Lessons from Summer Camp: Being everything to everyone for the sake of Christ

As mentioned in my last post, I don't like the outdoors. Well, let me rephrase that. I don't like the outdoors in the mountains of San Diego. They are an interesting mixture of dirt, mud, desert heat, pine trees, desert sage and dirt. Oh and bugs. Lots of bugs. Before I went hiking in Italy, I always thought I hated hiking since I associated it with hikes I took in the desert-like mountains, trying to avoid hornets, rattlesnakes and fire ants.

The idea of spending 5 days in a wooden cabin with a bunch of girls was not exciting me and the legistics finally hit me when I had to buy junky clothes for the week.
I'll get hot.
I'll get dirty.
I will be terribly uncomfortable.
I may not get any sleep.
I will be bitten by numerous bugs.
Yuck.

But I had already volunteered and that was that.

Sunday night rolled along fairly well and I discovered I had been placed in a tepee (yes, a real functioning tepee). At first, I was bummed out but soon discovered the tepees were wonderful. There was more useable space, since the mattresses were on the ground the girls could move their beds every night if they wanted, and when it was hot all we had to do was lift the sides and voila! Automatic A/C!

Monday was really good. It was overcast and even sprinkled a little. I insisted, in fact, I demanded that my girls go hiking with me because the weather was cool. (First hint that something was changing in me). Monday night I was grodey and sweaty and gross and I still played Capture the Flat (a game I have always hated) and enjoyed myself. Hmmm....

Tuesday morning we had staff devotionals and a counselor named "Sultan" (camp name) talked about his journey. He talked about how God was breaking him of himself and asking him to do things that he traditionally had thought were "not me". He talked about how God needs servants who are malleable. Servants that He can do whatever He wants with them and they will say, "Okay, go for it!"

I nearly burst into tears all over the counselor in front of me. It all made sense. God was breaking me of myself and asking me to do things that I've traditionally said were "not me". So often in church I had heard, "Use your gifts! Find your spiritual gifts and use them!" But in some ways, that has been overemphasized to the point where some people (....me) would not do something if it didn't fit their "gifting". But that's not what Scripture says. In fact, it's the opposite.

1 Corinthians 9:19-22

¹⁹Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

This week I became an outdoor enthusiast. Not because I'm gifted in it. Not because it's my passion. But for the sake of Christ, I had to sacrifice my comfort, my time, my resources, my likes, my desires.

Do you have an opportunity to impact others for Christ, but have been shying away from it because it didn't fit your "gift" or "passion"?

I spent 5 1/2 days at camp:
Showers: 6
Bug bites: 0
Times I felt super gross: 0
Times I felt super hot and sweaty: 1
Times I told girls to just ignore the bugs crawling all over our tepee: at least 35
Average hours of sleep per night: 9
Average hours hiking per day: 3

If the Spirit leads, just do it. He will provide for every single need.

Lessons from Summer Camp: God has a plan

Growing up there were somethings I could always count on in the summer. One of them was going to Indian Hills Camp for summer camp. As an elementary-age kid, I loved it. Okay, I enjoyed myself minus the dirt and the bugs and the feelings of general uncleanliness. However, junior high camp there for two years was a bust. I lost two of my best friends and literally that's all I remember about those camps. Those summers left their mark and along with other controversies that happened at the camp that summer marred my experience.

So you can imagine my surprise when my church was signed up kids for camp that the first thought in my head was, "I could be a counselor." Whoa. Where did that come from? Camp counselors are usually college kids that are paid about $20 to spend 23 hours with kids a day. However, every time I passed that sign-up sheet I kept thinking about being a counselor which is crazy! My idea of "roughing it" is a Holiday Inn Express.

One Sunday in May, Pastor Bobby approached me and said, "Now, you don't have to say 'yes' or 'no' now, you can think about this, but Indian Hills doesn't have enough counselors for our week at camp and I was wondering..."
"Yes!" burst out of my mouth before he could finish his sentence.
My natural brain is going, "What? I just agreed to go back to camp! To Indian Hills of all places!"
But my heart was saying, "This is the right thing to do. I'm not working, I know the kids and I'm good with kids. They need me."

My brain eventually came around especially since Pastor Bobby and his wife Cheryl would be there too to take care of things.

But life happens and sometimes it's awful. The day before we were to leave for camp, Bobby's dad died. Bobby was in shock. He called the camp telling them he couldn't come. He called me to let me know I was now in charge of signing up and watching out for 30 campers from our church. I was now the official representative of our church. If I had not been going, this past week would have been horrific for Bobby or at least more horrific than it was.

