Treasure Each Moment

Time. Something that none of us seem to have enough of.

The number one excuse for why we didn't go to the gym, why we never got around to shopping for groceries, and why we didn't have time to play with our children.

There are 7 days in each week, 24 hours in each day, 60 minutes in each hour, and 3,600 seconds in each hour. That sounds like a lot, but somehow we don't seem to find time to do the things that should matter the most.

We are all on the clock. Today will not last forever; our lives will not last forever.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a pre-mature baby.

To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour, ask the soldier and his wife who are waiting to meet after months apart.

To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the train.

To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Time is precious. We make time for the things that matter. If you want to know the things a person values most, look at where they spend the majority of their time.

Matthew 6:21 says it best I think, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where we spend our time, energy, money, and thoughts is where our hearts are.

It may feel like we have forever, but each moment is a gift. We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery. No one is guaranteed another day; all we have is the present.

"Live Like We're Dying"

By Kris Allen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6jnynVLfLA

Lessons From Boy Scout Camp

6.5 weeks of lessons learned, skills developed, and patience tested. Late nights, long days, lots of laughter, sweat, and, at times, frustrated tears.

Boy Scout camp counselor. That was the title I held the bulk of my summer. I was one of five female staffers in a sea of about fifty staff total.

It was a summer of "firsts"....

First time being a paid camp counselor.

First time living in a tent for more than two days at a time.

First time being away from home for more than a week at a time by myself.

First visit to Patient First.

First time being in a rowboat....at 6 A.M. no less!

First time staying up until 3 A.M. talking about life with my fellow staffers.

Yes, I had lots of "firsts."

I had lots of learning experiences too....

Discovering how different people communicate and learning how to best communicate with them.

Dealing with people who didn't think I should be at camp, much less be teaching.

Learning how I say something and when I say it, is just as important as what I say.

Learning how to live in a family of guys.

Learning how to teach skills that I barely know myself.

Learning how to ask for help.

Learning how to love different people where they were.

Learning how to laugh at myself.

The list could go on and on!

I would say the one thing that stood out to me the most this summer is that going the extra mile makes a difference, especially when done in the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law.

To do your best in a cheerful and organized manner, even when you feel tired, sweaty, and have very little idea what you are doing, goes a long way in setting an example for the Scouts and staff around you.

If the boys see you having fun, they will be more willing to jump into tasks and learn new skills. There will always be tedious tasks to do at camp, but a song or a word of encouragement can definitely help lighten the mood.

If the boys see you making the effort, they are more willing to be receptive to what you have to say. Actually learn the names of the boys you are around and something about them. There is something special about being at a camp of 300 boys and knowing that someone took the time to try to learn your name.

Lastly, if the boys see you make mistakes and try again, they are more likely to keep trying until they get it right. Everyone makes mistakes, but the failing does not come in the falling down, but in the staying down. So you had a rough day? It's okay. Tomorrow is a new day and the sun will rise. The boys will watch to see what your reaction to a situation is and likely follow suit.

Being on camp staff was 6.5 weeks of unforgettable lessons and memories, that's for sure. There was never a dull moment and every moment was worth anything I may have sacrificed over the summer. It was truly a summer of a lifetime!

 

We never fail when we try to do our duty, we always fail when we neglect to do it.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell

Let Your Light Shine

This is a fiction piece I wrote based on an experience I had a few years ago.

Emily scanned the room, analyzing every person. Her gaze came to rest on a young man who sat in chair with crutches nearby; pain and concentration etched on his face as he lifted a ten pound weight.

“I wonder what he did.”

As if sensing her stare, he raised his head and their eyes met. She smiled and he smiled back briefly before continuing his exercise, but not before Emily noticed the bright light in his eyes.

“I wonder if he is a Christian.”

A nurse bringing out new bandages interrupted her ponderings. “I need to wrap your wrist,” she said. Inwardly, Emily groaned. “How much longer do I have to wear this bulky thing?” Emily asked glancing with disdain at her scarred wrist.

With a sympathetic look, the nurse answered, “Another two weeks and then you will likely be fitted for a brace; that accident really did a number on your wrist and we need to give it time to heal properly. I know it feels like forever, especially as young as you are.”

Emily nodded as her attention was again drawn to the young man who was now bouncing a ball against a wall nearby. She flinched as the tightening of the bandage brought her back to reality.

“That should be tight enough,” the nurse said cheerfully as she secured the bandage with a couple of pieces of medical tape. “Now we can have you work on some muscle building in your arm. That way, when your cast does come off, you’ll be stronger.”

