refuses my life purpose by not letting me free in the ocean with everyone else. But on the other hand, this net creates a nice bubble, a survivor mentality in which I fully believe that the only important things existing are me and this net, and they are the only things worth thinking about. So when I allow selfishness to take over I am consumed by this survivor mentality and I deny my true identity, I deny that I am free, that I am created for good works, that I am delivered from the powers of darkness....etc...SO basically this is a brief look at a personal struggle of mine and this devotion on guidance serves as a excellent reminder for this summer and for always. I am not my own beginning and I am not my own end, my end is God. the Creator's hand is my home. I want/need to die to myself, to be all for God, to embrace my true identity in Christ. So lets keep this devotion in our prayers throughout the summer, for all of us. 

So, this is a wee bit late but I’m super stoked on celebration so I figured I’d write anyway. These are basically my notes from post-reading journaling.

-       What are we celebrating?

o   That we are children of God, created by and for him- loved by him.

o   That Jesus came to this Earth to reconcile us to him and that through his death (and more importantly through his resurrection) we enjoy the privileges of being his beloved children.

We can respond in 1 of 2 ways:

1)   Try to repay him for all this and be consumed with guilt over our undeserving selves.

2)   Celebrate (clearly the better option even though I often get trapped in #1)

-       How do we celebrate?

o   Community with fellow believers/serving others

o   Spreading the good news

o   Sabbath (one of my personal faves)

o   Rejoicing in our work

o   Praying together

o   Affirmig each other

o   Gratitude

o   Songs of worship/reading bibles/going to church

o   Forgiving each other

o   Expressing creativity

In reflecting on this question I found that almost all things God invites us to do are forms of celebrating his son and his love for us. I don’t often think of forgiving, praying, or working as moments of celebration but they totally are!

This led me to wonder…What’s the difference between celebration and worship?

Celebrating is worshipful and worship is a way to celebrate. I don’t think they can exist exclusively. Because of our ultimate salvation we can (or at least I can) sometimes diminish the importance of daily duties (work, school, cleaning) because we know that “there are more important things in life.” But what is so awesome is that they actually do have significance, purpose, and value precisely because they are all forms of celebration and worship. What an awesome gift this is!

We are God's

I feel I have somewhat of a problem of doing what I want, and sometime disregarding what I feel God is telling me to do. I like to fool myself into thinking I have control when it is really all in God's hands. When I sit down and think about it it is comforting that God is in control. How can he not know what he is doing. Everything is done for my good.
I need to concentrate on being a creature of God, and not something of my own accord. We need to be "all for God". Love Him with all our hearts ,souls ,minds, and all our strength. We come from God, and in the end we will go back to Him. We need to remember we are creatures of God, we are in His hands and everything is done for all who love Him.

Celebration within Guided Creature-ness

The idea presented in this weeks study on guidance that dug deep in my heart was the section "God became a creature."  The idea of Jesus being the Son of God and God incarnate, God literally in the same flesh as we know.  I look down at my own hand and see the blue veins, finger prints, dirt, and scars and am floored that the same flesh I am granted life in is the same flesh our Lord came to the earth in!  Bazinga!  It is something that I don't even attempt to admit to wrap my brain around because I, and venture to say that we all, lack the capabilities to truly understand what God in flesh looks like, feels like, even sounds like for you auditory people!  What a call to celebration that our God became flesh and befriended, encourage, model, and challenged like no other in our same flesh!  Its time to celebrate people!

"What is this then but saying of such consequence was it to the happiness of man that he should know how to behave himself as a creature, that it was necessary the Creator should take a created nature, and come Himself to show how to wear it?  Thus one of the many known reasons of the sublime mystery of Incarnation was that the Creator Himself might show the creature how he should behave as a creature..."

Celebration

Sorry this is so late I have been very busy with work.

Christ's death on the cross, and his resurrection is our victory to share with Him. His victory over death. Death has no more sting. When I think of this I think when it is my time to go home, I will feel no pain of death, but I be in front of the One Holy God of the universe, the Maker of it all!
"God's desire is to transform the misery, not to bypass it."
I feel this is a quote I know all to well. I know many people have been though much more  pain and suffering than I have. All I have to thank is God to be where I am today. He has transformed and melted my heart of stone so many times. I remember my lowest of low, I couldn't keep my "happy face" on anymore. One night my when my friends came over I broke down. I remember the next day my friend invited me to his church and to the summer camp they were going to that summer. I'm sure you all know what camp that was. Over the next few months God transformed my life so much I cannot explain.

