Twice a day, we meet with everyone else at camp, about 2,500 others, for worship. It was always incredible. As I asked the youth what their favorite part of camp was, student after student, told me worship. It was phenomenal to watch our kids worship with total abandon.

They dove into the Word like it was finals time, cramming every bit they could in before the closing prayer. Students were not only attentive, but enthralled with the speaker, the content, and their Savior.

After Celebration in the evening, we had a meeting with our whole church group. Wednesday Zack invited a man who was a Compassion International sponsored child and is now working with Compassion, just finished his Bachelor's degree in Accounting, and is serving his people back in Kenya as a pastor.

Each church is added to one of four spirit teams. This year we were Green Rumble... and we went for it. We like to win! You were green, paint yourself green, yell for green... all week long. We saw capes and tutu's, tribal paint, and even fanny packs! in team colors!

Water Day

Each day at Rec students play and are challenged It's just for fun - lots of fun. At the end of Rec there is always a devotion, led by one of the camp staff.

The first day was water day and each station was designed to soak the kids. They played with sponges, tarps, baby pools, and lots and lots of water.

Mud Day

This was the most fun and most logistically awful day. Trying to get 60+ girls through 8 showers in 30 minutes was a challenge. Zack told the kids to wear clothes that they could just take to the dumpster.

Quite a few were hesitant, at best, about mud day, but after it started they were all in. The looks on their faces - and mud in the eyes and ears - speaks volumes about how much fun they each had playing in the mud.

Squad Wars

This day was Shallowater against like 5 other churches and we dominated. Over 96 tasks were arranged at various stations, each with a point value attached. Points earned plastic ball in baby pools. Upon the completion of your task, you were allowed to move "points" from their pool into your pool. Whole team challenges offered opportunity to earn lots of points all at once.

Our students were in it to win it. When it was announced they we won at the end the students even sung the fight song - twice! 

After the devo this day, Zach encouraged the students to do everything with that level of commitment and zeal - study, worship, play.. .all of it.  

Time away. Time with your thoughts. Time with Jesus allows for room for relationships to form, others to strengthen, and others to heal. It was amazing, but not surprising, to watch the Lord work in the lives of the students and heal some deep hurts. He brought people together to inspire one another and light fires to take what they've learned with them into the school year.

Adventure is typically a given when you move 100+ people 5 hours on way and this trip was no different. At least one bus over heated each way, Jeremy told football stories from back in the day, and we watched movies - and mostly slept - to pass the time.

Each morning these group leaders would meet with others from LOTS of other churches to learn about the theme and the lesson for the day. After the meeting each day, as a group, we stopped to visit and to pray. It was a wildly diverse group - and just who God intended for this trip.

The 5th and 6th grade girls that I have been teaching on Wednesday nights since they were in 1st grade, were invited to sit in on youth group for the first time. There was a special speaker and an extended worship time. You could tell they were nervous as we filed into "big church" and as the service progressed, they relaxed. As we were leaving, they were talking about how they couldn't wait to be in youth.

Being in a youth group was essential to my well-being. I cherish the relationships and lessons I learned there.

Those years can be difficult and lonely, struggling to fit in, taking on new responsibilities, and filtering messages from all sides. Teens can use as much encouragement and love as we can give them!

I had a verse taped inside my locker each year. One of the most memorable I remember, I traced a picture our of my Precious Moments bible. The verse read, " I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord...." Reading Jeremiah 29:11 between classes offered comfort many times.

Here are a few options for middle school or high school lockers you may know of...

• 1 Corinthians 10:13
  13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
• 1 Timothy 4:12
  12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
• Deuteronomy 31:6
  6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
• Ephesians 4:29
  29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
• Exodus 20:12
  12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
• Galatians 6:9
  9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
• Isaiah 41:10
  10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• Jeremiah 29:11
  11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
• Psalm 119:9
  9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.
• Psalm 119:105
  105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
• Romans 15:13
  13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• Philippians 4:6-7
  6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
• Proverbs 1:8-9
  8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
• Proverbs 3:5-6
  5 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.
• Matthew 11:28-30
  28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
• Isaiah 40:29-31
  29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORDwill renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
• Ephesians 6:1-3
  1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

Each morning and evening Susie Larson posts a blessing on Facebook. Sometimes I scroll right past, but sometimes it makes me stop. I read it again. I savor the words. I pour the words over my head like an anointing. Tonight that happened.

