Week 6 2010

Day 1
18 teenage girls this week. I see the Lord at work already in the eyes of the girls tonight as I spoke about how the Lord of the universe has planned out this week for their lives for thousands of years and now it is beginning tonight. I can tell that the Lord has gone before us to prepare the hearts and minds of some for the Gospel. I am also more aware than ever that we have an enemy who seeks to devour. He really doesn't have to devour us so much as he devours our time with things that are not of God. It is his hunger for our attention that is where I see he feeds the most. Anything to feed his own pride and to starve our soul from the bread of life. We must guard ourselves here at camp this week to make the most of the time that the Lord has planned out for us. May we "set our minds on the things above and not on earthly things" and if it is our time that feeds the enemy; may we be so preoccupied with Christ Jesus that he starves to death!! To God be the Glory!
Day 2
It's a hard path to walk! It takes focus and balance. The path is marked out for you. With each step you grow closer to the end. The path of the Lord is a difficult one. He showed us the path that we must walk according to His son Jesus. He says "Narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life". Nevertheless, we are called to walk that path. It is no surprise that many consider the path and turn away when considering the sacrifice and difficulties that lay ahead. The girls this week are confronted with the narrow way. A way that will require daily sacrifice and ultimately a complete dying to their self in order to live a life for Christ. It is only from the Lord that they will be given the faith to step onto the path of repentance and salvation.

Week 5 2010

Day 1 Monday
Girls Week!! It is a much calmer atmosphere with the girls. After spending four weeks with boys, it is refreshing to finally have our girls arrive. Not that I don't love our boys but I really appreciate the differences. Last night was a great first night with all the girls arriving safely and with excitement in their eyes. It's almost as if they are expecting God to do great things! And I believe that's what faith is.....an expectation for God to do and to act out what we cannot! Oh that we could walk by faith and not by sight every day!
A little late getting to bed last night, closer to 12am primarily because we went to the rope maze and let them wander trying to find the way out. All seemed well when I dropped off some late night cookies for a snack. I am waiting on the girls to come to breakfast and see how they each slept. I love seeing them come dragging in with their morning eyes and hair.

Reading Matthew 21 this morning about Jesus coming upon a fig tree and thought to myself about how disappointed he must have been whenever he visits the fig tree. He gave it the soil in which to grow, he gave it sun every day, brought clouds on some hot days to provide relief from the sun when it grew too hot and rain in season for refreshment and protected it from the locust and from the blight yet when he comes by to receive a little of what he has invested so much in for years, there is nothing. Because of this Jesus curses the fig tree and it withers to its roots.

I see each day as a provision from the Lord. I don't deserve nor am I capable of providing these things for myself outside of God's hand. I am planted and given life only because of Him. Without Him my seed would have never germinated. Without Him, I would have never became more than a seedling. Without Him, the sun would have scorched my leaves. Without Him, the thorns would have overcome me. Without Him, the locust would have taken away all of my foliage and the blight and mildew would have suffocated me. I am created and sustained by Him and only Him! What will I bear when He visits me! How aweful a day would it be for my Lord and my God to visit "this" fig tree and find nothing for which to harvest from my life. I would agree and submit that I would deserve to be cursed by Him for a fruitless life when given so much.
To ensure this doesn't happen our Lord Jesus gives us instruction in John 15 "I am the vine, you are the branch. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned"

Well the girls are here so I better go for now. Pray for us, the early morning cool breeze is suppose to turn into a desert wind by this afternoon. Paintball, Survival Skills and Pond Fishing today!





Day 2 Tuesday
13 girls went camping last night. Sleeping in jungle hammocks and tents. Besides a giant grasshopper that invaded one of the tents everything went well. They bathed in the pond!! Sounds real clean huh!
Tribe Time
Kendall at Rifle

Week 4 2010

First night of week 4 was great! Not one homesick camper and I am told that bedtime was the best yet of the summer for a first night. All were in bed a little after 11pm. Looking forward to another day of great expectation as our Lord God reveals His glory! Today is paintball, archery, and skeet for activities. Pray for safety.

Day 2