Go into the world showing how much He loves you.
Walk in the world in merciful ways-
He loves you.
He loves you!
This past weekend, I had the privilege of going with our Sr. High students from Libertyville Covenant Church to Covenant Point Bible Camp for a retreat. CPBC has always been a special place for me, as well as many others... I was a camper there for years, and on staff for two during high school. I hadn't been back since that summer of 2004 for a variety of reasons... but when we stepped off the bus a joy flooded my body. It was such a visceral reaction that I wasn't expecting. I recognized the reality that I had been running away when I last left; returning would have meant that I would be held accountable for my actions that were so easy to justify when I wasn't in the presence of God's staggeringly pure light that pervades every aspect of camp life. I wasn't just running from camp, but from who God was calling me to be.
It's been almost nine years, and I have been transformed. This felt like coming full circle... I've been forgiven, reconciled and repaired, and now I was able to fully participate in this piece of God's work in this holy place.
I was talking with a girl who was on the retreat and she asked if I still had painful memories of the mistakes I've made. I thought about it for a while and replied, "Well, no, not really... but I still have scars. There were huge, gaping wounds in my life that I created by trying to live it the way I wanted. They were awful, bleeding sores." She interjected, "But you were strong enough to heal them and be okay?" "No," I said, "but God was."
It's so true! God is a surgeon that comes into situations and not only heals us, but makes us functional again! Maybe scars are there, but they don't stop us from performing our best, or in the case, better than before! The quote from the beginning of this post is from a song by Jars of Clay, Benediction. It's such a wonderful reminder of the call on our lives that is so simple to talk about, but so hard to practice all the time. Being at places like CPBC are so life giving, and provide me with a wonderful reminder of what I've been brought out of, and how God is sending our family out.
PS: If you missed Brady and I on ABC's local news story from their special needs correspondent, here's the link!
