As many of you know, my digital camera broke a while back when I was on a trip. I was hoping to get a new one in time for my missions trip to BABR, but realized it wouldn't arrive in time for me to take it. So, being the ingenious person that I am (haha), I bought a new camera and had it shipped to BABR! It arrived about the middle of the week, but I was still able to take some great pics! And now for the good part....
Blogging friends, meet Cameron, my camera. Get it? Cameron. Camera. Well, I thought it was cute!
(It's slightly difficult to take a picture of your camera with your camera. Thank goodness for mirrors!)
But there's someone else very important that I want you to meet! She's cute and cuddly and her name is Riley.
Riley is a Shih Tzu, very loving, and so friendly! We love her so much! (She fits perfectly in build-a-bear clothes! =D)
I have some special posts coming up, so stay tuned! I hope you all are having a great summer! I'd love to hear how God has used your summer so far; just leave a comment!
When I looked up into the vastness of the night sky and saw it covered with stars of endless number, how could I but think of eternity in heaven with the God who created it all? Although it is nice to be back to my " home-sweet-home," I enjoyed my week working at Broken Arrow Bible Ranch so much! Living outside the city limits is an awesome experience - I can just look around me and know that nothing is impossible with my God!
Throughout the week I was dwelling on part of Isaiah 40:
26Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. 27Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"? 28Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
God changed me in so many ways during my stay at BABR - but not in ways that I expected. I guess I was expecting God to do some marvelous work in my life, to radically change me. Rather, He reminded me of the "small" things that I had forgotten, but they were very important. And He did change me! Just not in the way I expected. I've found that God's ways are so much better! Aren't you glad that God doesn't always give us what we expect? Aren't you glad that our expectations cannot even compare to God's wonderful plan? I am.
Praise God for a week I will always remember! A week where I saw God's family grow just a bit larger; a week where I received new brothers and sisters in Christ; a week where I had the opportunity to serve Christ alongside fellow believers.
Thank you to everyone who was praying for me and the team! To God be the glory!
My youth group (I'm the one on the far left).
One of our projects was to scrape and repaint this water tank. Some of the guys built the shed behind it.
The perfect verse for dry New Mexico! My friend Michaela did most of the artwork. Isn't it amazing?
I wasn't a counselor, but I was assigned to a group!
Hey everyone! Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I'm off with my church youth group to Broken Arrow Bible Ranch, a camp in New Mexico that reaches many Native American tribes in that area. While we're there, we will lead the chapel times, help with cleaning and any repairs the camp needs, and also counsel the kids. I'll be working at BABR from June 7-11, but I won't be back until the 13th (my youth group is taking a tiny side trip to go white water rafting).
I would love your prayers for the week!!!! Please pray that the children's hearts will be ready to receive the gospel and that many will come to know Him.
A terrible disease has been sweeping the nation - and the world. It's affluenza. And like I said in my previous post, it's a disease that God hates, and it strikes the most u8nexpecting victims. What exactly is affluenza? It is derived from the words influenza and affluence. You're probably familiar with influenza, but possibly not affluence, which means "an abundance of material wealth and possessions." Affluence itself is not a disease in itself; but when it becomes dissatisfaction and a constant desire for more, that's when it becomes sin. It doesn't just end with a want for more possessions, however; affluenza is the whole sense of entitlement to comfort, luxury and convenience.
Why is this? Why can't "enough" be "enough?" Maybe it's because our perspective is distorted. If we actually set our minds on things above, not on earthly things, our personal comfort will have little value to us. Ouch! That is convicting for me! In a world that feeds us lies and tells us that we need more, it's hard to live a life focused on storing up treasures in heaven! That's why we need the cure. You guessed it! Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that we are dead when we are living for our own pleasure. Jesus wants to be our sole satisfaction. As John Piper said in his book, Don't Waste Your Life, "[God] is most glorifiedin us when we are most satisfied in Him" (36). I will ask you a question that always convicts me: Am I satisfied in Jesus? If He asked me to give up everything I have, could I do it? glorified
"Jesus Christ reveals Himself to those who follow in His steps. He draws near to those who build their entire lives around His pattern. If we feel far away from Him, it is very likely that we aren't truly building our entire existence around Him; that we are living far more for self than for the glory of His name....The moment that we actually deny our self, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus Christ...is the moment we are surrounded with the power and presence of His Spirit - not just every once and a while, but every moment of every day" (Leslie Ludy from Set-Apart Femininity, 68-69).
For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. (Psalm 107:9.)
When Jesus is our All-in-All, we don't need anything else. Is He your All-in-All? Is He more than enough?
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24.)