She showed Emily how to pull on a bungee cord attached to a wall while sitting in a chair near the young man Emily had been observing earlier.

Emily did as the nurse had demonstrated and was told to do fifty more repetitions. By fifteen reps, she was already wishing the exercise was over, and by twenty-five, she was breathing hard and sweating. The nurse told her to take a break and then go back to it.

As Emily slumped back into the chair and rubbed her sore arm, she felt someone watching her. She turned to see the young man sitting in a chair, also resting between repetitions.

Their eyes met. Emily was again struck by the light in his eyes. They starred at each other until Emily blurted out, "You’re a Christian, aren’t you?”

Her face turned beet red as she realized what she had just said. She was stuttering an apology when she noticed the easy smile spreading across his face.

“Yes, I am; and you are too.”

She nodded at she looked at him in speechless silence. His easy smile remained as he said, “I knew from the moment you walked in that you were a Christian because of the way your eyes shone and how you carried yourself. You walked as though you knew that you belonged to God and not the world.”

She gapped at him for a minute and then a tumble of words came pouring out, “I knew you were one too by the light in your eyes. You just seemed so peaceful and nice. I felt like God was in the room.”

His smile widened as he nodded. “Yes, Christ fills me with peace and it just reflects from the inside out.”

She nodded as she finally returned his smile.

They talked for a few more minutes until the nurse came in and fussed at them for not doing their exercises.

“This isn’t socializing time,” she said with a hint of amusement.

The two exchanged smiles as they returned to their respective exercises.

As Emily was getting ready to leave, the man came over to her and said, “Keep being a light. There are lots of people in this world that need hope and we know the Maker and Definition of hope.  We might as well share the Source of it.”

Emily smiled and nodded as she reached out to shake his hand. He surprised her by pulling her into a hug. When he pulled back, he grinned. “We’re both part of the family of God and where I come from, family give each other hugs!

She smiled. “Thank you for showing me what letting our light shine means and thank you for sharing what you see in me. You’ve been very encouraging.”

He gently took her hand and looked her in the eye. “It was never me that you saw, but Christ in me.”

She nodded as she squeezed his hand and turned to make her way out the door.       

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (New International Version)

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 (New International Version)

“Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” Philippians 2:15b (New Living Translation)

You Are Enough

You try and fit in.

 

You try and meet the expectations that the world sets....skinny....beautiful....plays this....does that....knows this fact....knows this person.

 

You try to be that person that no one can touch.....invincible....brave; nothing can get you down.

 

And you fail.

 

Time and time again....you fail.

 

Beloved, hear me when I say this: God never made you to look like everyone else, walk like everyone else, talk like everyone else.

 

He didn't make you out of a mold of what everyone else expects.

 

He didn't give you unique characteristics and talents just to ignore them.

 

YOU are who He made; as you are!

 

So you don't fit in with the rest of the world.

 

So you can't seem to ever be "good enough."

 

So you aren't invincible.

 

You were never made to be those things anyway....

 

You were made to stand out as a light for Christ with your own unique talents.

 

You were made to be broken so God could strengthen you when you seek Him.

 

You were made to look, walk, and talk like Christ.

 

He is the only one you should be seeking after to be like!

 

So throw away that beauty magazine.

 

Stop trying to please people, because chances are, no matter what you do, you are going to displease someone.

 

Don't look out at the world with all it's standards and expectations.

 

Look up and in!

 

God has a great plan for you; just as you are. YOU are made in the image of God, not in the image of the "cool" kids down the street; not in the image of the model on the cover of that magazine; not in the image of your parents or friends. He made you in His image.

 

You shine because God made you.

 

You shine because you are not a copy.

 

You shine because you are perfect in God's eyes.

 

You shine because YOU. ARE. ENOUGH!



"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it."

Psalm 139:13-14

Worshiping In The Waiting

I have spent a lot of my life waiting.

Waiting on the time to be right. Waiting on God to work. Waiting on God to do as He sees best. Waiting to see how He will lead me to spend the rest of my life. Waiting on the time to date. Waiting on the time to speak. Waiting on the time to act. Waiting....

Lately, God has been reemphasizing a truth to me: Worship in the waiting.

There is a quote that says, "Patience is not based on how LONG you wait, but your ATTITUDE while you wait."

Sometimes we can wait months and years for something we wanted an answer to now. Sometimes we can wait a lifetime and never quite know if we have the answer to something. Even still, we should worship.

