Big Transition: Guest post by Hunter Taylor

The following is a guest blog post from Hunter Taylor a summer staff from the past 2 summers. You can see more of his posts at http://straightupchristianblog.wordpress.com/

Big Transition

Posted on November 18, 2012 by straightupchristianht

 

Alright, this is my transition from living the life of first, to living the good life of Second!!

Lets back up to my childhood.

I grew up in the church. Small city, actually classified as a village, small time church.
I was what I call “born into” Christianity.

I never understood much of why I believed except its what my mom believes it and she wants me to.
That went on until about middle school. I was a victim of society. I was classified as a “nerd” and that had a big impact on my teenage years. I was bullied, didn’t have many friends, and I was a teachers pet. Being a teachers pet is a great way to be a “loser” in society’s mind.

On a Christian standpoint, I was going to church, going to youth group and I was apart of a puppet ministry.

Fast forward to 8th grade year.

I had the idea of worldly manhood pounded into my head for 4 years and I wanted to achieve that.
So I joined football, started working out, and started hanging out with the “cool” people.
They partied, drank, did lots of things that my mom would be upset with me typing in a “Christian” blog. They were “cool” and I wanted that. The thing was, I was a good kid at heart and didn’t actually want to do those things, so I told people I did. I lied to all my “friends” about a lot of things. I told them I partied, I drank, I frequently got into fights. I told them I went out of town for the weekend so they couldn’t back track my stories. I had quite the elaboration going on. It was tough keeping up with everything but people thought I was cool.

Throughout high school, I still went to church, slowly stopped that puppet group, and completely stopped going to youth group. I wasn’t quite the Christian I should have been.

The summer before my senior year I got a job at a church camp as a maintenance worker. This was probably the best thing that could have ever happened. That got my life on track. I soon learned that sometimes you need to lose something to gain something better, and that’s what happened to me.
I went back to school and lost pretty much all of the worldly popularity and worldly friends that I worked so hard for…but I was surprisingly alright with it. I was genuinely happy with life.

The following summer I went to camp as a counselor and grew closer to God more that summer than ever before.

Since then I have been continuing to grow.

It’s an everyday thing.

Not just a Sunday thing.

Not just an “At Home” thing.

This is fairly broad in comparison to the details I could get into, so if you have questions just ask.

If I have learned anything, it’s that trust God, He is in control.

Mine Fields

(The last month or so at CLW has been exciting and exhausting. From coffee shops to weekend retreats to dry-walling the new lodge, we’ve been pretty busy! Though this is a great thing, we’re behind on blog posts. We want to apologize. Fortunately, God is inspiring us to keep writing and we hope this blesses you!)

Today Braden Saxton was in the office playing with some of the random stuff that inevitably collects in a camp office. Blank DVDs, bike helmets, cotton balls, sunscreen, old arrows and lots of bug spray are amongst the many things on and around my desk. Braden grabbed a stack of orange construction cones and carefully set them around my chair. “Now, you can’t pass.” I began to laugh and think about a certain activity I once did with a group of middle school students.

The activity is called “mine-field” and involves the group guiding each student across a field of obstacles. The problem is, the person on the course cannot see. I intentionally set up a starting line with two cones and an ending line with two cones but don’t tell them that side boundaries exist. Inevitably, the students guided other students through the mines and typically succeeded in getting each person through, though not without quite a few explosions.

Typically, the last student is either shy or not wanting to participate so I use them as an object lesson. Very quietly I blind-fold them and say, “No matter what anyone else says, just listen to my directions.” Then I slowly proceed to take them “out of bounds” by going around the outside of the mines and then back into the goal line. Never once is that student in danger of exploding because we’re not even close to the mines. I never set side boundaries so it’s perfectly legal.

It’s great when you hear the frustrated students, as they attempt to guide the other yelling, “Hey HEY! You’re out of bounds!” or “Why aren’t you listening!?” or even “Follow MY voice! Who are you listening to?!” What an awesome opportunity! During the last part of the team building process I can give those questions back to the students. “Who are you listening to? What is guiding your path?”

