Why I Love Church Camp

A large part of my ministry/job is working with children and students...and with that comes summer camp...a lot of summer camp! I go to and/or help administrate 3 summer camps a year. The questions/comments I regularly get are...Why do you do it? How do you do it? Don't you get tired? Aren't you tired of being with the kids all summer? Wish I had your job, Must be nice to get to play all summer....yeah right :)

To answer the questions/comments in order...I love it...I love it...yes...no....you can! we are always looking for help! I don't play all summer...

To sum it all up, I LOVE CHURCH CAMP! and here are just a few reasons why...

1. Camp is ministry 24/7...and I love every minute of it....So much of my day-to-day, week-to-week ministry with the children and students of my church is in short increments...Camp is living together for a week...the good and the bad...I get to find out what is going on in the life of the kids, what other time do I get 10 uninterrupted hours to talk to students (bus rides are great!)

2.  Camp is encouraging...on many levels! The kids, the workers, seeing God work...just to name a few.

3.  I love the kids/students...camp is busy...camp is tiring...camp is a blast...but camp is ultimately about another opportunity to show my great Savior to kids that don't know Him and to watch those who do grow in the knowledge of Him. I love these kids and have known a lot of them most of their lives...I want them to get saved!

4. Camp has given me new friends...I may only see these folks once a year, but God has blessed me with the friendship of some really awesome brothers and sisters in Christ that I probably wouldn't know had it not been for summer camp.

5. Camp food...makes me thankful for what I have at home :)

6. Getting away from it all...is a blessing! Whether it is on the bay in Baldwin County or on top of a mountain in North Carolina, the time away from the distractions of the world is a gift. The kids don't particularly like the no electronics rule we have at camp...but removing some of those things that distract us daily, helps us keep our focus where it needs to be.

7. Cool camp t-shirts...just sayin

The last camp of the summer is just a few days away, school will be starting back soon, and we start planning for next year!!! Looking forward to next summer!

Spring in South Alabama

Spring is in the air! And it Mobile, Alabama, it is a glorious time of year....But don't blink, because it won't be here long...I (along with almost every other resident of South Alabama) have enjoyed the weather here the last few weeks. Moderate temps, no humidity, and the pollen count is declining! (no more steroid shots and antibiotics)

But what every South Alabamian knows is that the end is near...triple digit humidity (and yes the humidity can be 100% and it still not rain), temps in the 90s 20 hours of the day, and the words "why do I bother doing my makeup and hair" hanging in the air.

The weather in this neck of the woods is pretty predictable, a few weeks of winter, a few weeks of spring, 8 months of summer, football season, and then we start all over again. In each of these seasons (the only exception being football season) we find ourselves longing for what comes next. During our brief winter, everyone wonders when it is going to warm up. In the midst of our long, hot summers, all we want is cooler weather....never seeming to enjoy what is right before us.

I feel like my Christian life is like that most of the time, always wondering what God has for me in the future, instead of learning and growing in the circumstances where He has placed me today. I am missing what is going on in my life today, because I am wondering what is coming down the road; will it be better, worse, more exciting, less stressful; forgetting that I am a child of the Creator of the universe, created in His image. A God who knew me and chose me before the beginning of time. A God who has a perfect plan for my life, a plan that is better than anything I can dream of or come up with on my own.

 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:25-34 ESV)

Things I Have Learned Serving in Children's Ministry

I often get asked how many children I have...my answer is usually around 50...none that I have given birth to, but I claim them all the same. God has shown me tons since I have served in this ministry...tons of sin in my life, tons of areas where I need to grow, and tons about loving others.

The specific things I have learned in children's ministry are endless and growing, but here are a few...

1. You have to have a sense of humor...I am concerned about folks who do not have one...
2. Be flexible...your plans can be changed in an instant. Which leads to #3...
3. God's plan and my plans are not always the same...be ready to adjust accordingly...
4. Be ready to be humbled...it is gonna happen...
5. Never underestimate the power of hug from a 3 year old...amazing...
6. God's word is powerful, and children are never too young to hear it...
7. Goldfish + Animal Crackers = BEST SNACK EVER!! (I have a preschool hall of witnesses who will give testimony to this!)
8. Children's Ministry is not only about the children...it is about the family
9. Faithful servants who love the Lord are invaluable...

10. Sleep is overrated...a few days a camp will explain why...

to be continued...

Remembering Whitney

My first recollection of Whitney Houston is seeing her as a frequent cover girl on the cover of Seventeen magazine when I was in middle school and high school...she and Phoebe Cates (you really have to be a child of the 80s to remember her) were what every teenage girl wanted to be be...cute, well-dressed, and apparently always surrounded by lots of cute, well-dressed teenage boys...at least on the pages of Seventeen.

Then in 1985, we found out she could sing...like really sing...REALLY. I can remember having her first album, Whitney Houston, on cassette (ask your mother if you don't know what these are)and literally playing it until it broke...it was part of the soundtrack of my late teenage years.

Just as many singers today, Whitney first used her voice in her church. Her mother, Cissy Houston, is an incredible gospel/soul singer. If you have not heard her sing Take My Hand Precious Lord...you should.

Whitney Houston's recent death and incredible over exposure by the press made me think...if this were not Whitney Houston, would anyone care? Would she just be another obituary of a woman who allowed herself to become a slave to drugs and alcohol? Probably so. And that is indeed sad, as is her death. It is sad because she left behind a family who loves her and a teenage daughter that no longer has a mother. And it is sad for me as a fan of her music that I don't know where Whitney is spending her eternity. I know she knew the gospel, I have heard her sing it...I just don't know if she lived the gospel. Her lifestyle was not a vision of what a person who is living a life surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ should look like.

Matthew 7.21 says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." How many people cry out Lord, Lord, but do not have a relationship with the One to whom they cry? I dare to guess...a lot. Just because someone sits in a pew or sings in a choir does not mean they are a Christian. But for those of us who do know the one true and living God it is beyond important that we KNOW those around us. Not just who they cheer for on Saturday, what their favorite restaurant is, and where their kids go to school...but to really KNOW them and their spiritual condition.

Nurturing Other People's Children

I read this article several years ago and read it again today...worth sharing

Nurturing Other People's Children

Adopted...

In the last week I have been blessed to take part in the birthday celebrations of two little girls...Karis and Mei. Two little girls that I have known a very short period of time. Karis and Mei were both adopted from China in 2010 by two incredible families.

In celebrating their birthdays and marveling at the children they are today, I can't help but remember the children that they were when they arrived in Mobile, AL. Both girls had been abandoned by mothers who could not keep them...and were adopted by mothers and fathers who had prayed fervently for them and loved them before they ever met. They have grown from shy and wary to vibrant, fun-loving little girls who both are incredibly opinionated :). Being loved, nurtured, and disciplined has made them new people.

What an incredible picture of what Christ has done for us! He knew us and loved us while we hated him. In His perfect timing those He has chosen will come to Him. His love, nurturing, and discipline makes us new creations!!! As Mei and Karis did nothing to become members of their new families...they were chosen...and appointed to join their forever families; we are chosen/appointed by the Creator of the universe to become His children.

What an amazing God we serve!

A New Year Begins

I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, but I did promise myself that I will do a better job with this blog...