Christ follower...

Yesterday I was driving to Raleigh to visit with some friends from Camp Wo-Me-To. I could dedicate an entire blog to Wo-Me-To... now that I think of it, I would be surprised if I haven't already. Long story short... (well as short as I can make it :) I grew up at Camp Wo-Me-To spending a week there every summer since 1991. I met some of my closest friends as a camper and then in 1997 I was finally able to work there as a counselor-in-training before serving as a counselor from 1998-2000. In 1995 I made a decision to follow Christ at Wo-Me-To... I technically became a Christian and was baptized in 1992 but I think I really began to grasp the concept in 1995. In 1996 I met my best friend Laura and the Riley family has embraced me and treated me as their own over the past 13 years. In 1997, I led my first person to Christ... I think I cried just as much as she did. :) I continued to grow and go through ups and downs through camp but it was nothing less than an amazing experience... every single year.

I met Cara in 1997 when she came to camp as an Acteen (girls entering grades 7-12) and I was a counselor-in-training for her cabin. She came back in 1998 as a counselor and we became fast friends. Jen and I were both new staff members in 1997 and worked together every year through 2000. After seeing Cara at my little sister's wedding in June we talked about getting together with Jen since the three of us all live in N.C. now. Jen facebooked us not long after and plans were in the works. Back to the drive... I was listening to a sermon from New Hope Church in Durham and they're going through a One Prayer series where some different pastors have had a chance to speak. Steve Ellis spoke July 26 and I was listening to his message on "God is More." He asked the question, "Am I follower of Christ or just a user?" It just struck me. So many times we get into a routine of just asking for things or taking advantage of God's omniscience. I really want to be a Christ follower and not just a user.

Another message I was listening to earlier this week while traveling was about how to deal with it when we pray and God says "no." Many times we get frustrated and don't understand why He wouldn't give us what we want (or what we may even think we need). The pastor referenced Paul's request to take away the thorn in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). It seems like a perfectly legitimate request... scholars have debated what the thorn was... some say an eye disease or something wrong with his eyes. Paul was a great guy too... he had done a lot to spread the news about Christ, why wouldn't God want to help him? The pastor said that too often when God says yes, we run off taking credit for the answered prayer and become independent of Him. Sometimes by saying no, God is saying, "depend on me." He can do it... sometimes not in the way we expected or in the time we desired, but He can see the big picture.

I'm reading Nehemiah right now. It was one of my favorite books during the summer of 1999 while I was working at Camp Wo-Me-To and I wanted to re-read it. Nehemiah 9:26-31 talks about the Israelites quest to get out of slavery and Nehemiah talks about how the people took advantage of God's graciousness. Verses 27 and 28 say, "So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies. But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time"

We keep screwing up and God keeps saving us. I am grateful.