Can you image if we really, really believed in the depths of His love for us? So much that it would inspire us, inspire us to dream like we never have before? I have a professor in Bible College that told us he believed that "when we did what thrilled us most, it was then that we were at the center of God's will." That God placed desires in our hearts to chase after Him.

In these days of the 2016 Olympics, it seems like everyone is thinking about dreaming and taking crazy-faith-steps. The personal stories of the athletes, their families, their struggles to reach their goals have been filled with Olympic-sized dreams. leaps of faith, and leaning in to hear the voice that matters. I cry at medal ceremonies - all of them - as our flag rises and our song swells.

It reminds me of the tears and joy each time someone walk down the aisle at church, tells everyone that they are a faith-filled follower of Jesus. I'm almost positive that none of them know what an amazing journey awaits as they walk in faith and understanding that His will for us is the best-case-scenario. I'm not sure I can imagine what He has in store for me.

I am praying that His saving grace and enabling power compels me to dream, believe, and walk in faith. That my dreams, fueled by faith, would turn into faith filled steps.

What a blessing that is!

This morning I saw a story about a new Dallas Cowboy football player, someone we got from the Redskins. I was impressed. At the end of the piece, the newscaster said that the way he lives, specifically the car he drives, reflects his core values of hard work and humility. 

This video is from 2013, when he was still with the Redskins.

I started to think about core values. Since I was in Junior High, I've used a planner and not too long after that I discovered Franklin Covey's time management system, a system that is based on core values. They ask you to write a personal mission statement and define goals around that. If it doesn't align with your mission, it doesn't belong on your task list or on your calendar. It made saying no to the good things, to make room for the best things a bit easier.

Ben Franklin has a famous list of governing values and sometimes he lived by them and, like most of us, sometimes he did not. Legend has it that he would focus on one of the character traits util he felt it was mastered and move on to the next.  The blog, Art of Manliness has a post  about defining your core values and he says it prevents you from making bad choices, gives you confidence, and makes life simpler. 
 
A quick google search about Alfred Morris liked to this video that makes it clear where his values are centered.  Lifeway suggests the first core values your children should know. We as parents can model these, talk about them, hold our children to a standard, but ultimately, like Mr. Morris said it had to become his faith, not just that of his parents.

For some children, making that relationship with Christ their own takes a little longer, but I'm holding on to the promise that if we raise our children up "in the way they should go, they will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).
 
Franklin Covey has a tool to help with developing mission statements and defining core values. As life moves and changes, it’s not a bad idea for me to sit down and re-visit mine.

Being snowed in for the last few days have offered an opportunity to read a little bit (and watch one Hallmark movie after another). One of my favorite resources for free books is Spirit Filled Kindle. I found them on facebook about a year ago and each day they post links to free Kindle books.

Typically there are Christian Romance and Bible Studies or Devotionals. It's nice to have something new to read - daily, if I wanted to.

Today during worship we sang "Good Good Father" and like most Sundays I cried. Growing up, I never cried and after I had kids, I cry at everything - commercials, football - I cry. Typically on Sundays my husband or my sons lean around and stare at my face and ask, "Are you crying?! What's wrong?" Nothing is WRONG. I just cry. Nothing is necessarily sad even. I just cry.

This Sunday though I was sitting next to my son, who of course asked the typical, " Are you REALLY crying?" and on the other side was Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams has two kids. I work with one at Tech. I'm sure he had no clue that I cry every week or that touching me and showing compassion when I cry drives me nuts (I know, weird. Who does that). 

He was so kind and when we prayed, he put his hand on my back. I was thinking about my dad, who passed away this year. Here was this dad with two daughters, just like my dad, comforting me. I thought about God who was there to comfort me when my dad left. I was only 8 years old. Here He was again, sending me a father figure to comfort me... even one without a clue what was going on in my head. I thought about how I miss my dad terribly. I thought about my expectations of my dad and how no one could have lived up to what I expected. I was crazy about my dad. I wanted so much from him. I tried to will him to change.

Not until I was married with kids and after my dad had two open heart surgeries, that THE Father changed him. It was a swift and dramatic change. Frankly, the change was hard for me to take. I'd wanted him to love Jesus and live for Him for so long that when it happened and he started studying and praying and ... it was difficult. Waiting all those years for the man I wanted him to be, he became the man God wanted him to be so very abruptly. Good good father.... It's who you are.