Gone Before Me

I began the 3 hour return trek to the summit of Wilpena Pound today. I knew it was a difficult walk, but I didn't think I would be scaling rock faces. The destination was clear and I walked the track alone. If you have a destination in mind, sure, there are multiple ways to get there. I mean just keep going up, it will surely get you there in the end.  But isn’t it wise to go the track that you know will be safe and will get you there in good time? I do love an adventure and sometimes you can make you own way, but this was not the time. 

And so I began following the markers. Looking for the markers was tough at times, but it was nice to know they were there if you looked. There were a number of times I got off the track, missed the markers and it led to a dead end. When the path wasn’t clear, it helped to look for tracks where people had been in the past. This helped me get back on track and assured me that I would make it to the right place. 

Especially when you are on your own, you can get lost very easily. There are some journeys we have to do on our own, but knowing the markers are there that I can trust, helps. I have been aware of how sure footed you need to be when you are on your own. One wrong step can lead to injury. In the middle of nowhere, at least if you are on the track you can be found. If you are off the track you’re not so easy to find.

When you are scrambling up rocks, you are always looking down at your feet, to make sure each step is secure and solid. So, every now and then I needed to stop and look up to check where I was, to see I was going in the right direction and just to see the view around me. I mean, how silly is it to trek up a mountain and not actually stop and see the view. This slows you down, but allows you to enjoy the journey more, rather than always focusing on the destination. 

Of course, making it to the top is a very exhilarating achievement. I stayed at the top for a long while to really soak up the view, the surroundings and the joy it gave to make it to the top. 

Besides the personal achievement of making it to the top, I couldn’t help be reminded that I probably wouldn’t have got here, if it wasn’t for those who had gone before me. Those who had marked the track, those who had painstakingly and tirelessly made steps where they were needed, smoothed the rough places and forged a way up that was accessible to others. Instead of praising myself for my own achievement - there were times when I lost my way - I was so thankful for those who had recently walked the summit and left their shoe tracks for me to find to get me back on track. I simply would not have been able to enjoy the view, the beauty or even the walk as much if there had not been those who had gone before me and to claim this achievement as completely my own would have been wrong. I know I have done this so many times before and really forgotten those who have given so much to make my trek possible. 

So many times in life, we can only achieve or keep moving forward because of what others have done. Our mentors, our early-adopters, our parents, our leaders, anyone who has gone before us.  It is a shame we don't say thank you enough, listen more and learn more from them. So often we simply put our head down and forge ahead with our own path, convinced we know best and are the only one who knows the way forward. I see it happen every day, in families, in culture, in politics, in world affairs, in the streets and homes of every city, and in the Church. 

It is no wonder throughout the Bible, God has implored us to stop, consider, slow down, follow the tracks laid out, listen and trust that those who have gone before us have wisdom and guidance that aims to help us reach the summit, rather than to hinder or stifle or stop us. The right track and the right voices and the right guidance is designed for us to succeed, flourish and find freedom and the joy I found when I reached that summit today. Today I honour those who have gone before me and I pray I will do that more and more.  Today I slow down, look up and savour the view, knowing I can only do that because others have showed me the way. 

Hope in a Time of Despair

Amidst a pandemic health problem that is real and threatening it imperative that we need to “socially isolate” from each other. This for some is exciting, and for some scary. All the extroverts are thinking OMG how will I survive, Introverts are saying “yay”, but over time everyone will feel the strain of all that it will mean.  

I must say at first, I was tempted to put my head down and hibernate for while. It suited me just fine.  And probably “like a sabbath”, that many like me are not good at taking, for a time it might be just what everyone needs. But it didn't take me long before the guilt of “ease and comfort” set in and I realised this might be just the time when God is calling us to rise up. I mean, what would the world say about Christians during this time if all they saw is that we were hiding in our houses, keeping to ourselves?

