Tag Archives: Thoughts

Love Can’t Save You

Listening to Gungor spurred an interesting discussion at my house over the weekend. My family and I were listening to “White Man” after my parents’ pastor had made some very good political comments in his sermon that morning. The whole song is fantastic, but the relevant part for this post is the chorus and bridge:

But God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone
God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone

Atheists and Charlatans and Communists and Lesbians
And even old Pat Robertson, oh God He loves us all
Catholic or Protestant, Terrorist or President
Everybody, everybody, love, love, love, love, love

So good. It’s not our place to judge, condemn, and prove wrong. We are meant to love and show them we are Christians by our love. I feel like lots of people forget that God is love and instead portray a God of jerks. But this is where the conversation got interesting. My dad made a particularly good comment, “That’s all good, but some people swing too far the other way and make love their god. God is love. Not love is god.”

God is love. Not love is god.

Love does not mean enabling and supporting everything a person wants to do, say, or believe. Love is caring enough about another person to turn them towards the face of Jesus. Let me be clear. I do not mean bashing them over the head with the bible. As believers, we have a duty to show people the only one who can save them. Jesus. Our job is not to tell them they are okay just the way they are (sin and all), but rather to show them the one who can redeem who they are despite sin. Love can’t save anyone. Only God can. Welcome people with open arms but realize that transformation has to take place. Tell them they are loved, but don’t forget that we all are sinners. We all need redemption. We all need a savior.

Love is recognizing that Jesus is the only one who can save. So lead people to God through love and allow Him to do what he does best.

Dish Duty

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I thinks it’s easy to go online and see beautiful pictures of perfect people on mountain tops. Or hear stories of couples going on grand adventures. I think almost everyone wants an adventure in one way or another. I am one of those people. Or so I thought.

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I just got back from Adventure Kamp. I flew a plane, went scuba diving, rappelled kids off a 300 foot bluff, taught countless survival classes, built a water proof shelter out of sticks, leaves and vine, killed, cleaned, and cooked a rabbit, hiked in rain, sun, cold, and hot, found my way with a compass, prepared devos and tried my best to counsel the great kids I had, slept in a hammock 33 nights of the summer, saw the milky way, watched 35 shooting stars during my fire watch at 2 in the morning, and killed a copper head. Six hours of sleep a night, cooking, taking photo and video, driving, teaching, and counseling. It a summer of firsts. First time in a small plane. First time cliff bluffing. First time being a counselor. First time navigating an airport. First time camping. First time backpacking.

And yet, it all felt very unspectacular. It wasn’t that it was because it was my job or that I was overtired (although both would have been true). No, it was something else. How could I go on such wonderful adventures and it feel so ordinary? The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had the wrong idea about what adventure meant.

~an unusual and exciting experience or activity~

~to engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory~

After this summer I realized I could go everywhere, do everything, learn everything, be everything I wanted to be, but still be empty. This summer, I went on journey. An exploration. And what I discovered? I really need community. People to experience life with. People to share struggles with. People to take in a moment with. To laugh with and cry with. The more I thought about it, I’ve had adventure upon adventure washing dishes with my small group back home. Or explore my home town with my besties.

Yes, I long for adventure, but even deeper than that, I long for connection. And I’d rather share a mundane life with people than have the grandest of adventures alone. I hope to make life my adventure. No matter where I am or what I’m doing. So here’s to life. And here’s to loving people.

Big Dreams, Big God

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About four months ago, I thought it would be a good idea to look into my summer plans. I knew I would have to work in Missouri (for residency reasons), and I knew that a camp was my first choice. So naturally I turned to the internet. I googled “Christian camps Missouri”, and I clicked on the first result: Kanakuk. After looking into the camp, I got really excited about working there. Their summer staff includes over 2,000 college students. That’s quite different from the 65 at the camp I work at now.

I browsed through their positions and was really excited to see the words ‘Adventure Kamp’ (Kanakuk spells anything with camp with a K). Now this isn’t just any kamp. This adventure camp includes three parts: scuba, aviation, and survival. This means scuba diving in Florida, learning how to fly planes, and surviving out in the wilderness. I knew that was the job I wanted. After a promising first general interview, I got a call from the head of the Adventure Kamp series and got the news: you have to be 21 to work adventure staff.

