Forgive me in advance for sounding like a crazy person. Today was our first full day of camp and I am rather sleep deprived/dehydrated/otherwise out of it. However, I've been meaning to write a blog describing the "same old struggles" moniker for a while and thought I would go ahead and do so.
The main concept comes from an old Caedmon's Call song called Thankful:
You know I ran across an old box of letters
While I was bagging up some clothes for Goodwill
But you know I had to laugh at the same old struggles
That plagued me then are plaguing me still
I know the road is long from the ground to glory
But a boy can hope he's getting some place
But you see, I'm running from the very clothes I'm wearing
And dressed like this I'm fit for the chase
This song has always stuck out to me for that opening stanza. When I look at my past compared to my present, I find that I still struggle with many of the same things that I used to struggle with. While God has brought victory in some areas, some tend to manifest again in some form or fashion as a new struggle. However, praise be to God for His mercy and grace...
As a (former) youth pastor, I think I bring a different perspective to being a camp pastor. I am more aware of what students are directly struggling with and how adept they are at hiding their struggles. The use camp as a way to try to secretly deal with very big issues and then wonder why nothing ever seems to stick.
Tonight I challenged the kids to break the mold and not follow a standard camp tradition of waiting until "decision night" (gag) to start getting emotional/spiritual. We had an invitation time where the kids simply stood up to signify that they wanted to let go of things so that they could follow God and it was amazing to me to watch God move. There was emotion, but it seemed genuine and many kids were moved. I hope that God will move in a way that when they are digging through old letters that their current struggle will be nothing like their former ones.
God really wowed me tonight and it is truly humbling to be our team's camp pastor. I honestly do not know what I did to deserve such a privilege. I pray that God continues to move this week and that these students will encounter Him and learn to trust in God and His promises.
I love you all so very much...
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