faith like a child

ever wonder what that expression means? "faith like a child"...it was actually first introduced to me when i was a camper...a story about how the camp family's kids would run up and jump on her from behind whether she was ready or not...always knowing and trusting that she would catch them...and how this is how our life with God should be reflected. we should be able to throw everything down and run to Him and always trust that He would catch us-and be unhindered by that...

that being said, it's not ironic that i would be re-introduced to this analogy at the same camp and by the same family. the youngest child of this family has stolen my heart. he is only 8 and the fears and anxieties that exist within his little mind are beyond me. they are beyond some of the biggest anxieties and fears i've had at age 23, let alone 8. while babysitting them, some of these fears were starting to creep into his little mind. before we left the house it was just he and i and he asked if we could pray to God. all i could say was yes, of course. we established that he wanted me to say the prayer and we did. i knew there was so much i wanted to ask God for this little boy but had no idea what words i could say without messing up that would also comfort him. i knew the prayer wasn't for me, and that God was gonna work through it for him...but still

what's the point? it's not to put this family on the spot, or to say hey, i prayed with this little boy, isn't that awesome...it's about having faith like a child. the first thing he wanted to do amidst fear was pray. and he was comforted by it. why does it seem to get harder and harder to drop everything and pray and trust wholeheartedly that our God is going to comfort us as we pray to Him. it seems that the older we get, the harder we try to solve our problems on our own. i'm learning from him and everyone in this family-they are truly inspiring and God is teaching me so so so much through them-much more than i ever could have guessed.
it's late and i'm not even sure it all made sense, but that is my story and my prayer-that if you're reading this, you'll be reminded to have faith like a child-to throw everything down that is hindering you at the foot of the cross for your Savior to take and carry for you.

more photo documentation justice

i realized i couldn't fit all the photos i wanted into the other post, so this is part two of the documentation.

here we have more snow shoe documentation (sunset on the lake!) my lakeview family (tim and john) my lutherhaven family (don and celine) and our group adventure shot (all in front of the falls we went to see) and documentation of the jam session...matt and sarah and splenda all got phone calls of tim and i singing "knockin' on heaven's door" before we realized it's finals week and everyone is tired! it was great

ice cream on a snowy day

so i didn't really eat icecream on a snowy day...but it was a nice thought.

i got to spend 4 days at "rump" at camp luther in wisconsin. just when i think i'm getting used to this camp stuff, i've seen all there is to see, or things are all starting to look the same, i'm proven wrong.

we had a wonderful tour guide type person, "scrappy." she was just doing her job and loving camp, but offered to take us around (some of us on snow shoes) to see all the different "woodsy" areas of camp, and the next day took us to a waterfall about an hour away. remember, there was between 6-12 inches of snow on the ground! so again, we were hiking in the snow!

God's beauty of creation and seeing the ministry of the camp reflected in the camp's villages was one thing, but the other great thing was the people i got to spend it with. tuesday's tour consisted of myself, don, celine, and tim from lutherhaven, our new friend heater (hugs) from wal camp, and tim and digger from lakeview. (fun fact is that i also got to stop and shoot clay targets during the tour-i was horrible!) wednesday's waterfall tour of bode falls was a similiar group-again with scrappy (real name, sue) from camp luther and don and celine from lutherhaven. from lakeview we had tim and john dobrinski. it was really interesting because i felt so much like "belonged" with both groups of people.

when taking pictures, i wanted one with both of my "families"...it seems as if both places have something to offer through the people there-some the same, some different. i was so comfortable and really felt like myself. i have no idea what this means for the future, but i know it means i had an incredible 4 days hanging out with groups of people that i love, meeting new people, singing old songs, reminiscing on old jokes (knock knock knockin' on heaven's door...hey, heey, hey heyy), enjoying God's creation, and feeling revived by the spirit of the people around me.

there was also a time for some pretty extreme prayer. never forget how important that is and to spend time with your Creator today.

"thousands of dead things covered in rock layer scattered in water...all over the earth" (that can't be correct)

and for those of you who were wondering, the title comes from the icrecream shop by the waterfal (which was closed?)

pictures: the woods of camp luther, shooting clay targets (i'd never shot at anything before!), devotional area at walcamp, courtyard area at camp luther, snow shoe-ing gang