Summer 2019

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 30-31

This summer I worked at a summer camp called Circle C Ranch. For those of you who don't know about it, it is a summer camp for kids that revolves around sharing the gospel with kids. I was a... you guessed it... wrangler! That means that I worked long days working with the horses and making sure the tiny humans didn't die. Not going to lie, it was hard! We woke up early and went to bed late. The work was hard and fast paced. But it was so worth it! The kids absolutely loved the horses and there were a number of the kids who said that the horses were their favorite part of camp- they had come from places where they didn't have a chance to ride so this was special for them. Outside of the riding the kids could do lots of other activities like rock wall climbing, laser tron, swimming, and more! But the most important part was Monday nights, when the kids would go up to the chapel and hear the gospel message. Every week so many kids realized that Jesus had died on the cross for them, and that the only way to get to heaven was by accepting Him as their personal Savior. The rest of the week was spent by having more fun and building on the foundational truth that they had learned Monday. 

You may wonder what horses have to do with leading kids to Christ (unless you've read my previous posts, where I talk LOTS about how horses can point us to Christ 😉). At a summer camp where we have literally hundreds of kids coming in and out, it just isn't possible to work one on one with each of the kids at the coral (the counselors make sure they get that at other times). That doesn't mean that we can't be purposeful in how we treat the kids, each other, and yes, even how we treat the horses. It looks different than the other ministries I've worked at, but it is no less important! It reminds me that no matter where you are or what you're doing, whether you're discipling someone one on one, or just smiling at someone at the grocery store, you can be a light in this ever darkening world. 

So that's a little about the camp, now onto the verse and the picture of me cantering on Charlie. (smooth segue huh? Not really? Eh okay.) As I stated earlier, this summer was hard (but again, very worth it!) At the beginning of the summer we had a chance to choose a verse we wanted to focus on during the summer and this was the verse I chose. Its always been a favorite verse of mine and I knew this summer would be tiring. Let's look at a little more of the chapter: 

Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

28 

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

    and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 

He gives strength to the weary

    and increases the power of the weak.

30 

Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

31 

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.    VS 27-31

Earlier in the chapter it talks about God calling out to His people even though they had turned away. He comforts His people and Isaiah talks about how God is our great and good Shepherd. Then God calls to His people and says (paraphrased) "Dudes! Seriously! Have you seen all the ways I have cared for you? I literally have control of everything! Why in the world do you think I can't see you or lead you?!" and from there He encourages us that if we let Him, He will be our strength to do what He has asked. 

This really spoke to me, there were definitely times where I did not act or respond in a way that was Christ like, yet even in those times Christ was calling for me to follow Him. He didn't turn His back on me. When I did turn to Him and seek His help and guidance, He gave them abundantly! There were days where I felt like I couldn't go one more step, I would lean into Him, and He would get me through. 

As I was doing my devotions today I was reading "A Place of Quiet Rest" By Nancy Demoss where she points out a time when Jesus was crazy busy. In Mark 1 Jesus starts out His day by preaching (Nancy explains more about all that goes into speaking), He cast out a demon, he healed Simons mother-in-law, then He healed and cast out demons late into the night. The next morning He didn't sleep in (not gonna to lie, I totally would have been passed out) but woke up before the sun was up to go spend time with His Father. Later when His disciples came to tell Him that there was a whole passel of people looking for Him, He was ready - having been refreshed and renewed by His time with God. Now you might read that and say, well yeah, but He was God! He could do that and be totally fine! But the Bible is very clear that Jesus was both God and man, that He was tempted and that He went through everything we went through, the difference is that He didn't sin. (verses that show that He went through what we go through: John 11:35; Mark 1:13; Matthew 8:20; John 4:6; John 6:66; Matthew 27:46) Now you may be wondering why I switched topics here, give me a second, I'm getting there!   

So If Jesus has been through everything we've been through- He's experienced the craziness, weariness of this life, but He didn't let that stop Him from doing His Father's will, how can we follow that example? Isaiah tells us that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength and soar on wings like eagles. (See, I told you I'd get there!) 

So here's the lesson in this long blog post (If you've stayed for this whole post, you're almost done! Thanks for sticking with me!) Life is crazy hard and crazy busy, whether you're working for a summer camp or not. Many of us struggle with how to balance shining Christ's light in the craziness of life, when it feels like we can't even keep our heads! Many of us feel like we're drowning in the craziness of trying to keep everything and everyone afloat. But I want to encourage you that it doesn't have to be that way! (and no, I'm not suggesting that you ditch it all and go off the grid!) My suggestion is that you make spending time with Jesus a priority in your life every. single. day. He is the ONLY One who can fill us and give us that fresh strength to deal with the day. During the summer there were definitely days where I decided to sleep the extra 30 minutes instead of waking up and spending time with Jesus. But when I did that I missed out on the blessing of spending time with my heavenly Father. How sad is that! I not only missed out on spending time with Him, but I missed out on seeing how He could have worked in that time. And afterwards, I sincerely say that I missed that time. The days that I did decide to get out of bed and spend time with Jesus, I saw my day in a whole new way. I didn't see it as "ugh, I need to drag through this day", rather I saw a new opportunity to see how God would work in and through me, even in the seemingly little things, and that gave me strength and energy. 

Whatever stage of life you are in, whatever craziness happens in your day, God has you there for a purpose and He WILL give you strength to see it through if you only rely on Him. So make time to spend with Jesus in the mornings, before you start your day. You may be surprised to see how it can change your whole day.