Unreal!

I woke up Saturday morning and thought everything was a dream. Everything that I could remember seemed so unbelievable and too amazing to really have happened. God worked and moved. We saw Jesus more clearly not only in our own lives but, as each week progressed, God let us all see Jesus taking his place in the hearts of so many campers. Together, every week with them, we laughed, danced, sang, praised, and prayed. We sat and listened as lives were poured out, walls were torn down, and masks were pulled away. We saw God's Love shine into the darkest corners and deepest recesses of hearts... even our own. Together we shed tears, sweat and blood. Sometimes we got frustrated when a stake wouldn't stick or when we missed up a meal. At times, we struggled to lift our own heads as we tried to lift the heads of others. Some mornings, we wanted to do anything but crawl out of our sleeping bags and tiptoe downstairs to start a quiet time. Securing ourselves on our knees and face to the ground, we laid everything at the foot of the cross and He renewed our spirits everyday. When we were met with overwhelming questions we couldn't answer and it made it so hard to believe and carry on, He met us where we were and showed his nail scarred hands. When we didn't want to wash anymore dishes, cook another meal, or clean the Mikey again, He humbled himself to humble us by taking off his robe, kneeling down and wrapping a towel around his waist so that he could wash our feet. And on every Saturday morning, we would round off every week by letting them go, never knowing the full impact of our service but trusting that God would go with them and continue the good work he started until it was finished.
It was all way too good to believe. It had to be a dream. In the reality most of the world lives in, everything that happened was unreal. It was amazing! Well beyond what we can ever put to words. But that's who He is.
Today a friend sent me a text that said:
HOW AMAZING IS IT THAT WE WORSHIP A GOD THAT WE CAN'T EXAGGERATE?!

He's the BEST! NO FOOLIN'! No one is greater.
Now that we are all back home, remembering, receiving, and acting in that knowledge will be so much harder as we don't have the immediate fellowship we've been used to. That coupled with the constant distractions of our daily routine, it will become easier to fall into the temptation to believe what happened this summer was just a dream or a distant memory. In the noise of everything else going in our lives, what once was a mighty roar of confidence can become a whisper.

I know I don't want to forget or lose sight of the things I learned this summer. I prayed to be broken and God took that as consent to constantly nun-chuck me in the face with grace.
Like we encourage our campies at the end of the every week: THIS IS NOT THE END TO ANYTHING!
We are still one body in Christ and we are here to hold each other accountable to that. The world kept spinning while we were away and God has placed us where we are to love and serve in the same way we aspired to do on the water. Our motives were to glorify our Lord with every action. We've been placed where we are to befriend, encourage, model and challenge EVERYONE we can! In that way, we live in the command to love as He has loved us. Our validation is in Him alone. We will strive to bring out the best in others, even if it means looking completely ridiculous in the attempt to do so. It's not about us! We've already died to ourselves. In that death is freedom and in that freedom is everlasting joy.
That's the truth I've learned and that's the truth I'm going to challenge myself to cling to and live in despite whatever circumstances. It's daunting to think about, but God has delivered us each other to stand strong together as we did this summer.

For whoever wants to continue on our journey together, we'll be starting a new devo blog that starts next Monday. We're going to be going through the I AM Statements together and I'm so excited to hear from all of you again! Micaela is setting it up, so it should be great. If you'd like to join us, leave your email address in a comment box. YAAAAAY!!! :D I love you all and miss you so much.

Chosen and Sent Out

Waking up and eating breakfast alone this morning was uncomfortable. After being in such holy communion for an entire weekend, even through crazy Delta weather, the thought of going back home and carrying on with my normal routine didn't appeal to me. All I want is to be back on the docks with all of you and continue where we left off yesterday morning.
On my ride back home, I got lost in those thoughts and eventually I came back to Christ. I shouldn't be upset to leave any of you but instead I should be joyful to be sent out with you! This morning, I was thinking about it and we have over 100 staff members. Each of us knows well over 100 people that we see on a regular basis and we all come in to contact with thousands more everyday on the street. The potentional there for divine appointment, intervention, and opportunity is overwhelming, especially now that we are coming out of such an inspiriational retreat together!
When I linger on the selfish thought of wanting to be with you all on an immediate basis, I'm focusing on myself and forgetting that God connects us all on a spiritual basis. WE ARE NEVER ALONE! Even when we feel lonely, sad or uncomfortable.
We still have some time before we all have to report to the docks at our respective times and in that time we can still encourage each other and lift each other up in the name of our Lord!

Here's my two cents from a quiet time this morning:
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, The Lord your God has chosen YOU to be his own special treasure. The Lord did not choose you to lavish his love on you because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations. It was simply because the Lord loves you...

John 15:15-17
I no longer call you servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me. I CHOSE YOU. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last and, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask, using my name. I COMMAND YOU TO LOVE EACH OTHER!

