Audience of One

Didgeridoo

Yesterday I read something interesting in a book by Beth Moore.  She said,  “…the glory of our Lord Jesus surrounds us constantly.”  And then she gives the following list of examples we might have experienced:

*  Empowering someone to forgive us for something that seems unforgivable

*  Feeling like the only one in the audience during a sermon or lesson

*  Having our eyes opened anew to a portion of Scripture

*  Attending a dying loved one who knows Christ

*  Working through some detail that no one else knew anything about

*  Having an impending disaster averted

*  Feeling His powerful presence as we engage in worship

When I read this list I immediately thought of Mike Barris.

In the late 1980’s Ed Brown invited a man to speak at our church.  He was a gifted musician and that is how Ed had met him.  His name was Mike Barris.  Mike was from Australia.  He came with a wide assortment of strange Australian artifacts and instruments.  He cracked a bull whip and explained that the noise it makes is actually a small sonic boom (breaking the sound barrier).  He played a didgeridoo, an Australian aboriginal instrument pictured above.

He used each artifact as an object lesson to teach a Biblical lesson.  And this is where he got me.  Every lesson spoke to my heart.  The main thing I was dealing with was serving the Lord out of duty or obligation, rather than out of love. 

At the end of the service I was ready to run to the altar.  I even remember thinking, “I’ll go down first, before everyone else comes.”  I went down and cried and prayed for a good while before I realized that I was the only one who had come.

It was a life-changing experience that led me to think of my service to the Lord in the proper light and with the loving attitude He desired from me.

And it has always been mind-boggling to me to think that God called Mike Barris from Australia to come to Dunlap on that particular evening just to speak to me.  

God is so good!

Top 10 Things I’ll Miss About COTW

10.  Fawnda’s flowers and food:  Everyone is different.  Fawnda loves gardening and cooking…two things that would not be on my “favorite things to do” list.  But because she chooses to serve God with the things she loves, I get to enjoy them too.

9.  The Big Pop:  Every night of junior camp snack time ends with “The Big Pop.”  There are many variations of it.  Here’s one way to do it.  (Sorry the video is sideways, but I couldn't rotate it.)

8.  Singing in Chapel:  I love to sing.  When I was a kid we had all kinds of choruses that we would sing.  It’s fun to get to be a part of that for this crop of kids.  I love “sing[ing] to the Lord with all of [my] might.” (That’s one of my favorite camp songs.  We sang it every night.)

7.  Lazy Sunday afternoons on the lake:  After a long week with campers, it is so pleasant to enjoy some down time.  This past Sunday they were tubing. 

Last week's activities included tie-dye.

6.  Kids:  I love being around kids.  They are funny, insightful, energetic and sweet (at least most of them were).

5.  New faces:  Every week I’ve been there I’ve met new people who are a joy to get to know.  The variety and quality of the people I’ve met has been amazing.

4.  Favorite friends:  You know who you are.

3.  Sharing burdens and blessings:  I can’t get enough of this one.  Many prayers are going up from me and for me.

And on a related note…

2.  Living in community:  If you want to see how the body of Christ is supposed to work, come to COTW.  Everyone united in one purpose…to shine the light of Christ into the hearts of kids.  Everyone sharing everything in common…possessions, food, work, responsibilities. 

1.  SUNSETS:  No picture I have ever taken has truly been able to capture the glory and scale of the sunsets on Troutfly Lake.  But I’ll keep trying.

My last sunset for the summer.
Matt called this one "Sistene Chapel-esque"...not a word you hear every day.

Shouting Hallelujah!

This past week while I was at COTW my daily Bible reading took me to the last few Psalms.  They are joyful exaltations of God and His majesty.  They begin with “Hallelujah.”  It made me think of the song “Shout to the Lord.”  And that made me think, “When have I ever shouted to the Lord?”

I felt like I was supposed to…even though it seemed silly.

So on a glorious morning, I went out to the lake before breakfast.  I climbed the high dive and looked out over the lake, the sky, the trees…the beauty of God’s creation, and I shouted “Hallelujah!”

I still felt a little silly, so I squelched the urge to shout, “The Lord, He is God!”

John and Fawnda were on their porch and saw me on the high dive.  They heard the shout but told each other that it couldn’t have been Pam shouting.  Must have been someone on the shore. 

See…they didn’t think I would shout either.

Friday morning I was determined to have some company so I had all the kids line up on the beach and we shouted “Hallelujah!”  And we shouted, “The Lord, He is God!”  It felt good.  It felt right.  It was exhilarating.

From now on I’m shouting more often.  Maybe people will get to expect it from me.

So what about you?  Feel like shouting? 

Just do it!

Camp: Post #2

Home Sweet Away from Home

Our group of Jr. Teen Campers

I’ve been hanging out at Lakeview this week and it’s been lots of fun.  My speaking duties have ended although I may be helping John Cofield with the morning hikes.  That will be something new for me.

This week the campers were very nice, very good kids.  I think we were all able to enjoy them.  Next week things will change because we will have junior campers.  We will also have the biggest group yet…37 boys and 24 girls.  We are a little short staffed, but it seems pretty manageable.  Will and Micah will not be counseling this week, so they get a little break and will have other duties. 

It’s so enjoyable to be here with so many good people.  Some of the other adult staffers have their whole family here.  They have some wonderful kids.  I’ll have to tell you about them later.

For more info on the week, I’ll post some random pictures on Facebook.

The weekend is for resting, so I’ll be taking it easy here by the lake.  Wish you were here…all of you!

Camp Day 1

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The view from Lakeview tonight at 11 pm

I arrived at COTW at 12:30 am and hit the sack in Lakeview.  I haven't stayed here before and it is very nice.  The pictures Will has been taking come mostly from the porch of this cabin.

We awoke to rain but by the time campers arrived at 10:30 it had stopped.  The weather here changes by the hour.  This week is pre-teen week and there are 45-50 campers.  We've had a full day of activities but it has been hot and muggy (as well as buggy).

I am assigned duties in the kitchen before or after every meal.  I was able to sit out this afternoon and splash my feet in the lake while the campers swam.  We have the blessing of three lifeguards this week.  It makes the sunny days so enjoyable for the kids to be able to swim.  Next week I don't think we will have lifeguards so I don't know what the plan will be.

I will be doing some of the speaking in chapel this week.  Pray for me to be able to speak plainly to these  campers.  Tonight I spoke about the fact that all we who are Christians are witnesses, we are the evidence, that God exists, and that He will do all He promises.  I asked them to listen to the testimonies of their counselors and other adults here.  May they believe the evidence.

The view at 9 pm

The view at 8 pm after thunderstorm

The view at 10 pm