“The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest”  

(Matthew 9:37-38)

Never before in my life, have I had a chance to help my neighbour as I have this week, to connect with people who have been otherwise too busy and share feelings and listen to each other.  The faith community I am a part of, that I would say is pretty connected usually, has been more connected that ever before. 

With Messenger, Facebook, Text, Phone calls, there is sharing going on everywhere. We had a ZOOM prayer and worship morning this Sunday morning. The young people stayed on an hour after we finished just to talk to each other. And one of our community who now lives in Paris, France, was able to join us for the first time in 6 months. 

A few days before that we had a practice for those new to ZOOM to get on and make sure everything was working. What a laugh. People were so funny, all trying to talk to each other at the same time, while some people were trying to do funny things, the young people chatting on the side, the oldies trying to get their camera focused. As we all share what God is challenging and comforting us with, we are all hearing God’s heart and word from all different people. Every person has the chance to make someone else's day. And this is not happening just on Sundays, it is happening every day of the week.

We have also found that our outward/missional expression has increased tenfold. In the past week, as a community, we have created a “Love and Care for each other” notice board and people are pitching in to create baskets for shut ins and struggling families. We have worked out how we can get FREE food parcels to families. We have created a “card” that people can fill out and drop in neighbours’ boxes to offer help. We have considered starting to write “old fashioned” letters to people and create a pen pal system. Young people have helped older people hook up ZOOM and Messenger. Our people are putting together “craft kits” for kids, Easter hampers for others. Some are making cards and others are just enjoying a lot more time to chat. 

People we haven’t heard from in ages are now connecting back in and appreciating the community. And every day offers a chance to make someone’s day. For the numbers of shopkeepers and workers who have been yelled at each day, it doesn’t take much to counteract that with a smile and a thank you.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  

Hebrews 10-20-25

All this to say that if we have eyes to see, and ears to hear, now is the time to bring “Hope” in a time of despair, to walk together more deeply and make sure people don't feel alone.

Let’s share the stories of what is possible, because now more than ever, every little bit helps.

Faith Holds

There are modern parables everywhere if you have eyes to see. ‘The winds will blow and the storms will come, but the house on the rock stood firm (Matthew 7:24-27). It was all I could see as I walked the beach today. The morning after a big storm and there was seaweed all over the beach. It had been uprooted and thrown about by the sea all night. The storm had been violent and rough, the lightning lit up the sky, the rain heavy. The seaweed’s roots were planted in the sand and as the wind blew and the storms rolled in, the seaweed was easily tossed around. There it lay, all over the beach, being tossed by the waves back and forward as each new set came in. 

And then I saw a whole lot more seaweed that had been

knocked around, but their roots were still intact. As I pulled and dug down deep … they were in the sand but had laid their foundations tightly around a rock that was buried in the sand. During the storm and winds, those that had built their life around the rock, stood firm.  

As I walked a little further, there were a few that had been uprooted by the storm. It was a strong and violent storm that night, but when this seaweed had been dislodged the rock came with them and the connection between the roots and the rock were very firm. I liked the thought that even though they got tossed around and even thrown off course, the rock stayed with the seaweed. 

“I will always be with you, even to the ends of the earth”. (Matt 28:20)

The wise man builds his house upon the rock; a parable, my childhood song, a simple but valuable teaching. Today as I walked on the beach, it had another strong reminder.  As a child I could never imagine being uprooted, being dislodged, being thrown around by life. I was blessed with a strong and stable life, living life with Christ as the centre and a family that was stable. I always thought that was a story about the importance of building your life with Christ as your foundation and if you did all would be fine. I chose to do that from a very young age. A simple and “childish” faith. 

Today I still hold onto that faith as if a child. But it is no longer “childish”. It has been tested, pushed around, knocked down at times and even at times hard to get back again. Because of that it is now a strong faith.  Seeing the seaweed today,  holding tightly to the rock as it was getting tossed by the waves in the aftermath of what would have been a big night of being thrown around, there was something about the desperate way the roots clung onto the rock, that reminded me of myself, and brought me a sense of peace. 