My favorite talk is saved for the end. “A lot of times in life, we are faced with obstacles that can be dangerous. Sex, drugs, alcohol ect. can be very dangerous mines in your lives, leading you away from a joy-filled existence and your hopes and dreams. Do you remember the last student that went through the course? What happened there? They avoided the obstacles entirely. Were they ever in danger of exploding?” I love the life applications that we can draw from this exercise.

So, who are YOU listening to? What mine field are you allowing yourself to brave when you can avoid it entirely? Proverbs 4:14-15 says this, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.”

By Daniel Gilson

Reflections By The Lake!

Psalm 46:10a Be still and know that I am God...

The window in my office overlooks Stewart lake. Some days it can be quite the distraction. I often take time to look at the lake and reflect. On occasions I will walk down to the observation deck and spend some quiet time with God. The views are always gorgeous and you can see God's creation.

Stewart Lake-Camp Living Waters

 

This past Friday the lake was completely still. You could see a perfect reflection of the trees around the lake in the water. It was a mirror image of Gods creation. It was hard to tell which was the actual and which was the reflection. There have been days where the reflection is broken and not very clear because the water is wavy and not still. I began to think about my reflection of Christ. Are people seeing me or Jesus when they look at me. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. As I thought further God revealed to me that it is the stillness that causes the lake to reflect the trees. The trees, like Jesus, are always present the water needs to be still to reflect the beauty around it. Wow! I can get so focused on the doing, that I don’t take time to be still and often reflect a broken or clouded picture of Jesus or no resemblance at all. When I am still and spending alone time with God I am more likely to be reflecting Christ to others. Just like the stillness of the lake. As the sign says as you enter Camp Living Waters Psalm 46:10a “Be still and know that I am God...” Take some time to be still each day and ask God to help you reflect the perfect picture of Jesus to those you come in contact with.

Do, as if unto the Lord...

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

It is amazing to me the road that my family has taken through the last seven years. From the time we were married, my beautiful wife and I have felt that God was calling our family to camp. After some bad advice and a few off-kilter decisions, we ended up away from that calling. We served in our church, she volunteered, and I worked while she stayed home with the kids. Years passed in what seemed like a never-ending cycle of work without getting anywhere, particularly closer to the dream that God had put on my heart.

One day, I was reading the Bible and stumbled upon Colossians 3:23-24 and it hit me pretty hard. Now, I’m not someone that is into the “excellence” movement of God as I think that tends towards pride. I did realize that we are to do EVERYTHING as if unto the Lord. While at work, I would look at a job I was doing and say, “Alright, if Jesus happened by, would I want Him to see this.” I’ll tell you what, that opened my eyes!

I still struggle with getting things right or having the time/energy/motivation to do things in this mindset. There are many days when it is beyond me to even get to the place that I could honestly say I’d be willing to let Jesus see the work I was doing. I am not skilled enough, strong enough, or smart enough to complete things at the level which will impress God. He can always point to the trees and animals (and YOU) and say, “Really? You think that’s impressive? Look at what I did.”

Here’s the beauty, He rewards the effort not the result. Now, we can’t work our way into heaven. No amount of excellence is good enough to get us there, folks. It is only by the cross that we have gained entrance to His kingdom. That said, I did notice something that I believe God does; He tested my work in the little things so that he can begin to trust me in the bigger things. It was when I started going to work with the “Do, as if unto Him…” attitude that I began to see growth in my work, my future, and myself. It was also then that the opportunity came to start working in my dream job. What a blessing!

Right now, I write this with our summer staff in mind. Guys, do everything you do as if you’re doing it for Him. You’ve got to study or buckle down and write a 1500 page paper? Do it for Him! You’ve got to go wash dishes or sell turkey calls? Do it for Him! I’d be surprised if you didn’t see growth in your life. I’d be shocked if, after honestly doing things as if for Him, you didn’t see that work being blessed. Besides that, God deserves our best! Think of what He did for you for a moment and try to tell me otherwise.

I don’t want anyone to think that I do things just to get blessed or praised or whatever. I do what is good because God has inspired me to. The things I do that aren’t good or fall short are because I took my eyes off that inspiration. This week, I challenge you to find the inspiration that God gives us every day and act upon it. Do, seek, love, serve as if unto Him… and see what He does with it.

