Church Camp at Doublehead!

I am so tired! It's a crazy tired. It's a fulfilling tired, but at the same time it's a, "I want to sleep for a really long time" kind of tired. Tired. :-) Who uses the word tired four times in a total of four sentences? Wow...I am definitely rambling. Let's move on.

Camp was great! I will divide it up into a couple of sections so it will make sense. Let me start off by saying that I had my own cabin of 6th Grade Boys going into 7th. There names were Ryan, Dylan, Preston, Payton, Alex, and Skyler. They were all good kids, but they were 12 years old. Needless to say there was some arguing, loud noises, immaturity, complaining, and If you ask them what they thought about me they will probably just say that I do awesome impressions (Barney, Family Guy- Cleveland and Quagmire). I love them all, it was just that I spent so much time acting as an enforcer of the rules and making sure they were on task that it was tougher to develop a relationship...but that comes in time. I don't think you can form a trust with someone in 5 days of camp.

Worship was great. The speaker made some excellent points, was very funny, and unlike other speakers, I actually felt like I got to know him during the week. I would have loved to spend more time with him. The Band did a great job. I don't know what it is but every time they played, a different emotion or thought came to me. God is kinda funny sometimes. Especially when he was like, "Um Scott...go read Titus." Talk about random. Goodness.

Bible Study went well. I love to teach, so it was fun for me even if they didn't hear everything I said. on Tuesday as I looked over the lesson, I felt like I couldn't teach it. It just seemed repetitive and that they wouldn't get anything out of it. So during the worship time, I was drawn to the story of David and Jonathan. It's my favorite story in the bible. So sorry Brian, Amy-Jo, Linc, Kristin, and Mitch for doing that, but I did relate it back to security in salvation and a personal relationship with God. Don't ask how, but it happened. Once again God is funny!

Relationships strengthened with everyone on this trip. I am lucky to have the support of two amazing friends Tom and Philip. They kept me sane and picked me up when I felt like I wasn't making any impact. Thanks guys! I also felt like my friendships with some of the students and counselors grew...and I have an immense respect for all the leaders; Amy Jo, Linc, Brian, Kristen, and Mitch....and a deep respect for John Cook who drove all the way down in support of us.

I can talk about this until I'm blue in the face...or rather numb in the fingers since I am typing, but I'm going to go. I also had some fun times riding horses, going on a boat, riding a jet-ski, and goofing around.

Doublehead 2008 anyone?

If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat

I have just finished this book by John Ortberg called, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." It's kind of funny how I heard of this book. During my Freshman Year of High School which was about 6 years ago (Wow I feel old...), Amy Haywood used this book as part of a devotion she was doing for the Youth Group. I remember thinking that this would be a fun book to read...WHEN I WAS READY! The fact of getting out of the boat then scared me beyond all reason. It's a good thing I read it now, even though it is still kinda tough to think about.

One of the greatest quotes in the book has to deal with the way we treat God. It says;

"When human beings shrink God, they offer Prayer without Faith, Work without Passion, Service without Joy, Suffering without Hope. It results in fear, retreat, loss of vision, and a failure to persevere."

This quote challenges me to answer the question, "How big is your God?" If you think about all the problems with stuff in our lives, decisions to be made, it is all dependent on how big our God is. If we all did as Peter did and took that step of faith out of the boat, we too could walk on water. Sure he sank and Jesus had to save him, but how many other men on that boat even thought about doing what Peter did?

Just remember. If you want to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat.

I can't sleep

The title pretty much says it. It is late at night, and I am awake. I still can't find that one thing that helps me to get back to sleep. I had the thought, "Well maybe if I eat something, then that will solve it!" What ends up happening is either it makes me become more awake, or then my stomach gets upset and I can't sleep anyway! I've tried watching TV, getting on the internet and even reading. TV doesn't work, internet keeps me awake, and reading is funny because I'm too tired to read but I can't go to sleep...very weird combination.

This doesn't happen often enough to take pills or go see a doctor. It's just those rare occasions when something on my mind is keeping me from sleeping, or I just have problems that night getting to sleep. I'm one of those people who needs sleep otherwise it effects their mood...not to mention I have to go to work the next morning. To quote Charlie Brown, "UGH!"

Three of my friends got engaged in the past week. THREE! I don't even have a girlfriend yet. Not that I'm complaining. I just keep telling people and myself, "God's preparing her for me and obviously she must be something........... because he's preparing me for her!" I think all these Engagements of my friends will go very well. They all seem very happy and in love. Good for them! Why not tie the knot? I say Congrats :-)

Well, let me try to get back to sleep. Maybe blogging was the thing that helped me! Wouldn't that be fun to have more late night/early early morning posts from Scott?!? HECK YES IT WOULD!