When I heard those words over the phone, I started crying and I realized how much I wanted that job. It felt right. I was super disappointed, but I had hopes of working adventure staff later on. The phone call ended with assurance that I would get a regular counselor position and the final word would be in February. I got over my disappointment, deciding to trust God’s timing and plan. Normally, not knowing what I would be doing over the summer would stress me out a lot, but I really felt that God would work everything out for the best. Meantime, I focused on growing closer to God and relying on him for strength in school as I went through the motions of everyday life.

A week ago, I was feeling really discouraged on my drive to school. Usually I pray for different people on my drive, but that particular day, I prayed “God, I’m really discouraged. You’re a big God and I need something big to encourage me today.” I felt a bit sheepish at praying such a bold prayer. Little did I realize how big of a God I serve. That afternoon I got another call from Kanakuk. Seeing the name of the Adventure staff director pop up on my phone, I froze not wanting to get my hopes up. I answered the phone. “Hello Samantha, I was wondering if you were still interested in being a counselor for adventure camp?” I explained that I wasn’t 21, and so I wasn’t able to be a counselor. That’s when I heard the news, “We still have one female staff position that we need to fill, and it’s yours if you want it.” WHAT??? I could barely contain my excitement, still hardly believing it.

But in order to accept this offer, God still had to work one more miracle. I was enrolled in 17 credits, but needed 20 to graduate. I needed 3 more credits somehow. Frantically I considered my options: I could CLEP a course or take an 8 week class. In order to sign up for another class, I needed to get the college’s permission. So I made my appointment, met with an adviser, filled out the paperwork and waited. I wrote in my journal, “everything about this job is so impossible that if it works out, the whole thing was God.” Well, it all worked out.

I AM GOING ON ADVENTURE CAMP

How faithful is God? Seriously. He proves his goodness over and over again. Don’t think your plans are too big for God. He is so so much bigger than my deepest hopes. Who would think that I would ever learn how to fly a plane or scuba dive? Or get to go on adventures for Christ? Or get to teach kids about Jesus for a job?

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,”

I work here, but it’s not work.

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Several weeks this semester I’ve worked over 50 hours a week on top of my 17 credits. It sounds worse than it is. In reality, 20 of those hours are spent at camp. It’s about an hour drive to Lake Geneva Youth Camp, and I’ve been going up almost every weekend. My mom is concerned that I need to ease up and destress. I respond that camp is my destress.

Story time: It was minus 20 degrees. I worked outside all day at the giant swing and then headed to Conference Point Center for lazer tag in the evening. I suggest taking my car across the lake because I know it’s reliable. Previously, the truck we normally take wouldn’t start because of the cold. However, because I’m a minor and my car isn’t on camp insurance, we took a camp van. The problem with this camp vehicle? The gas light doesn’t work. No big deal. Kitchen staff filled it this morning. “Yay,” I think to myself as we head to CPC. “Warmth inside at last.” But no. Tippiwalkin, the building we set lazer tag in, is unheated. It’s now past sunset and the inside of Tippi acts as a freezer: no wind, just bitter, bitter cold. My toes hadn’t defrosted from being outside all day, and they went completely numb. Good times. After lazer tag ended, it was time to head back. We get off the highway and are just entering the quaint Lake Geneva town when the lights of the van start flickering on and off. The gas peddle isn’t responding. Yep, we ran out of gas. You know what no gas means? No heat. We waited around in the freezing van for about 20 minutes until my boss saved us. That was one of the coldest days of my life.

Yes, I know it’s strange, but I actually gain energy by working at camp. Yes, it does make me happy. Plus I got to share rec life with my friend, Than!

I’m also learning super cool things at the rock wall. I was able to start one of the hardest courses at the wall: yellow. I was super proud. I haven’t made it to the top on yellow yet, but it’s a working progress. My biggest accomplishment is that I can climb up a rope. My boss, Neil, taught me how. After watching me he said that I should join cross fit with him because I would be good at it. These are the comments that warm my soul.

Rediscoveries

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Yes, I’ve found a new love. As a kid, I always thought hammocks were cool. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want a hammock. Over the summer, I rediscovered my hammock love. At camp, several of my friends had hammocks and one let me borrow one to sleep outside. By the second time of waking up outside with the sun shinning overhead, I decided I was going to buy one.

I’m normally not a big spender, but it felt good purchasing my hammock. It felt like an investment. You know what is also grand? Feeling like a kid again. It feels stellar getting excited over things that I used to get excited about. It feels like me.