wow, I may be the world's worst blogger because I haven not updated this site in quite sometime. So for my few and precious readers who have been so discouraged from not hearing from me (joke) I apologize. But a lot has happened and I'm excited to catch you up on the past couple of months. We will start with November, make our way through December and end with some thoughts and prayer requests. Here we go!
-November
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| Rushing field after the game |
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| The fellas |
November also presented challenges. Ministry had been going well, but I felt extremely weighed down by pressure, responsibility and anxiety. This whole semester has been a struggle of figuring out my next steps in life and where God is leading me. I'll write about this in more detail later, but not hearing from God has been difficult, and I crave direction from him. Spiritually I'd say my faith was being refined and battered a lot in November.
-December
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| Grandpa- one of my favorite men in the world |
I'll tell you another grace moment. Jeeze I feel like I have a lot. My grades this semester were the best they have ever been since high school, and although I wasn't perfect, I tried to put God, family, friends, ministry in front of school, and God blessed me. I remember praying before exams, "Lord, I know I should have studied more, I know I don't deserve to do well, but will you bless me and help me to focus?" Sure enough, my Dad came through and I was pleasantly surprised : ).
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| Doug's Descendants |
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| Our dog Cooper |
Alright. I'm on a roll. Here's another small revelation that hit me over break. For some reason, during Christmas time at some point our household will watch family videos from ions ago. This Christmas was no different. Two things came to my mind as I watched previous camping trips and past Christmas's roll across the TV. 1.) Chloe (my sister) was so unfathomably cute that it hurt. I'm not kidding. She was the cutest kid I've ever seen and I instantly felt bad for ever teasing her or hurting her haha. But seriously, my god, was she cute (and she is incredibly beautiful now). 2.) I've heard this before but maybe it's because I'm getting older that this resonates even more. As I watched my parents interact with us kids, and spoil us with gifts and love it dawned on me that I'll never truly understand the love my parents have for me until I'm holding (God-willing) my future son or daughter in my arms for the first time. I will never understand that. I believe (and again I wouldn't know) that a parent's love for a child is a different type of love, and it gives us yet again, another glimpse into the love God has for his children.- Luke 11:11-13 "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Chole's cuteness made me excited to have a daughter some day haha. But in all seriousness, that thought really struck me, and I again showed me how blessed I am to have earthly parents who care deeply about me, and a heavenly Dad who adores me even more than my parents.
To be honest, I'm writing this without a specific outline, so I'm going to continue to roll.
I was able blessed to be able to talk to some incredible Godly men over break. One was a pastor at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids. Another runs a Baptist ministry that works around the world and the last was a missionary in Kyrgyzstan. It was a blessing to hear the thoughts of each of these men and I've come to several conclusions concerning my future.
1.) I have some exciting options to pray about and I need God to confirm and lead me because I am unable to make this decision on my own. God knows what I need more than I do, so I will continue to pray.
2.) The Church is the most powerful institution in the world. And I believe the only institution that can make lasting change because...God instituted it : ) I read this book about diversity and God's design for the church which was incredibly enlightening. If you're interested, I highly recommend "The Gift of Church" by Jim Samra.
3.) One of these godly men said to me, "It's easier to steer something that's moving." I think God is leading me to take steps this semester, and wait for his confirmation for my future.
Not sure if that all made sense, but I really felt God rejuvenated me over break and has restored my faith, and I'm excited for God to reveal the next steps in my life.
I also had this thought as I reflected on 2011 in the early morning on New Years Eve. 2012 will be the first time where I have no idea where I will be in 2012. Scary. Exciting. Anxiety. Just a few words that describe my feelings towards this revelation.
Prayer requests: Short and sweet
- My future: I'm praying hard about where God is leading me, and am praying through if reaching people overseas is where He wants me. I want to be obedient, and I want God to confirm my next step at some point. So please pray for that.
-Small group: I again will be leading a small group this semester and I just met two students the other day who are interested in joining. Pray I'll be able to share the gospel with them soon and that God will move in my small group. We should have over 10 students in the group which is great, but has potential to become to big and lose its intimacy.
-New Life Team: Pray for our bigger community in our church. That we would grow in intimacy and be a light to other UofM students.
-Pray for my English class: during this class I will be traveling to an incarceration center and working with an incarcerated youth, helping them to develop a writing portfolio and getting to know their story. Some of these kids have witnessed murders, lost parents and friends to street violence and seen things no kids should have to witness. Pray for the child I receive. Pray that through my writing I may be able to share the love of Christ with him and that he would come to know the Lord.
One of the last blessings I received over break was an opportunity to drive down to New Orleans with some of my friends and watch Michigan play in the 2012 BCS Sugar Bowl at the Super Dome. I have been a Michigan football fan my whole life and obviously, this was such a sweet (pun) gift. I'll never forget, locking arms with the thousands of students in the front section of the stadium, watching Gibbons overtime field goal kick soar through the upright for the win and experiencing sheer pandemonium with my fellow wolverines. Bahaha, it was awesome : )
And to provide my last example of grace. Undeserved favor. I again reference the sugar bowl. Michigan did not play well enough to win that game. But we won. Grace exemplified in a football game. And gosh, was I grateful. Below are photos and a highlight of the game in case you missed it. Twas a classic.Thank you again for the readers who are praying for me and reading my blog. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. God bless you all and I'll write to you in about a month!
-cam