We weren't chosen by Sonshine! And we aren't here to serve a camp. We were chosen and sent out to serve and love everyone in the name of Jesus Christ who has served and loved in the most humiliating way!
Although I said I wanted to continue from where we left off yesterday morning at the docks, I've come to the realization that we alreadly are continuing on together! This is how the story progresses. God has just called to be a way from each other for a short time and even in that distance, we are still as one in Christ.
I love you guys and miss you all already. But through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit we are still connected and together.
Let me know how I can be praying for you please!!!

Hmmm...What Should I Wear Today??

"Therefore, as God's chose people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." - Colossians 3:12-14

This is one of my all time favorite verses. This past year as a Resident Adviser for a hall of 46 freshman women at APU, I used Colossians 3:12-14 as my hall verse. The hall theme was "Beloved" and in several other translations of this verse, the authors replaces the words "dearly loved" in verse 12 with "beloved." I thought I'd share this verse with you all because I thought it fit in pretty well with this week's topic of modesty.

Throughout this past school year, I tried to incorporate Colossians 3:12-14 into several events with my girls. One of the events we did was a challenge week where I challenged the girls to cover their mirrors, not wear make-up, and wear the same basic outfit for an entire week. Yeah, it was hard to do, but in that week we tore apart this verse together and challenged each other to focus on wearing something different that week. We talked about the importance of CHOOSING to clothe ourselves in those virtues and CHOOSING to put on love. We talked about how those are so much more important than the clothes we wear and the make-up we put on our face. The more we dig deeper into Christ and the more we let the Holy Spirit work in us, those virtues will start to become more natural aspects of our character. Our value does not lie in what we look like, but from what is within us. We are valuable simply because we are HIS! It is a concept that I don't think I'll ever fully understand, but the more and more I try to live out being a beloved daughter of a mighty MIGHTY God, the more and more I will be wearing compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

See you all later tonight :)
Love,
Meg

To Love and To Trust God with All My Heart, Mind, and Strength?

Oh APU... Fellow Barnies, I owe you all a massive apology. I have not posted in quite some time due to MANY technical issues with my computer, my email, APU, and all things Google. Isn't that just lovely?!

Alrighty, now that that's out of the way, on to the devotional!! For today, I am going to discuss the devotional from Wednesday of last week which uses 1 Corinthians 15:54. Decisions decisions decisions. Life seems to be full of them. What I really got from this was the fact that when we are filled with fear, we don't act on decisions and fail to realize that no matter what we will be celebrating with a vibrant dance of spiritual freedom with Christ.

I can be quite indecisive at times and most recently this had to do with where I am going to be living for the next few years. You see, with the passing of my grandmother early last year, my mom and I inherited her house. Only 7 months later I also inherited the condo that my mom and I had lived in for 10 years. Up until now the plan had always been to sell the condo and fix up the house so I would be content living there. Some of you may know that on May 14th some friends and family were to come over and help me complete the move from the condo to the house but then that was cancelled last minute. I had been trying to pack at the condo and realized that I couldn't. I got scared because I had spent most of my life there. I love the condo and was terrified to let go of all that was there to move to a place that I couldn't stand. Therefore, my family left it up to me to decide where to live. After a couple weeks I have prayed about it and thought about it constantly and the condo has won.

However, there was one thing I never thought of. God. I was constantly focusing on the pros and cons of living at each place. I failed to realize that wherever I am at, God will be there too, right by my side. I failed to completely trust him. I need God just as much as the next person. If I don't trust him with something like this then where is that going to get me.

Time to decide to trust Him, to love Him whole-heartedly. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength."

A little disclaimer: Some people might think,"Well you get to choose where you want to live and your only 19. You get to be on your own and have it easy." FALSE. I don't want a pity party but I definitely don't want people thinking the wrong thing. I never wanted this to happen. Don't want to get rid of either place because technically I grew up in both homes. Don't think I have it all together. Moving back to the condo and selling the house is nothing more than just a stepping stone to who I am supposed to be. Please don't get the wrong impression.

Barnabas!!!

Hello Faithful Barnabas!!!

I am so excited to see you all tomorrow. I hope you all are excited to see each other again, train for your service this summer, and grow in the Lord! I have enjoyed getting to know you all these past few months. Thank you for all your participation and diligence in getting your paperwork done, in raising money for campers, and in pouring into the devotional and blog. Thank you! Continue to ask for support in regards to the RWJ and continue to pray for this summer.

I am deeply convinced that the Lord desires to use you and grow you in understanding his work and his character!

Love you all!!!!

Modest Simplicity

"The simple communication of knowledge is brilliance"

"The temptation occurs when the disciple desires for people to lust over the disciple's ideas ABOUT GOD instead of falling in love WITH GOD. Please cloak your brilliant insights about Christ with modest simplicity".

