Table Rock is the place to go

So I did end up getting to be a counselor at Senior High Camp this past week, and boy am I glad I did.  If you’ve read my previous blog, you know that God got a hold of me at Middle School Camp, but he sure wasn’t finished.  I have this habit of after leaving camp, falling back into the same old routine, but I really feel like this time around was different.

First off, Derik Idol is an amazing speaker.  He really brought this week and he didn’t beat around the bush either.  He said what needed to be said.  Monday night he gave everyone a relationship talk that was really good.  I enjoyed it, but it really made me miss Megan.  I didn’t get to hear Tuesday’s sermon because I had to meet with Amanda to plan for worship on Sunday.  I was there for the rest of the week and Wednesday was when God really caught me.  I was fine throughout the sermon.  Derik talked about reconciliation and getting our lives right with Christ.  So often I feel unworthy of God’s grace because I pray for forgiveness and then days later find myself in that same sin.  IWU did a skit to Everything by Lifehouse and I just lost it.  He then asked for youth pastors and counselors to come forward to pray with any teens who needed prayer, but I didn’t even feel like I could pray for someone else in my condition.  I sat in my chair, weeping because I didn’t think I deserved God’s forgiveness.  Then Brady came over and asked me if he could pray for me, so I went down.  I could feel God tugging on my heart and it was like Satan was tugging just as hard in the other direction.  After Brady prayed with me, I rededicated my life and it felt so good to be free again.  God’s movement was so apparent throughout the week that the staff decided to hold a baptismal service on Friday night.

On Thursday night, Derik talked about our secret sins.  Sins that we try to hide from God and others because we have grown to enjoy that sin.  At the end of his sermon, Derik gave an invitation for anyone who had secret sins in their lives to write those things down on a piece of paper and nail them to the cross.  I wrote down 4 sins that I believed had been plaguing my life and getting in the way of my relationship with God, and I honestly believe that those sins were left on that cross.  Now I know it will still be a struggle, but I feel so much more confident than I ever have before.  And on Friday morning, I decided to be baptized.  I wanted to show everyone that I had decided to change my life and I want those who witnessed my baptism to hold me accountable for my Christian walk.  I feel so close to God right now and I don’t want to move away.  I wanted to be baptized at Table Rock because the place is so close to my heart.  It’s the place I was saved and have grown closer to God each time I’ve gone.  I also wanted to have James baptize me because he has had such an influence on my life and is partly responsible for where I stand today.

I love Table Rock and now that I get to go as a counselor I love it even more.  It’s so great to see everything from a different perspective.  It is also very reassuring to my call to the ministry.  Just seeing kids worship with their whole hearts moves me.  God is so amazing and he can do so much if you just let him move.