Anchored

Well we are four days in to the second week of camp! It is crazy busy and crazy fun too :) I haven't gotten to be up at camp as much as I'd like but balancing my time between two jobs and my graduate work has turned out to be more difficult than I originally expected. I go when I can and have chats with the girl staff any chance I get. My bible study girls are wonderful. I have 11 of them in our group. We are going through the topic of Biblical suffering and what it looks like to suffer well. Yesterday we went through suffering with purpose and perspective. At first I was hesitant to discuss this topic but at the same time I strongly believe that as followers of Christ we are to suffer differently than the rest of the world. We are to suffer with peace, perseverance, and purpose. We do not suffer without grief but we also do not suffer without hope. This is what should make our suffering look different. If God is for us, who could be against us? What can man do to the flesh that could keep us from our Heavenly Father? Nothing. That is hope in which we cling to. Despite our circumstances... our every changing situations, heartbreaks, financial problems, our wavering emotions, God never moves. He is steadfast, he the Rock of our Salvation and the anchor to our souls. Without that, what in this world could we cling to? I mean think about it...everything in which we know, is temporal. Life. Spouses. Family. Money. Things. If we put our hope in such things, and cleave to such people, we will eventually lose every single one of them. There is one who is eternal and that is God. He alone is the only one worth putting our hope in and binding ourself to, because He is good, He is faithful, He is sovereign. He is sufficient for us. When suffering comes, and it will, I would rather cling to what is certain, sure, everlasting than someone or something that is a mere breath. If everything and everyone in life changes or dies, what is the anchor of our souls? Life tosses us around like waves in the ocean, never ceasing, always changing, sometimes calm, sometimes a tidal wave. We need an anchor to keep us steady. If everything else in the ocean is being tossed around as well, why would cleave to such things and such people? There is only one true Anchor. 

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. 

Hebrews 6:17-19

Week One

It's Sunday morning, the beginning of the 1st week of 11 weeks of summer camp. It's the calm before the storm. Ideally I'd like to post a weekly update throughout the summer... We will see how that goes :)

So far our transition to the shores (high school camp) has been such a blessing. Not only are the full time staff wonderful, but the summer staff are lovely as well! The girls staff have befriended me faster than I thought they would. This has been a huge encouragement to me. It's important to me that I connect well with the girls summer staff, so that's been a huge blessing. They are eager to hear about our lives and want to know every detail about our dating relationship and marriage. I remember being in their shoes. Only to dream of the day that I had a husband of my own. It's always so fun to share our story with people because I'm constantly reminded of the grace and mercy The Lord has shown us.

The longer we are in Tyler, TX and the longer we get to be apart of the community and ministry here, the more I realize how good and faithful God is. On my own I wouldn't have chosen to leave everyone and everything I know and love but because He is good and uses this short life for His glory and my sanctification, here we are. I'm certain that however long this season of life is, we will look back from our rockers, gray hair and dentures seeing how The Lord used this place to radically change our lives. I couldn't be more thankful.