The concept of being modestly simplicitic is so intreaging to me. I remember that this topic was really impactful for a lot of you during the training weekend. There are two common scenarios that we can fall in when it comes to applying knowledge. I think we either 1) Loose ourselves in trying to be, sound, or appear highly spiritual with our words, or 2) We feel inadequate about the lack of knowledge we feel we have about our faith. I know that I can fall into both of these from time to time. I think I've come to the conclusion that both perspectives are missing the mark a little and can cause us to fix our attention on ourselves and off of Christ. We are called to share about Christ, but when we fixate so much about how we appear that we take all the focus off of Him. We all can fall into these and need to take on the art of being modestly simplistic.

Its important to share truth, but when we do it modestly it provides a gentle atmosphere for people to learn about God with out being intimidated. Being modest also gives us freedom in sharing truth. We can be modest and not play into the pressure that we have to share a bunch of knowledge. We are free to share bits and pieces that we have learned along the way, and that's it.

I hope this encourages some of you. I know there are times where we feel inadequate or like we lack knowledge and faith. But we are called to be modest and some times "short and sweet" can be more impactful then anything. Trust that you can share the things you've learned and know about God, no matter how great or small.

I am really liking this concept of being Modestly simplistic!!!!

Love you all!

His grace is enough

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 that “when I am weak, I am strong”. This makes sense only when one believes and accepts the fact that when we are weak, God is strong, strongest, and is strong for us. His grace is enough to hold us over forever. We do not need to be strong, that is God’s job.

How can someone be a good listener when they are always busy talking about themselves? Modesty is an issue I have seen myself struggle with over the years. I don’t know why, as I cannot really think of anything to boast about. But anyways, the fact that I Corinthians 10:23 is being used to help outline modesty is very interesting. But it makes complete sense. Sure you can boast and it may be the truth and nothing truly bad will probably come from it, but is it necessary? Will it bring good to others? We are here to help and bring good to others, and boasting does not do that, so we shouldn’t boast. It seems like such a simple thing to not do; yet it can seem so easy to talk about ourselves sometimes. Listening is always more fun than talking anyways.

God’s grace is enough, it is plenty enough for us, and I am thankful for that.

I cannot wait to finally meet and fellowship with all of you this weekend!! See you soon!

Hello fellow Barneys! So sorry I have not posted in a while, for some reason my account will not let me post and we have been trying to figure that out. Instead Stef, is going to post this for me so here it goes.

Lately I have been feeling very nervous about working for Sonshine this summer. I continue to question, Am I ready for this? How will God use me? I have never been a leader in this type of way before, can I really do this? These questions have been roaming around in the back of my mind, as I continue to pray for strength and prepardness from God. As I am working through these questions, the main thing that God is doing in me is reminding me to TRUST HIM. I think often times I try to do it all on my own, when in reality God has come right along side me to help me! I am working on trusting him and not being worried about working for Sonshine. Instead, I am trying to remember that God has got me to this point and He wants me to participate in this amazing experience.

I think trusting God is something each of us forget to do and I am thankful that God is kindly reminding me to just trust him.

PS. I can't wait to meet you all this weekend!

Lauren Traurig

Control

So life has been super crazy and I hadn't left any time for posting on the blog, but I made time and here it goes.

What I have been learning about these past two weeks is giving all control to God. I like to be in charge and in a place of authority, since I am almost 18 my parents have loosened the reigns and have started making me become more responsible for my actions thus making it easier to take charge of my life. Although most would think taking charge of my life would be a good thing, and it is, I just overstepped my boundaries and started to take complete control not letting God be the ultimate authority figure of my life. I was trying to take on everything in my life by myself. I was struggling and struggling and then I realized that I can't do this all by myself, I needed God to be in control for the things in my life to be what I need and not what I want. So on this realization I started giving things to God and letting him take control slowly but surely. I had one last thing to give over to God and I was trying and trying to give it to him but I still had a rope tied around it while I was holding onto the other end with all of my might. (I'll be honest with you guys and say that the thing that I was holding onto was a relationship that God didn't want for me, not because of something obvious such as him not being christian because he is and a strong one too, I still have no clue why God doesn't want this for me right now and I guess that I will just have to be patient and wait for God to tell me if he chooses to do so.) I finally decided that God was not going to let me have this relationship, but that I was just going to have to cut the rope and give it all the way over to God. Once I finally did that God has been there for me distracting my mind from thinking about the guy and being there for me when satan tries to get into my mind. I have given everything over to God and it feels great to know that someone so much wiser, bigger, and stronger is in control.

I never mean for my blogs to be this long, but I guess I am just long winded(: I can't wait to see you guys in just a few days!!!

-Sarah

Grow in Weakness

"I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" 2 Corinthians: 10. Paul puts so much faith in Jesus and God it just amazes me. When Paul ask Jesus for help he responds, "my power is made perfect in weakness." Wait what? How can that be? Why would God want us to be weak? How can we build up Gods word in weakness? But when I think back to the training weekend I remembered sitting in the room hearing testimony after testimony. Hearing how even through hard times we find a way to rely on God for strength instead of ourselves. That even after all the hardships we face we can still praise God because he gave us life. It's amazing how much God can use us, even when were weak.