Four Bits of Thanksgiving

I was at a church recently, and after offering some worship in the morning service, a mother walks up with her son. "My son is looking for the basket to give to Camp Phillip.  He just loves it there."

After directing them to the ushers, I smile at the two quarters shining in the boy's hand as he makes sure to give his fifty cents to Camp before he heads off to Sunday School.  All that is left is for me to offer a prayer of wonder and thanks to our God who has blessed me with the opportunity to be a part of his ministry to his kids.

Recently, I have been so thankful and impressed with the generosity of the kids we serve.  I have had the privilege of thanking a six year old PeeWee camper for passing on his Birthday money on to Camp.  "I already had so many great presents, and I wanted to give the money somewhere that God could really use it."

Two different campers raised money for Camp using our cookie dough fundraiser, and then decided instead of keeping the money for themselves, they would allow us to put it into our campership program so that other kids could come to camp.  It is simply great to be served by the children of God.

We work hard here at Camp, and it can be easy to just keep working and not even to pay attention to all the ways that God is blessing us.  But when I look around and pay attention to all the appreciation that is shown to us, and all the work that is done to support and encourage the ministry that happens here, I am speechless (except that I immediately journal about it).

So many people are excited to gather with their friends for retreats and to share our songs at their churches. So many people make Camp a part of their plan to walk with Christ.  But even more amazing is that so many people are thanking God for the work that is done here.  What a blessing it is to be a part of his Body.

This reminds me of Paul's encouragement to the Corinthians:

"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!  

-2 Corinthians 9:12-15

It is great to be moved by the small gifts given by children.  Perhaps it is because I know that I could not possibly deserve such pure love, freely given.  And God has made clear the punishment that i really do deserve.  And in the middle of the sad reality my sinfulness, I think about the Gift that the Child of Christmas came to give. How blessed we are to have such hope in Christ!  

"You turned my wailing into dancing; 

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever."

-Psalm 30:11-12

Thanks be to God for sending us a child that could give us an unfathomable gift.  There isn't a way that we can even grasp the fullness of the love that God is and that he pours out on us.   I pray that he helps me simply thank him like a boy with a couple quarters.

Everybody's It

At Camp Phillip, we really do believe in learning by playing.  And there is a really important lesson that can be learned from this game:

Campers and staff are spread out inside the rectangle of cones.  Everyone waits for the wacky codeword to signal the beginning of the game.  As soon as the game begins, everyone is either tagging or tagged.  People who are tagged run to the outside to watch the action, as the crowd inside gets smaller and smaller.  

The game that started in chaos ends with a dramatic duel as the final two players each try to tag the other first.  Rounds go by so quickly, that no one has to sit out for long.  Soon, everyone is spreading out inside the cones again....

This is a familiar scene during a classic game that we play at Camp. It is called Everybody’s It Tag.

It's simple, quick and fun.  I have led the game enough times to notice some common strategies.

                

Some kids will cower in a corner, hoping no one comes near them.  These kids don't have anywhere to run when someone comes toward them, so they get tagged first.

Other kids have a more Kamikaze approach.  They run at other kids, hoping to catch them off guard.  They don't often defend themselves that carefully, so after getting out a few other kids, they usually find themselves watching the final showdown from the sidelines.

Some kids look more like the Karate Kid. They get into a defensive stance, and stand in the middle, twisting and dodging as quickly as possible.  Depending on their skills, these players sometimes do well.  Their quick movements cause most other players to try to stay away from them.

But, time and time again, the strategy that keeps players in the game longer is forming an alliance.  These campers are already talking with each other during the rules explanation.  They whisper and nod and gesture to each other, "I won't tag you if you don't tag me."  When the game begins, they stand together.

Pigpen

How does it happen?  Someone one day confidently says, "I will never do this thing."  Then someday later, much more quickly than they ever imagined, they find themselves doing that thing.

How often have you witnessed someone saying at one point in their journey, “I will never do this thing.” (get drunk, have a sleepover with their boyfriend, marry someone who’s not a Christian, be a Bears fan, or whatever the thing is that they will never do)  How is it that they end up doing the thing, and in many cases defending the thing and calling their old claim ignorant or naïve?