How we wait can be worship. How we minister to others in the waiting can be worship. How we share what God is teaching us can be worship. How we pray in the waiting can be worship. There are many ways to worship in the waiting.

Another one of my favorite quotes says, "Faith does not eliminate questions, but faith does know Who to take them to."

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:10

God has a plan and I trust Him to reveal it in His time, if it be His will. In the meantime, I will not knock on a door that has been closed or that has yet to be opened. It is a waste of my time.

My time on this earth is short, but I can choose to spend it wisely. I can choose to minister to others. I can choose to let God use me. I can choose to worship in the waiting and take advantage of what God has given me now. I can choose to have faith. 

 

"For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1

"While I'm Waiting" by John Waller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzNyvnC2-1k

 

Bittersweet Musings

I haven't written in awhile. Not because I haven't wanted to, but because I have been so busy and stressed. However, today seemed like a good day to sit down and write.

The summer of 2013 I was a volunteer at a non-profit Christian organization called the Sophie House. The Sophie House was founded by Kimberly Tillem and it's mission is to: "Provide housing, healing, encouragement and hope for women and children." While I was a volunteer, I worked under Cathe Myers.

That summer changed my life. I came in with a desire to do something different with my summer and left with a new view on who God was and how I should live as a Child of His. Throughout the summer, I helped stock the food pantry and sort through donations. I hung clothes and did odds and ends. Mostly though, I just observed Cathe.

Women and families would come in and Cathe would listen to them. She ministered and prayed expectantly. She knew that God was going to act in big ways.....and He did!

I saw her lay hands on someone who was physically hurting and pray over them and their pain would disappear. In that, I came to believe in the power of prayer and miracles.

I heard her say just what people needed to hear, at just the moment they needed to hear it. In that, I came to believe in the power of a timely word.

I felt how she would enter a room and people would instantly be put at ease. In that, I came to understand the power of a Godly woman.

She set the example of what a Godly woman should look like. She did something people rarely do....she didn't just listen to what people said, she heard what they might not verbally say.

The Sophie House became a place I could come and feel at home. I could work hard or just sit and listen. As time passed, I became more familiar with the people that came in to the Sophie House. I felt comfortable praying for people. My faith came alive!

When my family walked through a desert time, it was the people at the Sophie House that made me feel welcome. They reaffirmed me and prayed for me.

In a few weeks, the Sophie House will be destroyed in order to make room for a new sanctuary that the Church wants that the Sophie House sits on. It is a bittersweet feeling indeed.

No one is quite sure what will happen beyond the building we have currently. Since my time there, the Sophie House has changed operators and has grown in leaps and bounds. God has been good and faithful. He will continue to be.

I am coming to realize that though the building gave me a place to go, it was the people that made it special.

Regardless of whether the Sophie House relocates at some point, takes a new form, or ceases to exist, I will not forget the things I learned through the people there. I will not forget the ways I grew in my faith. I will not forget what I saw God do!

 

"But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren." Deuteronomy 4:9

Life Lessons From Scouting: Do Your Best

If you are at all familiar with the Boy Scouts of America, you know that we hold a motto that says: "Do your best."

 

As a Ventureer, this is something that I often hear and it is something that I believe should be applied to more than just Scouting.

 

Scouting is more than just an activity, it teaches life skills, but what is the point of learning life skills if you do not put them into action?

 

In life, we must do our best. 

 

An everyday example of this is that I take a cycle class twice a week and though it proves to be a challenge every week, I keep going and doing my best.

 

Sometimes I can get 20 miles in and sometimes I can only get 12 miles in. My goal is not how far I can go, as much as it is how much I give. I would rather leave a class knowing that I gave it my all, then to wonder if I could have given more.

 

One of the most crucial parts of doing your best is that it is YOUR best, not someone else's best. Your best is not going to look like someone else's best because you are not them. Comparing yourself to others will usually only prove to frustrate, more than motivate.

 

Doing your best helps develop perseverance, courage, and strength of character. It makes boys, men and girls, women.  

 

A quote by Sir Robert Baden-Powell says that, "No one can pass through life, anymore than he can pass through a country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way." 

 

This is one of the things that makes up the core of Scouting. What we do today affects tomorrow. By doing our best, we are setting a positive example and making a difference. It may not be a widespread difference, but one cannot change the world in one day, only one person at a time and it starts with you.

 

I leave you with this quote by Sir Robert Baden Powell that was found in a letter to all Scouters shortly after he had passed away: "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best."