Beautifully Broken

I've written before about Camp Hollymont, where I go in the summertime. It's a truly amazing place. I could just rant forever and ever about how crazy awesome it is, but I won't bore you with that. Instead I'll bore you with one reason why it rocks. One of the first nights I was there this year I was hanging out with a couple of counselors talking about God and such (another reason this place is cool). While I was listening to one girl tell her story it hit me that every single person there is a mess in some form or fashion. Every one of them is broken or screwed up or insecure in one way or another, and they all seem to be so okay with it. Hearing these wonderful ladies talk about their trials and the things they struggle with, always going back to God and what he's done/is doing through that is so uplifting. Witnessing that kind of faith and glory-be-to-God attitude has really stuck with me. The Lord is working through that camp, FO SHO.

How about another camp story?
I was a CIT on what we call Cardinal Hall, which is 11-12 year old girls. One night we were on the bus going to the brother camp, Rockmont, and the girls were singing. We had been singing Our God by Chris Tomlin in Morning Watch (Chapel) so they started on that one. They kept getting louder and louder so by the time they had gotten to "And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us..." I had to turn around and look. My view at that point = AMAZING. 11 and 12 year old girls had their hands in the air and their eyes shut worshiping their God...on a school bus!!! That's incredible to me. I want to be as cool as them someday.

There's my stories for the night. Jesus rocks. The end.

Proof

Tell me child, have you ever glanced between the ocean and the sky just moments before the night, to see a sailor’s delight?
Did you notice just between the clouds and setting sun, I had written “love” for all the world to see?

Tell me child, did your chest leap as your heart skipped a beat when you happened upon that waterfall?
Did you take your breath in deep as you clambered up the steep?
In between the foam and rocks could you see my love complete?

Tell me child, could you hear me calling down the hall when you felt you’d lost it all?
Did you feel my arms around you and my gentle voice say “go ahead and sob”?
Did you finally see that my love conquers all?



HE loves YOU. As my good friend would say, "Can't argue with that."

Mission:Love

Names. They're our link to each other, what we think of when a face flashes across our minds. Names. Like a tick on a dog, they attach themselves to an emotion or feeling. Names. Just a couple of words can stoke a fire, open floodgates, or release joy from it's bindings. Right now one name in particular is sitting on the ledge of my thoughts. When I hear this name my mind automatically tightens up, and I close myself off to any good that may come from it. I've trained myself to not allow myself a smile when this name comes up. You see that's the funny thing about names, they don't stop with the last syllable. A name is a person. It's a personality, a being with feelings and thoughts and a heart. It makes changing what I think about someone difficult, because, unlike a name, a person cannot simply be changed or forgotten. Loving a name that I've built myself up against is hard, but loving the human behind that name is even harder. So that's my task for right now: to love. To look past the hurt and disappointment I hear when a name is brought up in conversation. To resist what I want to do and embrace what I know I should do. To block initial hate, and open my heart to what could be. To love as I have been commanded to by the guy who named my Savior.

How far does love extend?

It's been a while since I've done this. I've got several things to write about, most recently Hollymont! But today I don't have a whole lot of time so this is all I'm writing....

Matthew 5:44 tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Alright, I get that. In Paul's letter to the Romans we are instructed to hate what is evil. That makes sense too. But what about Satan? He's evil, but he's also our enemy. Are we supposed to love him or hate him? I've seen very recently just how terrible he is, but as "little Christs" shouldn't our love look like our Maker's? Something I've been really struggling with and trying to be better about is loving those I don't really want to. Is the devil one of them?

There's my weird question for the day.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7