Have you ever found yourself looking down at your life, and realized that what you are doing is something that you would have never imagined yourself doing before?  Have you ever seen a friend making choices that you had been confident that they would never make? 

  

This is how it starts.  The devil holds up a billboard and tries to plant the seed that life could be something different.  He tries to take a Christian and show them a glimpse of a life that seems more fun or rewarding.

And then keeps to himself that his real goal is to separate us from God’s people and God’s path.  He doesn’t let us in on his secret goal, which is our despair.
 

Lose the Costume

I distinctly remember telling myself, "It doesn't matter what other people think about you."

But fifteen minutes into my first day of middle school, the teacher was taking attendance, and when the name Joel Hansen was read off, three boys in the back laughed, like my name was a joke.  Thinking quickly, I told the teacher my name was J.D. (short for Joel David).

This is the beginning of a string of chameleon-like changes in my life.  As I look back to my middle school and high school years, I see many costumes I wore for short periods of time.  Ever year or two I changed my clothing style, my friend group, my way of talking and the music I listened to.  It seems to me that I just got really god at paying attention to what was acceptable, and fitting in to that mold (even if it was the mold of a star wars geek, punk rocker, roller hockey fanatic, etc.).

I am so good at looking around at how I am supposed to talk and act and dress and even think, and then copying it.

I bet you’re pretty good at it too.   

Run for the Prize

I’ve been trying to go running lately.  

And as I run, I often ask myself questions like, “Why are you doing this to yourself; you have enough things to do?” or “Who cares if you take a little break?”  It is difficult to set goals for myself, and hold myself accountable to those goals, so that I can fight the temptation to slow down, or give up.

Then I wonder, in how many areas of my life am I this lazy?  How often do I set my goals low, and then quickly offer myself forgiveness when I don’t meet the goals I have set?  In how many places do I find myself running the race as if I have already won the prize, instead of running the race in such a way as to win the prize?

There are parts of life where we cut ourselves a little slack, or where we compare ourselves to the people around us, instead of our Creator’s perfect standard.  It is probably not too difficult for you to think of some areas like that. 

To the Rescue

A large part of Camp Phillip for me has always been the songs.  The music at Camp has always been a way for me to pray, reflect, commune with God.  

I wrote this song at the end of a morning of Scripture reading and prayer.  It was such a blessing to be out in God's creation with a Bible, and a journal and a guitar (and a thermos of coffee).

It's interesting that the song that was written on a glorious day like that is about the hope we have in Christ on days that aren't nearly as glorious.  But I guess having a day when God's truth and love is so clear to me reminded me of the days that I try to handle the old man in me, the devil, and the sinful world all on my own.  It is great to know the reality that I am never really on my own.

Crazy Confidence

Sometimes when I look up from the Bible, I get discouraged.   Scripture describes what our lives could look, and I am excited about the picture.  Then I see what we've made of it, and I lose heart.  I often respond to this by taking the burden onto my shoulders to fix the world.

This weekend we had a teen retreat at Camp, and it became clear that I am not the only one who loses hope when faced with the reality of the sinful world around us.  The girls cabins spent some time in reflections on Friday night thinking about the parts of their life where they need to trust God's will, and rest confidently in him.  (Normally, we don't share reflections, but since they chose to post their reflections in the dining hall on the wall for everyone to see...)

There are times that you probably look around and don’t notice God at work.  There are times when you feel like he hasn’t given enough evidence of his power and control.  So many things happen that shouldn’t.  Things don’t seem to make sense.  Things don’t fit in with your plan.

And so you doubt God.  You give up on him, and think that you need to go elsewhere to find peace.  Maybe in your own accomplishments, or your relationships, or you escape into your pastimes.

The truth is that our giving up, our giving in, demonstrates a lack of trust in God.  This isn’t surprising I guess.  Not trusting was the first sin.  Really all sin is about not trusting.