A reminder of when you are only holding on by a small strand, but it is enough to get you through. The thought that even when you want to let go, your roots have been growing for so long they are entwined together and very hard to break. The hope that whatever is the connection between the rock and the roots, the rock is playing a part we can’t see and we should never let us go. 

Today, I needed to know He would never let me go. We all need to know this most days, more than we are sometimes willing to admit. The storm has passed today, the calm is here. But the storm will come again. Lord, like the seaweed, give us enough time to catch our breath, to plant ourselves deeply in You even more before the next storm comes. Help us to know that when the storm comes we will be ready and that You will never leave us. All that is required is the faith of a child, a simple story, a simple visual. Today it will be all we need to face another day. Thank you.

Are our Churches/Children just “seedless watermelons”?

I have always been fascinated with trees. They are so beautiful and majestic.  Each country has its  own unique trees and Jamaica is no exception.

I was stopped by an impressive tree. It was large and strong, the roots were clearly deep as well as coming out in all directions. There was a smaller plant right beside it, being shadowed by it and growing up healthy and strong beside it. The large tree had beautiful reddish fruit on it, which I soon found out was a “Jamaican apple”. 

There are so many things I learn from trees and nature. God challenges me every time with new things. I was given the apple to eat and it was very different to an apple in Australia. It was soft and almost pear/peach like in texture, but it was white and fluffy. As I was enjoying the fruit, I noticed it had a large hard seed in the middle.

Psalm 1 says “but those whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and who mediates on His Law day and night, that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.”

Leadership, parenting … these are challenging things. They require much delighting in God’s word and His truth to be able to yield fruit. How I long to yield fruit! As I ate the apple, being such a new experience, I loved the reminder of how nourishing fruit can be and how precious it is to be able to bear fruit for others to enjoy. How important it is that we as leaders and parents actually produce fruit that sustains others, that we focus on how we attract and sustain those we lead, and make sure our fruit is appetising enough that they want to eat it. Which is hard these days, as there are so many other options than a healthy piece of fruit, which are available all the time, not just in season.  You know how horrible it can be when you eat fruit that is out of season, and that just can’t compete with the many other sweet and now artificial options that our children and people would much rather eat than healthy and natural fruit. 

But this big large seed that I was left with, caught my attention. It was hard and strong and significant. Of course you can’t eat it, so we often throw it away after eating the fruit. Well, at least in the western world we do. So, as I was about to throw it away, I realised that this is such an important part of the fruit.  Without the seed, there is not new and sustaining life. The seed needs to be replanted for it to grow. 

It is one thing for me as a leader or parent to delight in the Lord so that I may grow and yield fruit, but if that fruit is not then taken, consumed and replanted, its enjoyment and value only lasts for moments. Very quickly we find we want more and more of the light fluffy flesh without understanding the fruit has a seed of replenishing life that is important to be replanted for life to continue. 

It made me consider in Western Society how much we love

the “Seedless Watermelon”, a recent human creation to make the fruit easy to consume. When we serve fruit platters we cut out all the seeds so it is all easily consumable and looking ascetically pleasing. I know I love mandarins, (which are small oranges), but I specifically look for the ones with no seeds because the number of seeds in a normal mandarin drives me crazy to eat. Our children today are growing up believing that Watermelons and Mandarins have no seeds. Sure, it is much easier to eat, but what does it say to our children? What does that subconsciously teach us all?

I wonder how many of our churches, our programs, our ministries are like “seedless fruit”? Tasty and attractive, but without seeds that get replanted into the souls and hearts that come, so that they might be able to grow and yield their own fruit?  How often are our churches centred around the leader’s spiritual strength, that might come from delighting in the Lord and His word and bearing fruit that is delicious to eat, but by the next week those that came last week are craving for more to sustain them another week? 

