Sponges & Spirituality

What does our spirituality have to do with sponges? The speaker at the One Way Winter Retreat shed some light on that. In fact, he even demonstrated it. Dipping a desert dry sponge into a jug of clean, pure water, he waited for the sponge to soak it up. You could almost hear the dry sponge breathing a sigh of relief to finally be filled again!—And then he threw the sponge at one of the teens! Clean, pure water splattered over the teen. If others had been close by, they would have been affected as well.

When we let GOD fill our lives HE will spill out from us, overflowing into the lives of others. On the flip side, when we allow our lives to become saturated with ungodly thoughts, ideals, motives and attitudes, don't think for a second we'll be able to contain them. They too will overflow into the lives of others causing heartache and chaos.

I hope your prayer is as mine, that my life would be saturated with GOD, that my life would be an outpouring of HIM to others.

An Adventure of God's Making

There's nothing better than heading off on an adventure of God's making!

I'll admit the busload of teens was all I predicted it to be---not calm and definitely not quiet!

I'll admit during the opening session as the leader had the teens screaming and cheering that I reached for my bag and popped Advil to short-circuit the ominous throbbing beginning in my head.

I'll admit that after participating in the many games of volleyball, after walking up the steep hill to the girls' dorm more times than I really cared to, that I discovered muscles where I'd forgotten I had muscles!

But I can't finish this blog without admitting that though I came away from the Winter Retreat physically ready for a hot tub and a quiet night, that I also came away spiritually encouraged and blessed. I can tell you I was blessed by the messages brought by the speaker---and that would be true. More awesome than that was having the opportunity to get to know the teens on a personal level and to be blessed by the testimony shining through their lives.

John 13:35 reads: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." To see teens getting along, sharing with each other, helping each other, and demonstrating a love that is not of this world, but a love that reveals that they are HIS disciples is an awesome thing to see.

God invited me on what appeared to be an uncertain venture and turned it into a definite adventure!

New Ventures

The world of blogging is new to me. The concept I’ve understood for quite some time. Let’s put it up to an overloaded schedule that didn’t permit me the time to delve into new ventures that I’m only just now starting a blog. Imagine, a place to put my thoughts and an outlet for my love of writing—without feeling the need to fill the urge to write a full length novel! What a concept!

Speaking of new ventures, we all need to venture out at times. Sure there’s a sense of security in doing what we’ve always done, in knowing what to expect each day, in doing only what we feel confident that we can do—but where’s the excitement in that?

I challenge you today to try something new, to stretch yourself, to step outside your comfort zone. I’m about to do just that this weekend. I’m about to try something new. I’m about to stretch myself. I’m about to step outside my comfort zone. I’m heading off this weekend with the One Way youth group from our church for a Winter Retreat. I’ll be joining a busload of not calm, not quiet teens. I’ll be spending three days and two nights with these teens.

Working with teens is outside my comfort zone, but someone asked me to do just that. The timing was wrong. I really did not have the time to commit to one more thing. I figured that was the end of it.

I figured wrong. God’s ways are not always our ways. My life commitments eased up and God startled me by bringing back to mind the request to help with the youth group. God loves to move us outside our comfort zones. It is then that it becomes so evident that it is HIM doing the work and not ME. It’s a sometimes scary, but definitely exciting proposition. Thankfully God does not require that I know how to handle each and every situation. He only requires that I respond to His leading in my life.

It is just that, God’s leading in my life, that has brought me to this new adventure, to join a busload of not calm, not quiet teens for a weekend that is still an unknown to me. The amazing part is that God has given me an excitement about it! God has changed an uncertain venture into an anticipated adventure. I wonder what adventure God has in store for you! Do you have one to share?