In his name michael

Service and Celebration

With such grace and beauty Jesus models the utmost servant heart by willingly and knowingly going to his knees to wash his disciples feet in John 13.  The connection made here about Jesus' awareness of his actions.  He is not confused about what it looks like or how the disciples will take it or be confused by his literal stepping into and fulfilling the role and responsibility of a slave.  "John wants us to know that when Jesus is down on His knees He is not confused about His identity as a slave!"  What a challenge for us this summer, and more importantly, in our lives as followers of Christ Jesus, our redeeming savior, because after all, "If being God does not mean something to take advantage of but emptying Himself, can being human mean anything else?" (DJ)  Something I myself need to be reminder of more frequently than I like to admit is that the invitation to do as Jesus has show us to do in John 13 is an invitation to freedom!  That behind the seemingly dirty, painful, tired eyes of a houseboat driver front tying until midnight, a barney performing the 3 pm mikey cleaning in 115 heat, is freedom!  Pure and JOYOUS FREEDOM!  The invitation to follow Jesus model is a loving invitation and encouragement to be the grain of wheat, fall to the ground on our knees, willing choose to root our identity in Christ Jesus and die on behalf of fellow drivers, barneys, admin, campers, youth staff, dock hands, other boaters, next years campers...all people...so that out of that choice of death, Jesus may make us eternally alive.

 When I think of the discipline of celebration I immediately think of two scriptures.  One, Rev. 4 where John is describing the throne in heaven and creates this, for lack of better words, sci-fi setting of creatures with eyes and wings and elders all over the place.  But the celebration lies in the creatures day and night giving praise and the elders falling to their knees in front of the one on the thrown.  I cannot help but respond with the question to myself, what if I lived my life always giving praise day and night and physically posturing myself on my knees before the one on the thrown?!  How different my life would look!  The second,  I am reminded of the book of Habakkuk.  The man Habakkuk is in conversation with the Lord.  He asks why the injustice, why does it seem like you are not listening, why the destruction and violence.  And after the Lord answers multiple times Habakkuk reminds himself of the faithfulness of God's promises in the past to Israel.  He holds fast to the knowledge of what God has done and in the middle of pain and the present situation, Habakkuk states with great faith, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior.  The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Hab. 3:17-19)  Habakkuk's faith in times of pain and destruction remind me that celebration is not dependent of the current situation around me.  If my worship of God is solely dependent on the blessings I receive or the way I view them then may-day!  Regardless of my circumstances, God's character alone deserve praise and worship!

"You are worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Rev. 4:11

Celebrating with Service

Service

Gosh, I just love Philippians 2:3-11! How beautiful is it that God himself became man to serve us here on earth? The devotional nails it right on:  "Jesus who was God in the flesh called himself the slave of all mankind. Could being His follower mean anything less?  Jesus who was the King of kings subjected
himself as a slave to be crucified for the world.  Could being a Christian mean anything less?"

The church I attend is currently going through the book of Luke. In  chapter 4, Luke shares how Jesus healed Simon's mother-in-law from a high fever. "So he (Jesus) bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait them." Luke 4:39. Jesus healed this woman, he saved her from death! And what did she do? She immediately got up to serve him out of gratitude! That is how I want to spend not only my summer on the waters, but the rest of my time here on earth. Jesus has healed me (and is continually making me new) and saved me from eternal death. I want to get up and serve him, I want to follow him, it's Christ's love and power in me that compels me to serve others who were just like my old self.

And that leads me to CELEBRATION!

I just love parties, and personally, I can't wait for heaven! Back to the woman in Luke 4, when I think about her being healed and how she responded by serving them. I just can't help but picture her jumping up, with Christ's power and JOY filled in her. That as a result of Christ saving her, she is compelled to serve (2 Corinthians 5:14-18 - 14). And it wasn't on her own strength (I mean, she was just on her death bed), but by allowing Jesus to heal her she was able to give to others. I bet she was thrilled to serve them!

Which makes me think of how Christ has healed and saved me. How he hass provided and continues to do so! How crazy! I don't know why he's called me Sonshine this summer, but I am so excited to serve and celebrate with you all for all God has done and will do this summer!