Camp Barnabas Bound

"Had To" or "Get To"

This past week I have been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of reading. My favorite author would have to be Donald Miller he makes you think so much differently after every chapter and that's what I like so much about him. Which brings me to my first topic. I got the privilege to go to a bible college and the there is two questions that are most frequently asked; "Do you believe in baptism?" and "What denomination are you?" My favorite of the two would have to be, "What denomination are you?" and see well this past week we had a retreat group come in to help build new bunk beds for the new cabins and well they where all above the age of 65 and well I got that question a lot. They were from a First Baptist Church. Now don't think that I am going to start bashing on denominations, because I'm not. It was just really funny how I would tell them that my home church would be a non-denomination church and then I would tell that I would really consider myself really attached to any kind of "church", that I just believe in the Bible and God, and well you could probably stick me any church really as long as the person doing the speaking is good, then I am a happy camper. Some took it pretty well and the others not so much. They believed that the First Baptist way is the only way and they tried so hard to make me believe that. I was talking to a friend the other day about all this and he thought that it was pretty funny, how people are so caught up in there ways that they don't see the whole picture. Does it really matter what kind of church you go to. In this book I am reading it was talking about how when he was growing up, he went to a Baptist church and his friend went to a Methodist church and during this period in his life, He thought that his friend was lost because of the church he went to, that he didn't know anything about God or the Bible, because of the denomination that he went to. And soon realized that he was all wrong about it.

The second thing that I have been thinking about is this thing called "being a servant". This group of high school kids also came this week to help clean up camp and help make my job a lot easier, which they did. But during there devo time and during the week they were learning about being better servants and leaders. And when it came down to the last couple of days that they were here I was thinking about what they were going to tell they're friends and family about what they did during the week; or better yet how they were going to tell them. Some of there duties while they were here were mowing weed eating, cleaning the pool, picking a rocks and tree limbs, and burning stuff. I didn't want them going home telling these people, "I had to do….", I wanted them to tell those people "I got to…". That's something that I hope that all of us will be able to say when we get back from our trips. I got to play with kids; I got to prepare food; I got to show Gods love.

Camp Barnabas

As I write I think of my first memory of camp. The feeling of I hope that I get a camp that can go to the bathroom on his own, that's capable of feeding himself, to be able to take a shower, and brush his teeth. That was my mind set when the church vans were starting to pile up and head off to camp. Pretty crappy don't you think. As we were getting all are training on how to transfer from a wheelchair to the bed or from the wheelchair to the shower chair, I realized that most of the campers during that week probably won't be able to walk. You see when I thought of camp I didn't think that it was going to be hard work, I thought that it was going pretty much like any other church camp. Well I was wrong this was so much more than just a church camp and I was about to find out when my camper arrived the next day. Well when my camper arrived, I soon found out that I was at least 2 years younger than he was, and that he didn't talk at all. I then found out that I would have to push him everywhere around camp and I would have to take him to the bathroom, brush his teeth, and feed him. I was scared, I didn't even like to be in the same room as baby when it was getting changed let alone changing a grown man. Well I am going to end this with, cause I don't want to ruin this story for the people that are going to J-Bay with me. But I will say, I changed that week. I found the meaning of love and servant.

So I am ready for new memories of this place that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

LOVE is the MOVEMENT

Doors Open

one more month

Unexpected 2

Unexpected

I spoke this past Wednesday at my church about something that has been on my mind for a while now and I even wrote about it on one of my blogs.   So I was fixing all the tweaks in it so when I spoke it would be something the youth can talk about later and we did and they brought some very excellent points. But that's not what this is all about; I'm just using this as an example of me being blinded. Another was my 21^st birthday, which was this Monday. And lastly my father hasn't been feeling very well for the past month, he's had to get surgery and just some other things has just been keeping him in the dumps. As I was saying this Monday was my birthday, well Monday morning I get a phone call from my mom at 6:30 in the A.M. and well I'm not much of a morning person and when I looked at my phone and saw that it was my mom, I do whatever any other non-morning person would do and just threw my phone on the floor and tried to go back to bed. But about 5 minutes later my sister comes into my room and told me to get up, cause my mom was taking my dad to the E.R. and he need me to bring something up there for him. Well I got up and drove to the hospital. I'm not that big of a fan of hospitals, I don't like the smell and well I didn't have a very good experience at my stay in the hospital almost two years ago. But my dad had to stay the night in the hospital and got surgery the next day and he is now sleeping in the room next to mine.

You see 2 years ago I was going through a really a tough time. But that summer I went to a place where I am deeply in LOVE with. And well the more you get to know me you'll actually understand this passion that I have for this place. Camp Barnabas is something that got me through a lot of pain and whenever I'm in the slumps and it seems like that nothing is going away. I think of camp and one person. His name is Nathan Perry; he's a 30 old man that when he was 4 years old a car while walking across the street going to the playground hit him. He's in a wheelchair and can only say a few words and mainly uses a board with certain pictures on it to communicate. He taught me love cause I never knew what that was or how you show it, cause he is very limited on the things he can do and its not a lot that he can do. You see I had shower him, take him to the bathroom, change him, feed him, and be his legs. Well when I think of Nathan, I see Jesus. And I am very excited right now, because this Friday I am going to Kansas City to see Nathan, and I am really looking forward to it.

Well if you want to see a picture of him. There's a picture of him and I, in my photos.

Esther

So while I was reading, I came across a verse that really stuck out the most was in chapter 4 verse16; when Mordecai was asking her if she was scared, since it was against to go up to the king without his permission. And she replied back, “if I must die, I am willing to die.” I think the reason why I like that verse so much is because it goes with the verse that I try to live by; Philippians 1:20 – according to my earnest expectations and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

Who we are, or what we do?

You see a lot of us call ourselves Christians, Christ Followers, or whatever makes you happy really. The point is, “is it who you are, or what you do”? Now let me give you the illustration on which I got this thought. I was watching T.V. and Brian O’Reilly was on so I was a little intrigued on what he was talking about, because the were talking about the NBA, because lately the have had a huge controversy about homosexual players and weather or not they should come out. And O’Reilly was saying, “being “gay” is what they do, NOT who they are. We are Americans that’s who we are we.” So that’s how this whole thing came about. Christianity is who we are, or what we do?

Now I have been thinking about this a lot lately. And I am about to let you know what I believe it is and you might hate it or you might like it. But what I ask that you come up with your own opinion on this. So here it is, I believe that it is both now I’m not trying to cop my way out of this, but being a Christ Follower that IS who I am, but you see there’s a lot of verbs that go with that label; love, compassion, servant, guide, and live. Why I think this makes me so pumped about this is that I get looked at a lot, because of my appearance, you see all of you probably don’t know this about me, but I have plugs and so you can see right through my ears, and what I don’t understand is that a lot of people look at these things as distractions or assume that I’m some weird guy. But these things are not me, they are not who I am.

The other day I was at the post of send out some letters and this lady next to me was staring at the wholes in my ears, now you see what you all also don’t know about me is that I have a few tattoos, and they are also not who I am, but obviously they are all Christian tattoos, but on this day I was wearing my hoody so they were all covered up. So I’m thinking to myself, why does she keep looking at my ears, well I knew why, but why did she insist on keep looking at them. I wanted to turn around and ask her what type of person she thought I was. But I didn’t and it would have made a great addition to the story if I had.

Now I get this a lot, and it really doesn’t bother me, because I decided to do this to my ears and to my body, but I don’t regret it at all. I love them, it brings up conversations that I never would have had with people, if I didn’t have them. And this is why I am Unperfect.