Marching

Writing...

It's literally been so long since I last wrote that I had to figure out how to make a new post.

And I miss that. Camp is certainly not the place for excessive free time, but I'm enjoying this little break on a lazy weekend. We are headed out to go hiking soon, and I can't lie-- I'm excited to spend a little time just loving on this staff more. Last night I was asked what my favorite part of this past week at camp was. After thinking through it, I know this much to be truth: I have loved watching my team step into their roles, own what they are doing, and be transformed by the Lord. God has spoken to my heart this past week about what a blessing it is just to walk alongside and disciple these leaders. It's a mighty calling, and I'm falling more in love with it day by day. And that transformation that is happening in the lives of my staffers is directly correlating to the transformation happening week by week in the lives of children and adults.

God has been transforming me as well. (It's no coincidence that this year's theme is Romans 12:1-2; living a transformed life.) I have learned day by day a ton about my faith, about myself, and about what leadership really looks like. I've had a major perspective shift during this game and come into realizing that my job is not simply to lead, but to coach. I cannot expect my staff to do their jobs perfectly from the get go, but rather my job is to walk alongside them-- coaching, supporting, and teaching, both in the realm of camp logistics and in the spiritual nature.

I've been walking through the story of a great leader in scripture-- Joshua, the man who was chosen by God to follow into Moses's footsteps and lead the people of Israel through a long and challenging battle. I've seen the parallels constantly and God has been speaking to me a ton on how this Scripture applies to my own heart and story. I hope to post more from this story as the summer continues and I have a million pieces my heart is brimming to share but for the sake of time, I will start with this one:

My heart was convicted one night as we sat in the auditorium preparing for kids to come in for a time of worship. Joshua chapter six describes the Fall of Jericho and how Joshua lead the Israelites in marching around the walls of the city until they fell. I began to think through why the Israelites marched around the wall (other than, of course, because the Lord instructed them to do so), and this is what I came up with:

They marched to declare the Lord's victory.
They marched to declare that the city belonged to God.
They marched to prepare the way for the arc of the covenant-- to pave a path for the very presence of God.
They marched to collapse walls. 

I am fully willing to bet that the Israelites felt really silly marching around the walls of Jericho. I'm also pretty positive that my staff felt a little silly when I made them march around the auditorium. But they are troopers and we figured we would give it a shot. We walked for a while around the auditorium praying for the same-- that God would have the victory, that all we were doing belonged to Him, that the presence of God would be welcomed in that place, and that walls would begin to collapse in the lives of kids, adults, and staff.

I'd like to tell you that the Lord blessed that night of worship in a mighty way and every kid at camp came down the aisle to receive Christ, but the reality of this situation is this: Not a single kid came forward that night.

And yet-- the more I began to pray and see with God's eyes, the more I realized that He did break down walls after all, even if not in the way I expected. That night when I threw out to the staff the usual question of "Tell me something awesome the Lord did today...", they were fighting one another to tell stories. Just to name a few- we had third graders going deeper in the concept of discipleship, and we had a pair of brothers who were extremely resistant to the Gospel begin to put together the pieces... individually. Those boys then were sat together to begin talking about what God was doing in their lives and how they could hold one another accountable as they returned to their hard family situation. Big things happened in the lives of staff as well. Over and over again, the Lord has allowed me to be present when He reveals pieces of their past that they have suppressed. He is using the hard parts of their individual stories to relate directly to the hard stories these kids walk through day by day. So even though no one came forward that night, the Lord moved in a mighty way. He is continuing to do so.

Joshua three says this: "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you." That word consecrate is the same word used when God rests on the seventh day and sets the day apart as being dedicated to Himself. Set it apart, make it holy, give it to God. That's my heart beat for us each day-- continue to prepare the path for the Lord to move by dedicating fully to Him.

I'm blessed to be here this summer. This team is phenomenal, and I'm overwhelmed by how deeply I love them each, through laughs and through tough times. I cannot wait to see what the Lord continues to do this summer. Be praying for our staff and our kids-- we have three weeks to go and I'm sure not ready to see it end.