Stress, Access, Excess

Tonight was our Student Camp Meeting. It is hard to believe its camp 08. I will never forget my first camp in 1993. I took a group of snotty nosed officers kids to a Camp in New Hampshire. They were all the offspring of Leutinant Colonels or above. I was a PV1 and they knew it. A big ripe age of 19, many of them just two years younger. Boy that was a hard group. The favorite t-shirt was volleyball naked, or softball naked. Most if not all the kids were lost. I am not sure what good came out of the experience. Tonigth I spoke briefly about Jesus feeding the five thousand in Matthew's account. I found it interesting that the thing that drove Jesus to the "wilderness" was the beheading of John the Baptist. Jesus needed a get away afraid John's death. I called it stress. While Jesus was at this beach He still gave access to Himself to all of those that were needy and sick. And lastly He performed a miracle with a hand full of fish and a few loaves of bread to the point their was excess food.

God undoubtebly uses all of the circumstances to bring us to a point for Him to get the most Glory through all of our life experiences. Even if we find ourselves stressed, hurt, rejected, whatever our story is, He will turn those negatives into positives. I hope that as we encounter Christ we are left with residue, or excess or whatever you want to call it, that is proof we have met with Jesus.

For me, this time away trusting Dana and Bryan to God, has been so helpful in my relationship to Deven and Nathan. I just had a great conversation with them before they went to bed. They both told me they got to see my insides. They got to hear my heart like they have never heard it or seen it before. Their father loves them more than they will ever know. My time with them has been so good. I know our Heavenly Father desires the same experience with us. Stress, Access and Excess.