God had a plan. All I had to do was listen and act on what the Holy Spirit had been prompting me to do for weeks.

Ultimatum update...

Remember this post?

So here is the conclusion. I was upset because I wasn't going to get the flight I wanted on the airline I wanted. I bummed around for about 2 days figuring it was "all for the best", but not really believing it...until I got an email. From my school secretary. Letting me know I had my apartment for all of August.

Because I had not booked the East Coast flight, I could go ahead and make arrangements to move my trip back a week, making it more convenient for everyone involved. I bought the ticket for a cheaper price and a better date. I was just stunned, thanking God for stopping me in my tracks. He knew what was best and by being sensitive to what He wanted, things turned out better.

Oh and by the way, just for fun I checked the flight info for my original date...the prices were back to normal.

Thank you, God, that You are powerful enough to alter online airline booking and loving enough to do it for me!

My Obsession

When I lived in Phoenix, I had a ritual. Every Sunday on the way home from church, I would get off at the Litchfield exit, park my car in a treeless lot and walk into Barnes and Noble. Sometimes I would stay for 30 minutes. Other times I would be there for hours. For a while, I ordered their turkey chipotle panini melt and would sit in the cafe reading various travel books or planning the next week of lessons. Most times, I would wander the store, find something fun and interesting, sit in a big comfy chair and read.

I love bookstores. I love all the books in a row. I love the colorful displays and the nooks where you can curl up and read. Barnes and Noble was the location of my first almost real date (more on my sad dating life later...).

I'm a bit of a bookstore snob too. Each one has a different function for me. Barnes and Noble is my favorite curl up and read spot, mostly because of the comfy chairs. Borders is more of a research spot, with firm leather chairs or tables and chairs. I planned my entire Italy trip from Borders.

So now that I'm no longer teaching frantically, I've been able to slip back into old habits. Summertime is when I try to read a book a day, even if it means staying up to 1 or 2 AM. Earlier this year, I found the web site Shelfari, which is a great way to keep track of the books you're reading and want to read.

So this summer, if you are lucky enough to have some free time on your hands, check out my Shelf and send me some book recommendations!

A good reminder

Oswald Chambers has always been hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes the language is so convoluted I have trouble understanding his insight. Other times, it comes at the right time and the right place. This wasn't today's reading, but one that my eyes fell on and it is a good reminder:

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . . —1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, "Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint." But to say that before God means, "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible." That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, "Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified," is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

The Real You

I received an email from a former student (former as in one whole week former) asking if she could be my friend on facebook. I had a pretty strict rule against being friends with current students (especially since many of them are close to my age and that opens a whole can O' worms), but I had phrased it jokingly like, I'm dorky and you'd be embarrassed by most of my antics.

So my student wrote this:

I remembered that you told us you have many funny pictures on facebook, but probably nobody want to see them, but I want to know what Miss Ernst looks like in her real life. (-:

I was struck by the thought that she thought I had a "fake" and a "real" life. Then I looked at my facebook page to see was I really all that different? Like Top Gear. Check, showed a clip in class. Love Jesus, check, talked about it often and did my best to imitate His life. Encourage others, check, got that. Look like a dork in 99% of my pictures, check, half my students during the last week of school said at one time, "Uh...Miss Ernst we need to take picture again. Your eyes are not open."

For me, you see what you get. This was after years of trying to fit in with "cool" teacher friends. Happy hour, Mill Ave (some of the most boring hours of my life) and other activities that weren't necessarily sinning(most of the time), but just not who I am. I finally realized, hey, I'm not having fun, I'm doing this for people who really don't care about me or what's important to me. Hmmm...

So here I am. Me. I'm still trying to root out the junk left over from years of compromising, but I'm happy to say that I think my student will be somewhat disappointed to discover that my real life, is well, my real life.

Ultimatum

Ever give God an ultimatum before?

God, if this is really you, then do x, y or z.

Today, I gave God an ultimatum. "God, I do not have my plane ticket yet to the East Coast or Germany. I've been waiting. But today God, I'm going to book my flight to the East Coast because I can. So if it isn't what you want, then do something catastrophic and I'll listen."

So I went on the airline web site, plugged in the date and time just as I had done two days earlier and...the flight was $150 more expensive. What?!?!?!

I checked out websites, frantically manipulating times and dates, but still same price. The day before it, $150 cheaper. The day after it, $150 cheaper. The day I needed, $150 more expensive.

It took 30 minutes for me to stop and realize: I gave God an ultimatum. And He answered. The answer was "no".

Whoa.

So, I'm waiting on that plane ticket. Waiting and listening. Because when you give God an ultimatum, there is a good chance, He'll give you one too...