Family Camp Restlessness-It's Our Turn!
Family camp was this past weekend. It was the first time I could largely relax at it in 10+ years. My mom sweetly kept Faye and Pierce, so only Avi and Smith were with us, making for a pretty low maintenance time. None of my sisters or cousins were there-the people in the world who are easiest to just 'be' with-so that added another element to the camp. Less responsibility and distraction, but also less of a comfort zone. There were of course still enjoyable conversations and good times, but it was different than I had envisioned it feeling.
Sunday morning the message really stirred something in both Jaret and I. The theme was 'Turn', which had largely been approached as turning to Jesus, turning away from things that would distract from him, etc. But two speakers-one to the teens and one to the adults-had seperately thought of "Turn" in regards to: "It's your turn." I don't know what was said to the teens, but to the adults we read a Psalm, and he brought out several points.
1 and 2-God is big, and we are small. He talked a lot about the sizes of the earth, the sun, our galaxy. All amazing in their hugeness. If the sun was a basketball and the earth was a pea, we as people would be 6 billion specks of dust on the pea. On that scale, the next closest star, another basketball size, would be in Tokyo, Japan. After talking about that for awhile, he reminded us that our galaxy is only 1 of billions. And the psalms talk about God measuring the skies with the span of his hand. A cool visual, I thought.
3-We are to flourish. Even though we are like flowers that bloom for such a short period of time, God wants us to flourish while we are here. He talked through the seasons of life and how when we are young, we may use the excuse that we don't have enough credibility to make a difference, in the summer of our lives we feel too busy, in autumn we feel like we've put in our time, in winter that we are exhausted.
Throughout the talk he mentioned lots of statistics about evangelical Christians in America. There were some pretty shocking (in a really bad way) numbers. I guess a study was done that identified the following points that need to change in order to start changing some of the awful statistics: committment (such as to personal holiness), activity (helping at church, being a part of church functions, etc.), sacrifice (purposeful), community (one that provides real interaction and accountability). Since the vast majority of us sitting there all belonged to the same denomination, he said, "Do you realize what we have? We have all of these things."
The speaker that talked to the teens also shared a little with us adults. He works with a lot of mega churches and their leadership fairly closely. When they hear about his upbringing and experiences, they say it is exactly what they are trying to foster in their churches. He mentioned how many of the young people in our denomination see those churches and are drawn to them, yet the irony is that the church leadership in those places are trying to figure out how to get what our kids have. He talked about how those churches are excellent at fishing, but lack in accomplishing the discipling. He said that we excel at the discipling but lack in the fishing.
Anyway, all of this stirs so many thoughts. First my heart just hurts for all the junk in our churches/hearts/minds etc. in America. I wish we weren't in the state we're in. I wish I could do something to change it all. Second, I feel more thankful than ever to have been raised with the support and direction to live a life dedicated to God in a daily, consistent way. Third, I want to do what I can to be a part of passing that kind of atmosphere on to my children and the next generation. Jaret, ever my creative thinker, was inspired to get involved in reaching the next generation where they are so they can see the richness around them.
Throughout camp I had had thoughts like, "I'm sure glad I'm not a teen and won't leave camp in an emotional/mental funk that lasts a few days because it's over." I remember those days, and I'm so glad I'm not there. But as it turns out, both Jaret and I have felt a restlessness yesterday and today. Just thinking through these things and wondering what it means for us. What purposeful decisions do you make to change the course of your flourishing, and how much do you just do your best to have a good attitude and flourish right where you are and not worry about doing more? I wish God handed out life maps that said exactly what His plan and purpose for your life was, but as He doesn't seem to work that way, I guess we'll just keep thinking, praying and waiting, all while trying to flourish where we are in the meantime.
Sunday morning the message really stirred something in both Jaret and I. The theme was 'Turn', which had largely been approached as turning to Jesus, turning away from things that would distract from him, etc. But two speakers-one to the teens and one to the adults-had seperately thought of "Turn" in regards to: "It's your turn." I don't know what was said to the teens, but to the adults we read a Psalm, and he brought out several points.
1 and 2-God is big, and we are small. He talked a lot about the sizes of the earth, the sun, our galaxy. All amazing in their hugeness. If the sun was a basketball and the earth was a pea, we as people would be 6 billion specks of dust on the pea. On that scale, the next closest star, another basketball size, would be in Tokyo, Japan. After talking about that for awhile, he reminded us that our galaxy is only 1 of billions. And the psalms talk about God measuring the skies with the span of his hand. A cool visual, I thought.
3-We are to flourish. Even though we are like flowers that bloom for such a short period of time, God wants us to flourish while we are here. He talked through the seasons of life and how when we are young, we may use the excuse that we don't have enough credibility to make a difference, in the summer of our lives we feel too busy, in autumn we feel like we've put in our time, in winter that we are exhausted.
Throughout the talk he mentioned lots of statistics about evangelical Christians in America. There were some pretty shocking (in a really bad way) numbers. I guess a study was done that identified the following points that need to change in order to start changing some of the awful statistics: committment (such as to personal holiness), activity (helping at church, being a part of church functions, etc.), sacrifice (purposeful), community (one that provides real interaction and accountability). Since the vast majority of us sitting there all belonged to the same denomination, he said, "Do you realize what we have? We have all of these things."
The speaker that talked to the teens also shared a little with us adults. He works with a lot of mega churches and their leadership fairly closely. When they hear about his upbringing and experiences, they say it is exactly what they are trying to foster in their churches. He mentioned how many of the young people in our denomination see those churches and are drawn to them, yet the irony is that the church leadership in those places are trying to figure out how to get what our kids have. He talked about how those churches are excellent at fishing, but lack in accomplishing the discipling. He said that we excel at the discipling but lack in the fishing.
Anyway, all of this stirs so many thoughts. First my heart just hurts for all the junk in our churches/hearts/minds etc. in America. I wish we weren't in the state we're in. I wish I could do something to change it all. Second, I feel more thankful than ever to have been raised with the support and direction to live a life dedicated to God in a daily, consistent way. Third, I want to do what I can to be a part of passing that kind of atmosphere on to my children and the next generation. Jaret, ever my creative thinker, was inspired to get involved in reaching the next generation where they are so they can see the richness around them.
Throughout camp I had had thoughts like, "I'm sure glad I'm not a teen and won't leave camp in an emotional/mental funk that lasts a few days because it's over." I remember those days, and I'm so glad I'm not there. But as it turns out, both Jaret and I have felt a restlessness yesterday and today. Just thinking through these things and wondering what it means for us. What purposeful decisions do you make to change the course of your flourishing, and how much do you just do your best to have a good attitude and flourish right where you are and not worry about doing more? I wish God handed out life maps that said exactly what His plan and purpose for your life was, but as He doesn't seem to work that way, I guess we'll just keep thinking, praying and waiting, all while trying to flourish where we are in the meantime.
Comments
We loved having A & S in preteen mixers, but realizing that they are that big & mature made me feel really old!
Brenda