After the camp fire

There’s something intimidating about a blank word document when you feel like you may have something worthwhile to write down.

Anyway, here’s where I’m at with four weeks left in Kaleo. I’m still waiting to here back from camp about a job, I’m starting to wonder how much I’ve really changed this year, I’m starting to fear not being able to say the words, “until next time.”, I’m worried that this year might be nothing more than a social delight filled with exceptional morals and deep, vulnerable friendships.

It might be greedy, but I want more. I think I also want less. I want more of God. I want more of his grace in my life, I want his discipline, I want his fellowship and communion. I want to leave this place so changed that every morning I wake up into communion with God.

I could do with less of anything besides this. You can have all this world, give me Jesus!

I could do with less soccer in Q-town, fewer trips to town, less deep conversations, less campfires, less rock-climbing sessions, and way less time online.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy these things. I do. But in the end they’re only gifts to be enjoyed. They don’t bring life or joy or love or happiness, at least not the kind that bridges the gap of eternity. I want more.

I’m praying that God would be tearing out the parts of me that the old man is holding onto, and filling me up with a heart that’s completely his.

I want to be changed by Him. I want him to be glorified in everything I do.

I want to know my God more and more each day as he moves me from one degree of glory to the next.

The Manventure according to James (the non-synoptic version)

During the reading break was the manventure, and the men went on the manventure and they invented the manventure and they went on the manventure that they invented.

It so happened that Jeremiah, Nathan, Marcus, Timothy and Justice were residing in the town of Qwanoes upon a dark and dismal afternoon.

Now Jeremiah, Nathan, Marcus, Timothy, and Justice were all sons of Momma Badke, who was the son of Grandma voth who was in her 100th year of life.

Now it happened that there were five large cattle grazing in the desert of the Q. In anger Marcus took out his sword which was four feet in length and slaughtered the cattle in his anger.

After dragging the carcasses three miles into the wilderness the brothers erected a tower on a hill outlooking the sea of shining waters.

The men kindled a fire and roasted the cattle whole and Justin said,"Men this meat that we have thus cooked upon the fire that we have kindled now shall we eat with glad hearts."

And they ate and told many tales of the year past and fell asleep in the light of the dying fire.

(Some of the earliest and most reliable manuscripts don't include this next part)

And it so happened that later that night Nathan arose from his sleep and fought two cougars that had advanced upon his brothers and he killed the cougars with his bare hands. And thus he was no longer considered the worst person in the world.

It's been a while... let's talk about the olympics

So here's the deal. I volunteered at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games! Sounds pretty amazing right? Well in some ways it was for sure. The world's best athletes coming together to compete on the world stage. People from all over the world came to support their athletes. Canada all rejoiced over Sidney Crosby's "Golden Goal" and everyone was feeling pretty good about the record number of gold medals as well.

But then I thought about how many people would remember these games in 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years and I realized that even something as great as the olympics will one day only live in a dusty history book on a library shelf. Yes Even the golden goal will be forgotten. It will not have eternal significance.

There were things that happened at the olympics that did have eternal significance. And that makes me happy... no not happy, joyful.

It was amazing to go into a work setting with the intention of praying and sharing what God's been doing in my life this year and throughout my life.

There were definitely times of despair, but the joy outweighed it in the end.

I got opportunities to share the gospel with people and talk about awesome things God's been doing in my life.

I planted some seeds, watered others, and now get to pray that God would make them grow.

Praise God for giving us eternal purpose. Pray that I would be seeing that purpose rather than the temporary ones the worlds trying to make me settle for.