By Dan Gilson

September Prayer Guide

Each month we send out a prayer guide for Camp Living Waters. If you would like to be added to our monthly prayer email you can do so at the bottom of this post. Here is Septembers pray guide. Please pray with us.

What an amazing summer! God was really evident in bringing a great summer staff along with some powerful moments with campers. Many decisions were made by campers, leaving us in awe of His love for us. We're honoured to serve in His ministry and look forward to what the retreat season has in store! We are blogging thoughts and devotions each week. We recommend that you place this with your Bible or where you pray so you are reminded to pray for Camp Living Waters. As a team we pray every Wednesday and we would love to pray for you. If you have any prayer needs, please let us know.

September Prayer and Praise

Pray for:

• The Staff and their families.
• The Board of Directors and their families.
• All of the children touched by God at camp this summer.
• Mayes Family Reunion Aug. 30-Sept. 3
• Kilpatrick UB MAN CAMP Sept. 6-9
• Board meeting and UB Annual meeting Sept. 15
• Thundering Wheels Weekend Sept 21-23
• Mount Hope UB Church Color Tour Outreach Sept. 26
• Sunfield and Eden UB Church Retreats Sept. 28-30
• Gods continued provision of finances
• Continued progress on Colston Lodge
• Rough In Inspections
• Labor for hanging drywall and finish work
• That God would stretch the funds that we have
• Our upcoming celebration Coffee Houses!
• September 24 Brown Corners Church
• October 15, Fowlerville UB Church
• October 22, Kilpatrick UB Church
• November 12, Banner of Christ UB Church
• God providing hay for our horses.
• Brayden and Rosalyn as they start school on Sept. 4.
• Healthy camp kids!
• Andrea Strater as she finishes her internship and transitions back home.

Praise God For:

• An amazing summer!
• So many decisions for Christ this summer!
• 30 Salvations
• 66 Re-dedications
• 211 Commitments to Christian Growth
• 19 Commitments to Christian Ministry
• A great summer staff!
• More opportunities to work in the community of Baldwin.
• New interest and groups at CLW!
• Great visits with many churches the last few weeks!
• A new addition to the Saxton family, Rosalynn!
• The new Gilson baby due in December!
• VBS that we facilitated for Edgettes Wesleyan Church

 

Board of Directors:

• Roger Burk
• Celia Ebert
• Terri Eichenberg
• Lavon Hamp
• Doug Hefner
• Lori Palmer
• Todd Schaefer
• Joe Smith
• Julie Walter

 

Staff:

• Chad Saxton, Executive Director
• Michella, Krystal, Rosalyn and Brayden
• Jeff Thorn, Maintenance Director/Assistant Director
• Judy, Ranch Manager
• Dan Gilson, Program Director
• Ramie, Finnley and Gemma
• Andrea Strater, Camp Ministries Intern

 

Thank You

On behalf of the staff and board thank you for partnering with us and, most importantly, thank you for your commitment to praying for Camp Living Waters. Stop in for a visit we would love to share with you all that God is doing at Camp Living Waters.
 

 

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One Ride, Two Perspectives

Last night Dan and I took a quad ride on the Little Manistee ORV Loop. We left well after 8:00 pm and knew that we would lose daylight soon. It was a beautiful night with almost a full moon. The trail had just been groomed. It was a perfect night for a ride. We saw at least 10 deer and two of them were bucks. As we traveled and we lost sunlight I started to question where we were. I started thinking I took a wrong turn because everything looked different. I have ridden this trail many times but when darkness fell I started to question if I was on the right path. I started thinking about my life and realized that too often this is when I start to doubt. When things get dark or I can’t see what’s ahead I start to ask questions and doubt what God has planned for me. The ORV trail is marked and there are not many turns going off of it. I just have to follow the signs and the trail. Proverbs 3:5-6 states: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

God knows what is best for us. He has a plan laid out for our lives with signs along the way to direct our paths. We need to let go push our doubts aside and enjoy the ride. We (I) spend too much time worry about what’s ahead and sometime miss the joys of the day. So as I go about my week I am going to be in God’s Word and follow his leading. Remember Psalm 119:105 says: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Trust HIM!