Francis Chan tells a story of a Mega Church pastor in Seoul. He asked “How can I get my people to leave and live by faith? He explained how he had become really proficient at gathering people together but his intention was to get them to disperse to share the Gospel and live by faith. But now they had grown comfortable and didn't want to leave” (F. Chan, “Letters to the Church”, p 153)

As parents, we can be so meticulous about cutting up bite sizes of fruit and taking out the seeds or much worse feeding them substitutes to healthy fruit all together and not actually giving them the seeds of what they actually need to grow up and bear their own fruit.  Please, know that I am not just talking about feeding our kids healthy fruit with seeds here. (Although that is important as well). 

Whatever space we are in as leaders or parents, let’s be careful that we are bearing fruit that comes with a seed of truth. 

   “A farmer went out to sow his seed” Mathew 13:3

A seed of truth that can be replanted and grow independent of us being there. We are called to plant the seed, and God will grow it, but if we are only giving out fluffy, sweet fruit with no seeds, we have missed the point of being planted deeply in God and the blessing that comes with it.  This is not about yielding a fruit for ourselves, or unto ourselves, or drawing people towards us. It is so that the seed of truth may not only prosper in us but also spread to the ends of the earth.  

I want to see my children grow and become bigger, stronger trees than I can ever be. I long to see those I am called to lead, go and plant their own trees and reproduce over and over again. But it must start with me and the question, “Am I bearing seedless fruit?”

Let the little children come to me!

Recently I sat in a Church service and the children were brought to the front to have a “children's talk.” Today the pastor was teaching on "let the children come to me for such is the kingdom of God.” 

My husband leans over to me and says, “They are speaking your language,” while looking at me with the smile that says, “see, this is not that bad.”  While I honour their intent, it was one of the most difficult things I have endured for a long time.  

Let me try to relive this for you…..

The children sit on the stage looking at the adults. There is a glass window behind them with Jesus holding his hands out drawing all His children unto Him. 

The talk begins for the kids and the adults are watching the kids who are now on show for all.  I see many adults begin to look at their watch or read their bulletin to pass the time while the “Children's talk” is on. The children are sitting very still and look a little uncomfortable as they are staring out at a whole lot of adults. The leader is lovely and tries to talk to them, to engage them and tell them how Jesus never told the children to go away and that he said we ALL needed to become like children to enter the kingdom.  The kids are quiet and still and the teacher is having trouble getting them to respond.  A whole lot of adults looking at you, can be scary. When one child finally does answer in a natural way, there was a laugh that rang through the congregation because her     answer was “so cute.” 

This caused the children to shut down even more,  but to be fair,  I was aware of the love and warmth that was evident in the room despite the strained process that is going on. 

And then after talking about “letting the children come to me, do not turn them away” …the children are asked to leave the room to go to Sunday School. 

Am I the only one in the room who can see the irony in this?

I know in this context, in this traditional setting, it makes sense. It is how “Church” has been done for a long time.  

“One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these. After laying hands on them, he left.” (Matthew 19:13-15)

This passage is highlighting how the disciples continued to misunderstand Jesus and here I felt I watched it being played out yet again.

The service continues….

Luke18:17 "anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter it" 

The Pastor begins to preach on this passage, while the children are elsewhere, taken away so the adults could learn more about being like a child so they can enter the kingdom. (sorry if I sound sarcastic)

He says….. “In the disciples’ minds the children were not important and important people don't hang out with children”

Not sure if anyone else could see the hypocrisy in the room.  Like a “frog in the kettle” here we are sitting in the comfortable, quiet, ordered space, listening to a well-spoken and passionate message, learning that we should be like the children we have just sent away to another room.

The Pastor continues to say, “Jesus says, what the world thinks is important is not what I care about. I care about the powerless and those that are like children. Jesus is constantly going sideways of his culture.”  

