As I sit here and reflect over the last week, all I can say is that GOD IS AWESOME!
This past week I was given the privilege to return to the northwest and serve the OBA during kid’s camp. When I had agreed to return, I thought that I was set. I would have a job by the end of the school year, then come to kid’s camp, and then return home to prepare for the school year to come. And that is when things seemed to start falling apart. The job that I thought would be offered to me was reluctantly given to someone else. Then it seemed like no one else would hire me. I almost called Pastor Dan to tell him that I wouldn’t be able to come.
Then it occurred to me. God had opened too many doors and opportunities for this trip to become possible: He provided airfare, the money for my lifeguard certification, and many other small things that I knew that I was supposed to be at Kid’s Camp this year. So I came.
It wasn’t until I arrived at Kamp Kursa that I actually felt at peace with that decision. Our staff devotions each morning were focused on 1 John 4:16-5:2 with vs. 18 being the main focus “There is no fear in love; but perfect perfect love drives out fear.” When Pastor Jim had us read those words, I began to list all the fears I had: no job, regret, is he the one, rejection, and many more. Why do I fear about all of these things, could it be that I still have yet to grasp the perfect love of God. That is when I met John.
John is eight years old. He has had a rough life. He is being raised in a one parent home where his dad is not present. I know what that feels like. My mom left my brothers and I eleven years ago and our dad is around, but at his convenience. John got in trouble a few times on the first day, so I thought that I would hang out with him for a while. We did crafts together. He hung out by me at the pool while I was fulfilling my ‘lifeguard duties’. We ate dinner together and sat together at Chapel. The next morning we started again; missions, craft, lunch, chapel, pool, dinner, campfire. We had a great time together. John and I had some amazing conversations. He is a smart kid. I learned a little about him, while he learned a little about me. He kept saying over and over again how all he wanted was the other kids to like him, that he wanted a friend. I wanted him to know that I loved him just like he was. But most of all, I wanted him to know that God loved him even more than I did. God created John and has a purpose for his life.
Right now I think I can honestly say that I have begun to understand the “perfect love that casts out fear” because God revealed it to me through His little child. For the three days that I got to know and love on John, God was showing me the love that he gives freely to me. I am not worried anymore. If I get a job when I get home that’s great. And yet if I do not get a job, that is fine too. I cannot look at the time that I spent at Kid’s Camp this year and think that God didn’t have a purpose for me this summer.
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