Baby-sitting for Who?

This post is a little past due, but that's okay.

A week ago, I should've been getting back from camp. Instead, I was working the good ol' front desk. For the first time in 14 years, I didn't go to Camp Discovery. Which, if you read these two blogs (here and here), you realize quickly how much it means to me. Just weeks before camp, I had to change my plans and not go to camp - which was pretty upsetting if we're being honest. Thankfully, the Lord kept my mind off of camp (for the most part).

When I was officially no longer going to camp and had a peace about it, I thought to myself, God must have a reason for keeping me here. I just hoped it was a good reason, rather than someone dying or... something. I thought, maybe God has some really important, life-changing message I need to hear.

It didn't happen.

Oddly though, I have a comfort about missing camp. I just feel like I wasn't supposed to be there. I read something the other day about God working in small ways, not always using drastic, life-changing measures. Such small ways that we don't even realize it.

So, although there was not a 'spiritual epiphany' ... something mega cool did happen.


Long story short, Jenny Simmons of Addison Road asked my friend Joley and I to baby-sit. Yes, I baby-sat for someone famous. Her daughter, Annie, is adorable. Yeah, Jenny and I talked, we called each other, even texted. Did we hang out? Not really. I didn't get a picture with her, I somewhat got an autograph... but I already had one so that didn't matter either. Sure, I earned some extra cash... not a huge deal.

I think the coolest part was seeing and realizing she is normal. That sounds so stupid, and I realize that famous people are still... people, but it doesn't hit you until you're in the hotel room. Or, when she talked about hanging out with her girlfriends. In her thank you note, she wrote how much of a blessing it was to have a break, just to hang out with friends.

Knowing that my sitting in her hotel room while her precious daughter slept, just so she could get a break and have some fun, made it all worth it. It sounds cheesy, but an act of service like that is more rewarding than money. Maybe the baby-sitting job was the reason God kept me here, and if it was, that little bit of excitement and the sweet reward was worth it.

Awesome.

Do you know what it's like to be under a pile of homework thinking you won't sleep for days, just so you can get it done... and still be able to just smile for no reason?

or to be driving down the road, walking to class, etc... and just feel like you're being hugged?

or to just want to giggle at the most random times?


Sometimes, I feel like I might explode with laughter and excitement. I want to go for a run to just get the giggles and antsy feelings out of me, not to escape from life.

I haven't been in this place, in a long, long time. And if I'm being real honest, probably never. I remember at the beginning of this semester, writing about the joy of the Lord - and what that feels like, and that what I thought it was before was so small in comparison.

That comparison has grown. I literally have fallen asleep smiling.

The other day, my professor said a profound statement: happiness is fleeting. I just wanted to raise my hand and say, but joy is constant.

I started writing this blog, and then thought about how unhappy I was at this time last year - so I went back and read some old blogs. Ironically, I wrote a blog on this very day, about one hour from right now. "God with us" - how beautiful.

It is the end of semester, the time when thousands of students across the country are frazzled, lacking sleep, and going crazy. Coffee shops probably have booming business. I am not (that) stressed. Yeah, I have things to do. But, I think sometimes as college students we make this time stressful - we let life get us down. Unless, we let the peace of Christ rule our hearts.

I was telling a friend just yesterday about my low level of stress, and that I know it is only because of the Lord, I repeat - only.

It was interesting this past weekend, that the sermon at our church was about having more peace and being more thankful. Our God is not stressed, He's got everything under control. He is also not a God of stress - He's a God of peace.

Nor does the Bible ever mention a change of circumstances that allowed peace. Peace and joy are non-circumstantial. We have to find the awesome in every situation. And like bowling, the best things happen when you let go.

Battle.

Retreat: a period of seclusion, retirement, or solitude. The act or process of withdrawing, especially from something hazardous, formidable, or unpleasant. (example: college)


I think sometimes church retreats get a lot of crap; people consider them boring, or cliche. They don't want to spend more than 2 hours with some people, have to open up. I, on the other hand, love retreats. I love seclusion. And, as hard as it may be to believe, I love turning off my cell phone and not having a computer for days at a time. 


At the women's retreat I went to this weekend, we focused on the passage in Ephesians that talks about the armor of God. We put on and take up His armor. 


truth: agreement with final reality, His word IS our final reality. 
His truth redeems our past. [Isaiah 42:9]


righteousness: faultless in every situation
His righteousness ratifies our present. [Jeremiah 23:6]


peace: tranquility of the soul
His peace redefines our future.


and... faith.
The shield of faith is not just a defense, it can be an offensive weapon too. We can't always hide behind our shield, because Satan will use his arrows of insecurity, doubt, anxiety, nervousness, pride and arrogance and tear it to pieces. [Romans 10:17]


Another verse we focused on was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "...for my power is made perfect in weakness..." When I'm weak, and I want to give up and throw the towel in - His power is perfected. Not when I'm strong, but when I'm weak. And for Him to be strong, I have to take my hands off of the situation - let go. 


Isaiah 49:4 has been on my heart a lot lately, "I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”


Leave everything in His hands; the battles are the Lord's. 

Treasured Delight.

“Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored—so clean up your life.

If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river,
the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver!

Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you." - Job 22:21-28

"But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food." - Job 23:10-12

I read these two passages last night, multiple times. God's Word never fails to fill and refresh me, or even convict me.

The very first line made me smile, but also made me think about and realize something. Submitting to God does bring peace. An amazing peace, one that surpasses everything. The part about things going well is hard to embrace. Sometimes what God has best for us requires change or trials to get there, so things may not be going "well" at all times. It depends on your perspective and state of mind.

How amazing it is that HE will be our treasure. But, how often do I try and make something or someone else my greatest treasure? Nothing else compares, and I forget that all too often. Is He my greatest delight? Have I or do I treasure His word more than anything else, even something as basic as food?

Something to think about.