The congregation sits in silent agreement.

While I agree, the Pastor is saying that we must value children in this culture, in this setting, but somehow it feels like the actions this morning didn't match what was being said. God sees children as the people they are and He values them. Let them come and do not stop them, Jesus says.  The church should be a place where children are welcomed in and where they meet Jesus, but the cost of that is huge for the Traditional church. 

What are we saying to kids when we send them out? What are we saying to adults if we keep making it comfortable enough for them so they learn and they never have a chance to see what it is like for a child? They never get to learn from kids what it is like to have a “child-like” faith in order to enter the Kingdom when we gather at the church, because we are very rarely together!

He continues on saying, “Camps are great, and a place where kids get to go away and learn about Jesus and then bring it back home”

And while true, I am dying inside, feeling like he gets it, but then doesn’t. It is so wonderful to have a Pastor speaking about children, but what he is saying is only part of the truth. Our language is so tricky. Our western culture is set up to send kids away to learn and encounter Jesus at Camp, Sunday school or Kids Klub, but it is only part of the truth and what we are called to do. 

Then his final challenge to us all 

“Do you talk to them at the coffee break?Is it awkward ? We all feel awkward, but we have to reach out and take time to share the love with kids. It is not easy. It feels like you are all talking a different language. Sometimes it feels like we are watching cats being herded, but that's why we have a children's message, because we want them to know they are welcome. Don’t be the grumpy old church person. Even if it just a smile,  we are put on this earth to lead them and love them.”

This is his final plea to the adults in the room. His great encouragement. At this point, I am really struggling, but I look around the room and everyone is smiling and happy. 

So often the Church is missing the point on so many levels. I suppose we are still like the disciples all these years later…..clueless. I don't know where to start to unpack the experience of that morning, only to say I walked away from that morning feeling sad. 

What does it truly mean to welcome the children? To not hinder them? To love each other as if we are all the children of God? To see the family of God as one big family that needs to learn to love, live and grow together? When we get together as Christians, what did Jesus intend when he said: 

 Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” (Matthew 19:13-15)

"anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, will never enter it” (Luke 18)

We must be challenged to consider what that should look like today if we followed Jesus example? 

An Extra in His Story

Moses is certainly a well-known Bible Hero. Amidst pain, loss, trials, tragedy, the book of Exodus begins with the Genocide, where every boy must be thrown into the Nile. The cruelty of one nation’s leader exerting power over another nation simply because he could and because he didn’t agree with their beliefs and many suffer for it.  Because of their love for God, the Hebrews were subjected to broken hearts. When parents heard, "it's a boy," it would not have been such good news as they would have known the child would be killed. 

But one mother hides her baby boy for three months until she cannot hide any longer, then she puts the baby into a basket and puts it in the water. Can you imagine doing that? The Hebrew word for “basket” translated in English is “ark.” Like Noah’s Ark, Moses’ basket is coated with pitch and tar. This is not the first time that an ark has been placed in dangerous waters and all of the salvation of a nation happens to be going through one person.  

The Nile is full of crocodiles, unsafe water. The risk was huge. However frightening for Moses, or more so the family, I believe that Moses was never safer than when he was in the basket. Is this because Moses was destined to be a hero? Was it because he was someone special and God needed him to do a special job? Was this because he was such a good person? The Bible says “he was fine”(Ex 2:2) so did he need to be saved over the thousands of children who had already been killed? No, I don’t believe so. He was safe because it was all about His story, God’s story. 

So, the drama continues as Miriam (the daughter) watches as the wife of the man who wants this baby killed, picks him up out of the water, knowing full well this is a Hebrew baby. Miriam thinks quickly and is able to offer advice and says she has someone who can look after the baby. When you fear Pharaoh is in control, God shows that He is always in control of His BIG story.