Hey, this is Dan. In reading Chad’s post above, I was inspired to add my own perspective.When Chad had asked me if I wanted to go, I was conflicted. I’d just spent about three hours traipsing through heavy brush and bogs looking for the flora and fauna of God’s creation. After that, I threw hay bales for another 45 minutes or so. That said, I was already pretty exhausted, but there’s something in me that just can’t turn down the chance to ride. As tired as I was, the adrenaline was rushing through me and I was ready to go!

Hitting the trails, the first thing I noticed was how smooth they were after just being groomed. It would have been awesome to simply enjoy the sights as we cruised over flat trails. Quickly, though, I noticed that I couldn’t really see much because it was so dry that the dust clouded my vision. As darkness fell, it began becoming incredibly difficult to see anything… including some of the sharp turns on the trail. I fell further and further back from Chad, hoping the distance would dissipate the dust and allow me to see.

Though this was effective in letting me see the trail a little better, it had another effect on me… loneliness. It’s amazing how reassuring it is to see the red tail lights of another vehicle when you’re on a winding path through the dark wilderness. It made me think about how often, because of fear, I slowdown in my pursuit of God in order to attempt to see the twists and turns in the path ahead of me. That’s not what we’re called to do! We’re called to charge ahead, pursuing God full throttle and trusting that the light ahead of us will guide us to safety. Unfortunately, because of my distance from Chad and my focus on the trail, I missed most of what he saw. I was so focused on not getting hurt that I neglected the beauty that God surrounded me with.

Psalms 56:3 says “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.”  Also, Deuteronomy 4:29 says “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” See, God doesn’t want us to seek Him with some of ourselves but with all of our heart and soul! It takes a lot of faith to do this but as Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” It is going to be dark, dusty and difficult on the path of life but God provides a light for our way. My lesson from that ride is this, charge after God full throttle!

As leaders (dad’s, mom’s, boss’s, pastors, teachers…) we need to be aware of the needs and perspectives of those following us. Don’t move so far ahead that all the people who are following you only see your taillights. Don’t leave them so far behind that they feel alone and lost. How do we bring those that are following alongside us so they can see the big picture? As followers how do we push ourselves to come alongside full throttle?

Break Our Hearts For What Breaks Yours

This weekend has been awesome and difficult. Saturday we celebrated the homecoming of our daughter Rosalynn who we were supposed to adopt 14 years ago. God has brought her back home after 12 years. It was an awesome day introducing Rosalynn to our friends and family that knew her the first 2 years of her life. We wish we could have protected her from the past 12 years, but she is with us now. We are so grateful to have our daughter home. That evening I went to check in on a group that had been serving at camp. They were having a service around the campfire as I sat in the shadows my heart began to break as I heard and saw teenager after teenager stand up and share what they were struggling with. After each person shared I watched their peers and adult leaders come up and wrap their arms around them and pray for them. I began to circle the fire and pray for what was happening God was moving in the minds and hearts of these young teenagers. As I went home to go to bed I laid awake praying for these young hearts that are dealing with a lot of garbage that they should not have to face in a lifetime not to mention as teenagers.

It was a short night and as I got up to travel to Banner Church in Byron Center, Michigan where I was preaching that morning. I could not shake that group of youth from my mind so I continued in prayer on my two hour drive.  As I was gathering for prayer with the worship team a young friend came in to say hello. Jayson an 7 year old that is fighting bone cancer. I told Jayson that I and the camp staff had been praying for him. He put his head on my chest and just laid there. As I hugged Jayson I continued to let him know I was praying and would keep praying for him as I fought back the tears.

During the service the worship team sang the song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns. As I listened to the words the pictures from the last 24 hours were playing like a video in my mind. As we sang the words "Jesus, friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours” I realized that God is breaking my heart for what breaks his. This morning I have a renewed commitment for creating an environment for people young and old to come and meet with Jesus in a personal way. And to live out Camp Living Waters mission statement everyday: Serving and Loving People, So They May Know and Grow In Jesus Christ. Please join me in prayer for our hurting teens and their future.