#TimberLakes2013

We arrived at Timber Lakes Camp Monday afternoon and the Camp kicked off Monday Evening.  It's kind of crazy to think it's almost halfway through already.  Some highlights:

• I feel like I'm sharing with NMC students with just a little more "country" to them.  Very similar in background, family values, church involvement.
• It's cool to connect with the region and District of the Missionary Church that produced some very special people in my life (Terry Bley, Dave Engbrecht, Caleb Bislow).  I see the effects this heritage has had on them.
• I've pretty much made it a common practice to do the same first talk at any Camp/ Retreat I speak at.  It's the "mountaintop" message where I outline the fact that this "Spiritual High' we experience does not equal growth.  Instead, God takes us away to gain perspective so we can go back into the valley and truly grow.  Every time I share this message I see the light bulbs go on with students and leaders alike.  
• As I go into a "foreign" setting, it's amazing what happens to my insecurities and doubts.  I still can't believe God allows me to do this stuff and somehow uses my words to impact people when I'm such a pansy!
• We went into town yesterday and experienced an all-out Kansas storm complete with sideways rain, hail and flooding.  We pulled up under an underpass until it passed.  Fortunately Dorothy, Toto and everyone else are still around.
• It's great having my family along with me here.  In the end, I may get a little less time with students, but I'm not sure I could have worked coming here at all had they not been able to join us.  Plus, there's been some fun little teachable moments with the kids along the way.  For instance, this morning the students are going through the different "TAWG stations" I've created for students to rotate through.  In the break between groups, I was able to take Moses through one of the exercises on forgiveness where you throw a rock into the lake to represent God casting our sins into the depths of the ocean.  It was fun to watch his wheels turn as we talked about how Jesus forgives us.

God is good.  He's alive and moving. I'm blown away that He could use a tool like me.  Excited to see what else is in store...