Elizabeth: As I read 2 Kings this week I have decided that I may have similarities to Naaman. Now, don't worry, I don't have leprosy...that's not what has kept me from blogging the past couple of weeks. When Naaman found out that he could go and be free of leprosy he did. He trusted that God would take care of him, however he seemed to expect God to be greater than God appeared to him. When Elisha shared with Naaman that the way he would be cleansed of leprosy was to wash himself seven times in the water of the rivers nearby, not the cleanest waters, Naaman wasn't sure if that was for real. If all he had to do was wash in the rivers nearby, why couldn't he do that where he was? Why did he need to travel out to hear God's words through Elisha? I think Naaman wanted God to speak grander words through Elisha. At least He could have provided the purest of pure waters to wash in. Naaman doubted when he heard Elisha's words. Naaman needed to be re-convinced that Elisha was speaking on the Lord's behalf so it would be foolish to not believe what was said.
Let's think about this story for a moment. Do you ever get disappointed or discouraged in what God wants you to do because you don't hear it as something extraordinary? Or maybe that's only me who struggles with that. Like Naaman, I often get excited about God's plans for me, but then when I really get to experience them, they don't seem as grand as I thought they would be.
I grew up with a positive outlook on religion and on my own faith. That deep interest in my faith and my constant desire to learn more about religion, especially my own Lutheran denomination led me into the beginnings of church work. Beginning the summer after my sixth grade year I volunteered my time working with the preschool ministry at my church. The church preschool had a typical Fall-Spring school year, but then had a summer program. Since I wasn’t in school over the summer myself, I would help the teachers in their classrooms. I enjoyed the time with the kids and I enjoyed helping the teachers as they needed help. I continued this volunteerism every summer until the summer of my sophomore year of high school when I was old enough to work and earn a paycheck. I continued the same work, just got paid to do it. As I continued to get older, once I graduated high school, I worked as a teacher myself. I taught a class of mixed ages kindergarten-2nd grade myself. I really liked the program; I enjoyed the opportunity to teach, and of course liked interacting with the kids. My favorite part of the preschool program was Monday mornings when all of the classes would go down to the sanctuary for Chapel. At Chapel the kids would sing a couple of songs, typically Vacation Bible School songs that they knew, and then would listen to a message given by the pastor. I connected in this time, I could really get into the silly songs about my faith, and then I could hear familiar stories of my faith taught in such a simple way. The simplicity and seriousness of this time always reminded to keep the faith the way a child would. It was really from preschool chapels that made me consider looking into a Lutheran university to attend, where I too, could experience mid-week chapel services. I achieved that by going to TLU. Actually, the chapel at TLU became my favorite place on campus, I rarely missed a chapel service. I share my experiences with “chapel” because that is the place where I feel God’s presence and hear Him speaking to me. It is in the simple worship and simple messages that I hear a calling to use what gifts I have in ministry. I hear God in a simple, yet grand way. I begin to get excited.
My favorite hymn is “Here I Am Lord,” and we sang it a few times in chapel at TLU. It is my favorite because it speaks to me vocationally and lets me know that I can use my energies and passions to serve God. Many hymns or even silly VBS songs speak to me in ways that let me know that I can serve God with the gifts I have been given. I’m empowered to do so. However, when it got time to really apply my gifts and step into ministry the grandness went away. As a preschool teacher and now as a youth director, I have yet to see a child touched by something I have done. I don’t see God vividly as I work day to day as I thought a person in ministry would. The grand excitement in the way I heard/ still hear God does not always carry into the experience. I think I’m like Naaman in that way. I want to do more than just wash 7 times in dirty waters. I want to be great as I serve God. Like Naaman, I need to be reminded that washing in dirty waters may be what God is asking me to do, and if I’m truly serving God then why should I be concerned with the tasks set before me? For me it is helpful to be reminded of the faith like a child that Jesus calls us to hold, if we love Him and remember He loves us, he will take care of us. He will use us as we are to help grow His Kingdom.
Allison: Oh goodness, it’s definitely been a while since we’ve blogged. That being said, much has happened since then. While we were away on blog sabbatical, I was very busy with my youth interning job. We had camp in July, and since our church runs our own summer camp, preparations start in the fall and pick up like crazy come mid-June. I love camp, I really do, but boy this year was exhausting! We go to camp up at the H.E.B. Foundations camps and have a Junior High camp, followed by a Senior High camp. Usually there’s a week of recovery in between those camps, but for some reason this year we were booked in back-to-back weeks—meaning we got home from a 5 day camp Thursday, had camp closing Friday, loading on Saturday, and took off again Sunday for round two. It was tough, and by the end of the second week I was physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. But camp was great! Here’s what I learned in a nutshell:
At Junior High camp we have high school students who go as counselors—we call them YACs (Young Adult Counselors). It’s really awesome to watch them step up as leaders and grow spiritually as they build relationships and share their faith with the campers. And this year I tried to do just that—watch then and encourage them. While I also hung out with the campers through the week, I tried to let the YACs take the lead. It wasn’t easy, but by opting to do more behind the scenes work, I gave the high schoolers more opportunities to pour into the campers, especially since they will be the ones who are with these campers through the school year. And leadership-wise, I’m on my way out. My goal this summer was to build up leaders before I left, and it was neat to (for once) step back, chill, and watch them work.
At Senior High camp our keynote speaker was Todd Agnew. Which was so awesome—we don’t normally have speakers that “famous” at camp. But because of an awesome mutual friend we have with Todd’s wife, we were able to have him hang out with us all week, which was an awesome experience. Todd was so down-to-earth and so…well, normal. It never even crossed your mind you were having a conversation with the guy who wrote ‘Grace Like Rain’ and he was SO funny too! He is such a great speaker—if you ever have a chance to hear him talk, go for it. But Todd talked about how “who Jesus is defines who we are”. So if Jesus is the shepherd, we are sheep. If Jesus is the bread of life, we are hungry. If Jesus is the resurrection and the life, we are dead. So chew on that World Wide Web! My favorite thing he shared though wasn’t even a keynote theme. He talked about how we are only completely filled by the love of God, by Jesus. God creates things in this world that make us happy, that give us a taste of what eternal joy in Him is like. And those things aren’t bad, but we should remember they are just a taste; they are not the end all. God fills us, and everything else is a bonus on top of that; whipped-cream icing on a really awesome cake, if you will. A really awesome perspective to keep in mind, I think, when we find ourselves getting caught up in the appetizers of life.
Also since the last blog, I’ve acquired some incredibly awesome green running shoes—a nice little dollop of icing there.
So now that I’ve spent most of the blog talking about what was essentially the month of July for me, