Lovely Incapability

If you want to get to the meat of the blog, you can skip the life highlights, but for those of you who are interested....

Recent Life Highlights:

My dear friend Claire arrived on July 3. She did the last two weeks of camp with me and seemed to enjoy it pretty tremendously! The other staff and campers also enjoyed her (that was no surprise to me)!

My sister Candi is now engaged to Jordan! :)

Strawberries are in season. :)

I very likely have a place to move into in October!

I plan to take a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course in September. Still praying about money on that one! :)

Last week I counseled at camp. Counseling is not my strong point. I did it twice before in the ten summers I volunteered at camp. But honestly, I was never the counselor type. 

Due to the aforementioned, you may imagine that I was a bit apprehensive before counseling at camp last week. I had a talk with God beforehand and essentially put it all on Him. "Well, Lord, you know that this is not my strength. But I know that it is Your strength. These are Your children, and I believe You will teach them. So Lord, I look forward to seeing You at work as I make myself available to You. Thank You for what You will teach Your children."

The truth is that God gave me a lot of wisdom during the week. I had no real devotional plan outlined when I arrived at camp on Sunday night. But each devotion was planned, thought out, and understandable - even though for some I had about ten minutes of prep time. The girls in my cabin all seemed to grasp what we talked about each morning and evening, and their questions and answers were deep. There were no real issues in the cabin, but even in the small things, God gave me tremendous wisdom. I have always struggled to know when to be firm or strict, and when to laugh and not make a big deal of things. My typical pattern has been that I always do the wrong one. But this week I knew. Not because I suddenly figured out the perfect way to make a child obey, but simply because God gave me wisdom. It was a GOOD week.

I so appreciate the times when I know without doubt that I am inadequate and that running away is not an option. It creates opportunity to walk forward in complete reliance on Jesus to live His life. That is, of course, exactly how it OUGHT to be. We were never intended to live the Christian life. Rather, we are to know our inadequacy to live this life, and rest in the fullness of truth that Christ lives it perfectly as we trust Him to do so. It's a beautiful thing.

I look forward to the next time when I know without a doubt that I am inadequate. I hope it's tomorrow! Why? Because I love seeing Christianity lived by the only One capable of living it - by Christ Jesus Himself.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

Lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6