Thursday, August 24, 2006

summer goodbyes

look at this motly crew :) pretty hot stuff if you ask me :) this was our summer staff...three have left us to go back to school(tom on the far left; peter in the middle; and emily sitting behind peter and i) and one more will be saying goodbye on saturday(daniel on the far right)...sad day :( camp is going to be so quiet without them...and if any of you are reading this...i just want to say that i miss you heaps and thank you for one of the best summer''s i have had in a long time. :P you all are amazing and God has used each of you in more ways than you can possibly know. wade(front) and april(front) and tim(2nd to end on left) and i are here for the long hall. we will be the crew to push forward throughout the fall , winter and spring. i'm excited for the opportunity i have to work full time with them. we all have a lot of different visions for this upcoming year...i'm am stoked to see God work thorugh each and every one of us.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

culture shock

out here at camp we get such a wide spectrum of groups. groups that are from the inner city, or suburbs, or even the boonies. groups that are conservative and groups that are liberal. we attract various denominations...ethnic groups...and so on. diversity is the word to use when describing the groups that we serve here at dickson valley camp. watching these groups come and go over the last year, i have seen that these groups have an established culture...with that in mind, i start to wonder if these groups attract a particular culture or if these groups create this culture.
culture defined: "the predominating attitudes and behavior that characterize the functioning of a group or organization. the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought."
according to this definition i am led to believe that culture is created and taught...interesting...what do you think?
but then to some this is just random nonsense...what's the point of all this culture talk? well, i think back to some of the groups that have stayed here and remember thinking how odd some of them were compared to what i knew and had experienced. i remember being curious about why these groups did what they did. i remember struggling with know how to react or just act when coming into conact with groups that seemed so foreign to me. then i started wondering why i was so afraid to learn about these different groups...to ask questions...talk about their faith...and so on...sometimes i fear that i have missed out on wonderful opportunities to learn and grow by being so comfortable in my own little culture and not being very open to or accepting even to other cultures.
the other thing i find interesting is the need some people see to convert others outside of their culture into one's own. where's the line between tolerating and accepting another's culture? i think this comes into play because of fear and lack of understanding of other's cultures.
so i guess all of this babble is to challenge myself and even you to learn to be inquisitive of others' cultures...find out what makes them tick...why they tick that way...what makes you similar...what makes you different...does any of that stuff really matter...can we love those so different from us as Christ loves us??? i would love to say that i got this market cornered...but it is not the case...i am still learning to look outside my bubble...to not be afraid travel outside my bubble a bit in the relationships i seek...to not put up walls...to not just surround myself with people just like me...i mean how boring would this word be if that is all there was...God created us to be diverse...shouldn't we celebrate in our diversity and seek God in the diversity of others?

Saturday, August 05, 2006

...still waiting...

...waiting...what exactly does this word mean...well according to the merrian-webster concise school and office dictionary, to wait is to "remain inactive in readiness or expectation." to remain inactive...well there is something i am not particularly good at...me be still?!? that is one discipline i am still working on. what exactly would one be waiting in expectation for...well for those few faithful bloggers, one might be waiting for the day i actually update my post...some may be waiting for mr./mrs. right to come falling out of the sky...some might be waiting for God to open up the sky and strike you with lightening to hear what God's next step is for my life...a rare few might be waiting for school to start...and then there is me...waiting for this group to come upstairs for a hayride and camp fire an hour and a half over due...so i wait...
what exactly is one to do when one waits...well sometimes one must be still...sometimes one can pick up new tricks, like twiddling one's thumbs in various ways...one must always be patient...oh, that's a hard one too...one can read a book...catch up on e-mails...post a blog long over due...etc.
...still waiting...a discipline...God calls us to wait in life more times then i particularly care for (i'll be honest)...but HE knows best...His timing is perfect, always and forever...so what will i do...i will wait...i will wait on the Lord for He is my stregnth...i will wait for mr. right...i will wait for the group to be ready for their activities...i will be patient...and will take up as many new tricks of the trade/little hobbies as necessary to keep myself from going too crazy...as i wait in expectation of what is to come :)