Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

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So as I've mentioned before I am working at a summer camp as a Christian Education Director.  I have an awesome partner named Tyler and we basically try to teach campers about God and His love and walk alongside the staff encouraging and uplifting them as needed. 

I love it!

 

Every morning we have JAM (Jesus and Me) where we sing fun songs, perform silly skits and practice a memory verse for the week and each night we end the day with a little devotional.  And then lots of random stuff in between. 

But where my heart really lies this summer is with the staff.  God has given me just this incredible, instant love for them!  With that has come this desire to see them (and myself) continue to grow so much in the Lord!  Some days I feel like I am bursting to share truth or love with them. 

 

And some days I don't know what to do with all those feelings.

 

Some days I feel this incredible amount of pressure.  That I only have a few weeks to show just how much they are loved by God!  And I start to worry and stress.  I'm not doing enough.  I'm not saying enough.  I'm not praying enough.  I'm not worshipping enough.  It's kind of exhausting.

We've reached the halfway part of the summer and people are feeling weary and worn down.  And I heard that some people really just wanted a chill worship night.  So I picked a night and spent a few hours picking the perfect mix of songs, figuring out how to set up chairs and mats that would make people the most comfortable, praying and trying to figure out how to have enough light for people to journal or read their Bibles but not so much it felt institutional.  It finally started and I sat worrying and praying.  Were people feeling the Holy Spirit?  Were the songs a good choice?  Should I have had more mats or chairs.  What if the mats seemed weird to people?

 

I wasn't even worshipping. 

I am feeling weary and worn. 

I needed this night too.

 

And then God gave me the memory of sitting on a hard wooden bench on a hot roof in Ecuador late at night worshipping with just an ipod and mini-speakers. 

And then I had the memory of sitting on the ground of a basketball court in the rain in Bolivia, again worshipping with just an ipod. 

And finally I remembered sitting on the floor of a small, cramped apartment in Albania and you guessed it–just worshipping with an ipod. 

 

In none of those cases was there the perfect lighting or seating or songs.  It was just whatever someone had on their ipod (usually the same 20 songs we listened to over and over again).  And yet I remember so vividly feeling the presence of God.  Feeling renewed and refreshed. 

 

So why did I worry so much now? 

 

I stood up, walked to the back of the room, faced a corner so I couldn't see anyone else and just praised my Savior.  I forgot about trying to make worship perfect and just focused on worship.  And it was incredible.  The Holy Spirit doesn't need the perfect setting to show up.  He just needs a willing heart.

 

These are the lessons I don't want to lose now that I am home.