Lost and Found

This Thursday, I was driving home from a lovely morning at Terrain, one of my favorite spots near where I live. It was the soul rest I’ve been needing: filled with nourishing food, my favorite coffee, beautiful scenery, and new ideas. I was driving down a particularly windy and busy road, when in the middle of the road, was a rather fat, fluffy large dog. He clearly knew he was lost, as he kept on walking in circles in the middle of the road. My mom and I got out of the car, opened the back door, and he came bounding in. Thankfully he had a collar with a number on it, so we called and found out where his owner lived. Meanwhile, Samson (the dog) had stretched himself out on the back seat, panting happily. Turns out he had strayed about a mile from home.  

As soon as we arrived at his house, he jumped out excitedly and began running around his owner, running toward me and licking my knees, almost as if to thank me. The owner told us that perhaps he had gotten used to his electric fence, and had finally gotten brave enough to cross it and go exploring on his own. 

Upon reflecting on this, I’m reminded of the story of all Jesus followers at one time or another. Particularly my story. We decide that what we already have is not enough. We know the Father loves us and that He will provide everything we need, but curiosity’s voice is louder. We wonder if we’re missing out on something greater. So we take the jump and break through our electric fences (forgetting that those boundaries are there for a very good reason). That initial shock of leaving the Father might be the Holy Spirit telling us that it’s not a good idea, but at that point, we’ve escaped and decide not to listen because there’s a rush of adrenaline racing through our bones. We think we’re free. We go out in search of other things that could fill our heart’s desire. We seek after things that we believe might give us comfort and worth and love. It might be wonderful for a little while. However, once we’ve strayed a mile down the road and realize we’ve forgotten how to get back home, fear takes over. Once the realization that we’re lost (or that we’ve run away from the Father), leaves us wading in pools of our own shame, looking down at the ground and walking around in the same circles of addiction and brokenness because we don’t know how or why the Father would want to take us back. 

Thankfully we serve a faithful God, who oftentimes points us back to Him, by placing His other sons and daughters in our lives. Sometimes He uses other people to lift our heads and to take every step with us, until we find ourselves back in the arms of the Father. And when we’ve finally made it back home, the joy that overtakes us is amazing. Once we’ve realized that the Father has taken us back and loves us just the same, all we can do is throw ourselves into His arms and into the arms of the people who have helped us make the journey home. And then perhaps, life takes on a whole new meaning. We see life with a whole new perspective. We are freer, more joyful, and filled with new life and purpose, because we once we lost, but we have been found. 

This is Samson :) 

Lessons Learned From Sky Camp

I spent some time volunteering at Sky Camp, my church’s camp for young kids. The following is a reflection upon my weeks. 

My first week, I was an elementary crew leader. I had six campers, three of them were 12 year old girls. The others were boys who ranged in age from 8 to 10. Even before I met my campers, God put this love for them in my heart that I didn’t know existed. My goal going into the week was to love on my campers and to show them a glimmer of the Father’s heart for them. That was my prayer for the week. By the end of the week however, I realized I had been trying to be Jesus to them, and meanwhile, they were Jesus to me. I saw Jesus in one of my girls, as she willingly held the door for the entire camp, multiple times. I saw Jesus as my girls willingly gave up their desired job of being our crew’s “guide” for the day, to let my youngest boy have it (even though he had done it twice already). I saw Jesus in my kids when we once crawled like monkeys to our next activity...only to discover that one of my kids was excellent at crawling on all fours, with movements so fluid, at first glance you’d think he was actually a money. I saw Jesus in this monkey kid, as he taught the other kids his monkey ways, and we eventually all ended up rolling on the floor laughing (literally). I saw Jesus as one of my girls (who refused to pray out loud amongst our crew), volunteered to pray for us at the end of the week. I found myself discovering the love of Jesus and uncovering His heart for me in places I had never seen before. 

This week, I am a preschool crafts leader. Yesterday, I discovered that one of the preschoolers didn’t speak a word of English. She only spoke Spanish. Upon hearing this, during crafts, I attempted talking to her in Spanish (even though I only took a year of it). It was simple conversation. I asked her if she wanted a stamp on her hand, or what color egg she wanted. Not even full sentences. Today however, when she saw me in crafts, she came right up to me. When I led the kids outside to do some painting with their feet, she held my hand tightly and didn’t let it go. Instead of nodding or shaking her head, she told me what she wanted. She told me she wanted to paint with pink sparkly paint before I even asked her. At lunch, she started babbling to me in Spanish and whispering Spanish into my ear. I asked her if she wanted water and she told me that she did. We walked to the water dispenser and she filled up a cup of water to the top. Then she grabbed a second cup and started to fill it with water. The dispenser was basically empty at that point however, so the water in that second cup filled not even a sixth of the way. She gave me the first cup. I hadn’t told her I wanted water, but she insisted that I have the fuller cup. She took the one sip of water she could from her empty cup. 

I’m reminded of how trusting children are. “These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in” (Luke 18:17), takes a whole new meaning. As soon as a little bit of the Father’s heart was shown to them; as soon as they felt the love of Jesus, they were so eager to love and serve others. They didn’t doubt that what they were hearing could be false. They didn’t doubt God’s love for a second. They were so eager to love in return, and in doing so, showed Jesus to me and revealed the Father’s heart to ME. 

"Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these" (Matthew 19:14)