The ‘so called’ Hero of the story, as we know, grows up in the palace and eventually saves God’s people and is used mightily for God. And we teach that just like Moses, God saves us, God uses us to do mighty things, God takes all our circumstances no matter how difficult and uses them for Good.  This is what we teach our children. It is what I was taught. 

For me there is a big BUT, when I think of the 1000’s of babies killed, the 1000’s of families broken, the slavery, the hardship for many other faithful Hebrews in this story. 

To those with broken dreams, to those abused in the process, to those who faithfully serve and find they live mostly with disappointment, I still do believe that God saves us and that He is control. I just believe that not everyone gets to be a “Moses”. 

Not everyone is going to have an amazing destiny, a dream, a vision. But no one likes to talk about this. That is not the message people want to hear. We read this story and want to be Moses. What if we are called to be the mother (Ex 2:3) who simply allows this to happen by being brave enough to put Moses into the basket? What if we are faithful and serve God all our life and we watch in slavery all our life as God uses Pharaoh’s daughter (a woman with no faith) (Ex 2:9) for His purposes of bringing up Moses in the palace. What if we are called to be the Hebrew who gets beaten up by the Egyptians, who helps Moses see the injustice and need for someone to step in and do something (Ex 2:11-12). Or worse, what if we are asked to be one of the ones sacrificed and killed, so that the seriousness of genocide (Ex 1:22) makes a mother get the strength to save her baby, in order for God to use him to save everyone? I could go on, but I think you get the point. I am trying not to be cynical or bitter about it, but it is a reality check, when we understand that to surrender to being a part of God’s story means maybe being asked to play a minor part, or simple being an expendable extra for His greater story. 

We simply have to learn to be content and faithful with the small things and know we get to be part of the bigger story. It is a hard message to sell I know. I admit personally, it has been a harder message to accept and surrender to. 

We don’t often highlight or celebrate the mother of Moses, the sister of Moses, the families that carried on when there was so much pain and loss, the slaves of the day who had the courage to stand strong when the work load got heavier and harder while Moses was challenging Pharaoh. But we should, for they are the necessary and vital extras in the story that make it so great when the Hebrew nation leave Egypt and decimate the power and workforce of the Great Pharaoh. And we should, because it is the majority of us.

I am slowly learning what it means to be joyful and to encourage the few leaders God calls to step out and do the brave thing. I am learning to be happy about it even when I don't want to, when I am bitter, when I am disappointed, when I wish it was me. Lord, when I am not brave enough to be an extra in your story, forgive me and help me be gracious. 

I often fear, in the western world in particular, that we are setting our kids up for a bigger fall than I have had to work through over the years. I often wonder if it is one of the key reasons we are losing so many of our young people from the faith journey. It is because we are not telling the right story?  We are busy teaching them that :

“God has a BIG plan for their life and that they are special”

It may sound like semantics I know, but I am NOT sure if it is exactly true. In Corinthians Paul’s talks about the body of Christ and the part we are called to play. 

“You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.” (1 Cor 12:27, The Message)

“But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. (1 Cor 12:19, The Message)

I believe that this message is actually more correct:  

“God has a BIG plan, but it is HIS plan, and we are blessed to be a part of it, which makes us special. If we surrender our life to be an extra in His story, that’s when we get to be a part of something BIG.”

Maybe I am a slow learner, but I wish I understood this when I was young. It is such a different way to view the faith journey. I want to be faithful to this message to all I teach and walk with, that it might help many NOT so easily turn away due to disappointment, failed dreams, misunderstanding, feeling like a failure or being not good enough or simply feeling anger at God because HE has not come through for them. Oh, that we entitled, expectant westerners might see the beauty, privilege and honour to be an EXTRA in HIS BIG STORY.

Creating Peak Experinces

Just recently, on a camp I was running with kids, we were teaching about how Jesus is our shepherd and that He knows us by name. John 10 speaks about how the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and follow Him.  Well, I thought what better way to teach them this than with real sheep. Little did I know how powerful this experience was going to be for so many. How unprepared was I for what God was going to teach us all about His love and protection just through 4 little sheep. So, we made a pen, got some sheep for the week and began to dream about how we could bring this teaching alive for the children throughout the week.

