Saturday, May 26, 2012

We've Made It!

Hi friends!
We are here at Crooked Creek and I am not going to lie, it is absolutely amazing.

The morning of our arrival, it snowed 4-5 inches. So I was hesitant to be excited, but once you see those Rocky Mountains, you can't help yourself. Your spirit soars!

But the weather has turned itself around, I am actually sporting a sunburn right now!

We have all arrived and campers get here tomorrow. We couldn't be more excited to see their faces when they get off those buses.

It is our tremendous pleasure to let you know that our friend from Asheville did raise enough money to get his plane ticket to join our Work Crew and he is HERE! It is crazy to see his face around camp working like a dog. It is truly a miracle. There were so many barriers to his coming and all of them have fallen away. It has been amazing to watch.

We are so grateful to all of you who contributed financially and prayerfully. It is so exciting to think about how his life will be forever changed by this experience. 

If you want to follow along with what is going on day to day here at Crooked Creek, I have started a tumblr blog for our assigned team and am adding posts all day as I prayerfully observe the workings of the Lord. Please join us as we go before the Father during this Holy Month!


Thanks for loving us and caring for our friends so well! 

Friday, May 18, 2012

I am an unbeliever

I have to recognize that I am not a person that naturally believes in God's provision.
It does not come easily to me.
It is a true discipline.

This year, I have been reading Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" and two days ago he said this about "The Habit of Recognizing God's Provision"

2 Peter 1:4 "...You may be partakers of the divine nature..."

"We are made 'partakers of God's nature,' receiving and sharing God's own nature through His promises. Then we have to work that divine nature into our human nature by developing godly habits. The first habit to develop is the recognition of God's provision for us. We say, however, "Oh, I can't afford it." One of the worst lies is wrapped up in that statement. We talk as if our heavenly Father has cut us off without a penny! We think it is true humility to say at the end of the day, "Well I just barely got by today, but it was a severe struggle." And yet all of Almighty God is ours in the Lord Jesus! And He will reach to the last grain of sand and the remotest star to bless us if we will only obey Him. Does it really matter that our circumstances are difficult? Why shouldn't they be? If we give way to self-pity and indulge in the luxury of misery,we remove God's riches from our lives and hinder others from entering into His provision. No sin is worse than the sin of self-pity, because it removes God from the throne of our lives, replacing Him with our own self-interests. It causes us to open our mouths only to complain, and we simply become spiritual sponges-always absorbing, never giving, and never being satisfied. And there is nothing lovely or generous about our lives.

Before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; as the psalmist said "All my springs are in you"(Psalm 87:7). If the majesty, grace,  and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you...may have an abundance..." (2 Corinthians 9:8)-then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God's nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time."

May 16//Oswald Chambers.

I love that. "Be marked and identified with God's nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time."

But I am not typically a believer in God's provision.
I am a sponge.
A complainer.
Not satisfied. Not lovely or generous.

But in recent weeks my heart has been on the move. And this passage really set it in stone.
Then Matt was talking to a high school kid who we love.
He is a tough spot. Loves Jesus. But need a fresh start.
A work crew spot opened up on our assignment, that we leave for in less than 5 days.
This boy would miss his high school graduation.
The first in his family to walk across the stage to get his diploma.
AND he simply can't afford it.

He has been working like a dog just to raise money from donors to go to camp this summer for a week. Add on top of that Work Crew? No way.

This passage has come to mind. And we just want to see. Can we make it happen? Can we see God's provision at work in the lives of our friends and family?

Maybe. Maybe it will be just our blessing to get to see him at camp.
But maybe it will be yours too.

We created a small fundraising opportunity to help send him to camp. (And maybe a few others if we go over the goal. We believe in a big GOD!) All you have to do is click on this link. And give some money. See what happens!

Give

We can't wait to see OUR friends become partakers in God's nature in the life of a high school student. It will be so cool.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

MacKenzie

This is my beautiful friend MacKenzie. I had the pleasure of taking her senior portraits last weekend and all I have to say is WOW. She made the camera pop!

She going to Appalachian State next year to play tennis and she is going to set the world on fire. I can't wait to see what she makes of the world.