Volume 34: Rest in God's Presence

Morgan has been asking me to write something for her blog for a while but I get too scared because Morgan’s is always so good!! I am always so excited to get her text with her newest piece on "Rest"! But today, she gave me no choice- and a prompt. In the past 3 Sundays, I have been to 3 different churches. This is not totally uncommon for my season of life, as I spend about 5 months out of the year traveling to recruit staff members for camp, another 5 at camp and the other 2 in Houston. I love my Houston church, but I do not usually get to attend more than 2 or 3 Sundays in a row. But for today- Morgan has asked me to write about my past 3 weeks of church experience and where I saw the Lord. Here you go, Morgan!

On Easter, I went to a tiny Lutheran church in Washington, DC. In the weeks leading up to Easter, my single request when going to visit my sister was that we would attend church together. She agreed and we made a plan to go to Passion City Church with Ben Stuart. My sister does not regularly attend church and has little interest in God, but she seemed excited and ready to go! Come Easter, my little brother joined us on our weekend getaway, and what did he pack to wear? A single pair of sweatpants. And with that, he refused to go to church on Sunday. The shortened back story of my family is that my siblings and I grew up in church, but when I left for college, they were badly hurt by a few individuals in our home church congregation. It has created a ripple effect throughout my family that still impacts us today, almost 6 years later. I am currently the only one in pursuit of a relationship with the Lord. This is a known fact in my family, so when I alternately offered to go to a sunrise church service by myself that Easter, I did not expect my sister to want to join me. But she did! Her and I snuck out of the house at 7:30 on Easter morning, leaving my little brother sleeping on the couch, and we walked to the nearest church I could find. Georgetown Lutheran. It was my first time attending a Lutheran church. The minister was a lovely middle aged woman, there were a total of 15 people in the pews, and they only sang a single hymn from the hymnal to the loud cries of an organ piano. We read a few liturgies and took communion. She read a passage from Matthew, highlighting the gentle kindness of Jesus in his resurrection and shown in his first interactions following. It was simple, short and refreshing, where the minister knew each person by name. I saw the Lord in their kindness and simplicity. My sister and I walked away smiling.

Fast forward to the next weekend, and I am moving to Mt. Ida for the summer. Attending First Baptist Mt. Ida with Morgan, Blake and Ty was one of my favorite memories of our Pre-camp Mt. Ida experience last year, and I was excited to have that chance again. Morgan and I drove up on Saturday just to make sure we could make it to church on Sunday. Walking into First Baptist is like walking into a church in Sleepy Hollow from Gilmore Girls. It is the kind of church where everyone has known each other for the past 20 years; Tom brings his extra Tomato plants to give away after the service, everyone is still chatting about their pickleball tournament from the night before and Pastor Bill knows each child by name as he calls them all to the front for the children’s message. For worship, we sang 2010’s greatest hits with “Lord, I need you” and “10,000 Reasons”. Though often a little off beat, it is full of joy and life. Pastor Bill preached on “No griping!” which of course made us smile, but was a good reminder as we head into the summer. I saw the Lord in their sense of family and dependence on one another, as they together depend on the Lord. 

Today we went to the other highly attended church near Mt. Ida, Lake Ouachita Baptist Church. We were excited to try something new! As soon as we got out of our car, we were welcomed by one of the best greeters we had ever seen! Her name was Billy and she was quick to point us in the right direction and then followed up with us once we sat down to get our names and where we were from. She was an angel! As we were sitting in our pew waiting for it to start, another woman walks up and introduces herself. Brother Ty then comes to the stage and in the middle of his scripture reading, another woman walks by and says hello, so much so that she almost ran into a poll because she was looking at us! Brother Ty passionately gave a message on John 20 where he spoke of Forgiveness, how we are to freely give what we have been freely given. Following the service, we were ushered into the fellowship hall where they had donuts and drinks. Billy soon found us and introduced us to her husband, inviting us to their small group. Another 3 people walked by to introduce themselves and to make sure we had eaten our share of the breakfast. Billy remembered us each by name and was genuinely wanting to know us more. I saw the Lord in her warm welcome and continual pursuit. 

Today we read the last chapter of John, finishing our first round of the gospels. I couldn't help but think of how John must have felt in those last days with Jesus on Earth. He walked with Jesus so closely. “The one whom Jesus loved.” He saw Jesus live, walk, laugh, cry, heal and then die. The loss he must have felt in losing a teacher, friend and Lord. Then the joy of seeing Jesus again and experiencing the depth of his love. Jesus shows up after a long night of fishing, inviting them to have breakfast with him around the fire. Sitting in communion with one another. Though each church was so drastically different, they held that in common. Coming together as a family to meet with the Lord. May we never forget the simplicity of following Jesus. To end- I am thankful to work at Camp surrounded by people I love, serving a gentle, yet persistent God who continually desires to meet with us. Morgan is a continual example and reminder of this in my life. She has a gift of gathering people together, encouraging us to marvel at the Lord. I love you, Morgan! And I am so very thankful for you!