The passage speaks about the Shepherd caring for the sheep, knowing their names, protecting them when trouble hits and the difference between the hired hand and the real shepherd. We unpacked this each day at camp by setting up situations and challenges for each of these aspects of the teaching.  

To begin with, the kids were very excited when they got there to see the sheep and we began by setting up a competition to name the sheep. The top 4 names would win and this began our growing affection for the sheep.  The kids were able to feed the sheep from the outside to begin with, which was difficult at first, because when they came to us, the sheep didn't trust us and they were very scared in their new surroundings. There was certainly no trust at this time and no one could get close to them.

We talked of watching over the sheep and protecting them from those who wanted to steal or hurt them. Being surrounded by nature and bush, we knew that there were foxes around our area, and so we talked of needing to have “shepherds of the night” so the sheep were being watched all the time and therefore would be kept safe.  This meant that cabins of kids could apply to be the “shepherds of the night”, which entailed camping out in tents, keeping the fire going (stocked with marshmallows of course for cooking over the fire)  and keeping watch over the sheep throughout the night.  I was surprised how many cabins wanted to do this, more than the nights we had at camp, so it became quite a special experience if your cabin was nominated.  They had to get the campfire started, then got to sit around and sing, tell stories, bond, eat roasted marshmallows and occasionally check the sheep.  They took shifts throughout the night and when I came out each morning about 6.00am to see them there was always someone sitting out near the stoked fire, enjoying the heat and keeping watch. The stories, the bonding, the chance to talk about the commitment of the Shepherd to watch over the sheep, the sacrifice, the loss of creature comforts of a warm comfortable bed, as many nights at this camp were cold and raining, were all great things that they ACTUALLY experienced. 

There were times when the kids wanted to go back to their cabins. They had had their marshmallows, a bit of fun, and it was time to go back. The fun had worn off…but no…they learned the hard way, that it was not just all fun and games. There were mornings where they crawled out of dripping tents with wet mattresses ... all great opportunities for great experiential learning.  All said they were glad they did it, but were not keen to do again. This showed the love of the shepherd, to do whatever it takes to know his sheep were safe, not just one night but all the time.  For some of these kids it was the first time ever to camp out, make a fire, stay up late and sing around the camp fire.  For most it was the highlight of camp. 

In the middle of camp, while the kids were at an activity, the sheep were stolen (all set up of course). The kids came back to find their leaders in the pen with a ransom note saying “Unless you do exactly what we say, you will never see your sheep again”. The kids’ reactions were priceless. They were straight into action, freeing their leaders and then setting off through a series of challenges to finally find the rustlers with the sheep on the other side of the campsite.  When they found them, the rustlers begged for forgiveness, realising they had done the wrong thing and the kids (with encouragement) invited them back to our campfire dinner that night to celebrate that our lost sheep were found. Again, the stories around the campfire that night were priceless. We got the kids to share what happened, and the some leaders shared around picnic rugs with a small group of children, what it meant for them to be lost and found by Jesus in their life. Needless to say those on “shepherd of the night” duty that night were particularly determined to make sure the sheep were safe. 

Throughout the week as I was unpacking the biblical story, I used pictures of the kids I was taking to tell the story, so they were in it, a part of it, experiencing it and for all of us this story came to life in a very new way.  

Each day the kids who were “Shepherds of the night,” got to go into the pen, corral the sheep into a corner and handle them and pat them. Each day this got easier and easier. I got to experience this more than any of them as the group was different each day. The kids on the last day didn't even need to get in the pen. We rustled the bag, called them and they came to us and fed from our hands. This was very different from the beginning of the week, where the sheep were unsure and scared of us and didn't trust us at all.  What a transformation, which we talked about on the last day of camp.  How much more does our Shepherd know us and love us.  We like sheep, still weave and duck and run away. We are helpless and can get easily lost, but our shepherd will always come looking for us, will always care for us and knows each of us by name.

