Summer Adventures #3

ahy-dol-uh-tree.

I didn't think I would learn as much as I did.
I originally hesitant to go because I thought it wouldn't be "as fun", and to be frankly honest, it was not.
It was draining and exhausting but so very, very rewarding. It was amazing to see God move and work in not only my heart, but the hearts of the junior high kids.

These kids have hearts for Christ. Middle school kids are so quickly dismissed; they don't understand everything quite yet, they're too young, they're too immature. And yeah, in many ways they are: singing Taylor Swift when they're allowed to stay up, getting excited over the little things, being tired from swimming all day long. 
But God is moving in them, and it was so so good to see Him speak through Pastor Pete and reach these kids.
They need Christ. Some of these kids have gone through so much. Others just have a lot on their minds. Growing pains. We all had them. To think, if I had Christ in middle school, if I had gotten a chance to understand what Christ's salvation really meant for me, how He was so much BETTER than everything in this world, how nothing in this world could or would ever satisfy me like Christ's love
...how different would things be now?

They shared of idols of success and acceptance.
Things that many of us still place before God today.
We sought good grades to have good ranks to get into good colleges and then have good jobs and have good salaries to maybe have a good life.
All for the idol of Me.
But no one told us back then that seeking those things would never bring us joy or satisfaction. No one told us that life in Christ was BETTER. Or, if they did, they didn't proclaim it like they should have. And even now, we'll forget just how GREAT He is.
We live for a King, one who is risen, one who is triumphant, one who has conquered sin, who has conquered death, and is GREATER than all we can imagine. There's no way to earn what we've been so freely given: life in Him.

I PRAISE God for all the hearts He opened this week. Some of those messages were a bit deep for the junior high, but for those kids who really got it, man did God hit them hard. They needed a speaker who really believed that they could get it, a speaker that saw the tiny seeds in their hearts and just poured the water. 

"So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building."
1 Corinthians 3:7-9

And much praise for all the workers God placed in the DCCYC field. We have labored, and now may God truly make all those plants GROW!
I desire so, so much to see my girls and all these kids find Christ in their lives and to look to Him when their high school and futures troubles come.
 
On a separate note: after going through all my online sites, I found this:

What a 'coincidence'. I guess I'll be committing to a sabbath!

Praise God.
06.22.2014