Got up early this morning with a few things that God has placed on my heart. Not exactly sure why the last few days I feel so connected and God is speaking but I am eager to listen. I have not wrote on "thewalk" in a while so I guess my heart and fingers are just excited. Morgan, Kyle and I had a great day yesterday. Hiking up the Ostin Creek Trail was just amazing. With funny water shoes on we walked a good mile or so up creek, climbing over logs, rocks and through some deep water spots. All the while stopping for a few pictures, a chance to talk about what we were seeing. The 2nd water fall is the spot though as we walked to it and stuck our body into the COLD water underneath and let the bubbles and water rush over us. Smiles, laughs and the look on our faces ... wish I could have got a picture there. It was such an amazing experience and it has me thinking on a few things this morning. I have not seen these smiles and heard this laughter in some time. I am excited about that and it is doing my heart good and it reminds me that far too often we are too serious about things. Sometimes, especially our kids, need to have some time to just be themselves. To laugh, to crack up, to be silly, to put lifes pressures aside and just be themselves. Both Morgan and Kyle slept till after 11:00 yesterday.... they need this time to do this. I pray this can happen more often because it is so needed and in a few short years - they will be off in their lives and these moments nothing but a memory.
So the impact and investment made today - is it worth it? Will it last? I think if its done with a heart that is in the right place. See, I love them both as I do a lot of my close kids but I love Jesus first and that puts things into the correct order. I continue to pray that God shines through me and people will see Him and not so much me. Less of me and more of Him.
My Bible study comes from 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Being a Christian is more about a lifestyle than it is a one time decision. With our student ministry camp coming up in a few weeks through our church - I will again see God move in amazing ways in the lives of our students and our leaders. I will see life change take place as God grabs a hold of some hearts. In many ways, it is not the students that find God - God is never lost and has always been right. We are the ones lost and just like a lost person - they sometimes are found. So as these students are found and experience God in a new powerful way - He is already speaking to me and teaching me. As the scripture says above, I used to view Christ in a wordly way but its a new way, a personal way, a way that tells my heart - He loved me first. Even before I even knew Him - He was in love with me. This is true for you as well.
I remember back when I first met Christ, I became a different person. Forgiven. Changed. New. Experiencing God through church was similar to my moment of salvation in those days. But today its like another turning point. Experiencing God in a new and deeper way. My desire for Him isn't about what He can do for me. Its a desire for just Him, nothing else. God is somehow no longer just someone who does something for me... I am overwhelmed with an awareness that it is about me loving Him. Its about His will for my life and in my decisions. Its about His desire to reach people.... through me.
Am I doing that? I pray I am ...... praying I am making an impact in their lives because I know ..... with tears on my face and all the love I have for them... they are making an impact in mine.
Lonnie~