I believe this is an experience that many of our kids and team (and me) will never forget. I will never read that story the same way again. Like many camping experiences, it will go down as a PEAK EXPERIENCE for me and for many of the children at camp, one where they gained a DEEPER understanding of God’s love, grace, patience, and sacrifice. What types of PEAK EXPERIENCES are you creating for you and your kids, young people, your families, that can become anchor points which God can use to secure HIS TRUTH into us all, that we then take with us for the rest of our lives?

Never too late, Never rejected

I was staying at Coffs Harbour in a caravan park near the beach, so I set my alarm to see the sunrise one morning.   But before the alarm went off I woke to light streaking through the curtain in my room.  “Darn it,” I thought. I missed it. 

But I decided to still throw my clothes on, grab my camera bag and start running towards the beach to see what I could see. Having arrived late the previous night, I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I was running toward the sound of the sea, down a marked track. It was the longest track ever to get to beach.  On my way, I realised I had forgotten my glasses, my socks were slipping down to my toes in my shoes which made it all more uncomfortable and challenging, I was now wet from all the thick grass I was wading through, and to think only 10 minutes ago I was warm, dry and cosy in my bed.

I was sure I had missed the sunrise.  I could hear the waves. They were on my right hand side. The track seemed to lead everywhere but to them. As I continued to run through the thick scrub, waiting for the track to veer towards the sound of the waves, I was thinking, “What am I doing? I’ve missed it and I don’t even know if I am running in the right direction”.  Cleary I was not very well prepared. The kangaroo further down the path looked at me as if to say, “a little late mate”. I barrelled onward as he jumped into the bush to get out of my way.

Part of me felt like giving up, but what the heck, I had come this far, so might as well finish this adventure. Finally I came to the clearing, wet, puffing and hoping I had everything in my camera to even take a photo. At this stage it wouldn't have surprised me what else I had forgotten. The sun had been up for a while but it was behind a thin, but large set of clouds as if to say, “I have started, Tammy, but come on in and watch the tail end. It will be worth it. I am glad you made it. I saved the best till last.” 

Then, there it was. His beauty, His cleverness, His light calling me to look, to gaze. It drew all of my attention. I could not look away. I am glad I made it, even if it was late.

Sometimes we might feel we are a little too late, unprepared, hurried, lost, confused, not know where we are going or even uncomfortable. I know in those 20 minutes I certainly felt all those things.  But He still says come, enjoy, you’re  always welcome. 

On my long walk home I discovered I went the long way right around the beach into that next cove. I clearly missed the sign that said “2 mins to the beach”, but it turned out to be the much better view, a much better vantage point to view the sunrise, a much prettier cove to land in. I am glad I did not give up. I am glad that even though I was late, unprepared and a little lost…He still met me. His love still shone on me and said, “Good morning.” His beauty still amazed me and He did not disappoint.

Come to think about it, I feel like this in many aspects of ministry and life. There are not many times when I am about to speak or lead or sing or run something, when I don’t think, “What am I doing here? I feel unprepared (which for me usually means not good enough), confused, uncomfortable.”  I just want to turn and go back to my safe, warm alone space.  At some point of each day as a mum, parent and friend I can feel hurried, lost, not good enough, wanting to give up and hide.  But His love pulls me forward, challenges me to keep on going, to keep turning up, keep bringing whatever I have to offer, as confused and messy and unprepared as it sometimes feels.  His welcoming beauty always accepts my offering and is really happy that I show up, even if it is a little late, wet and puffed. He draws my attention.  I cannot look away, I cannot quit, I will never leave, because His constant truth and love spur me on. He accepts and loves me just as I am. Thank you for this constant reminder.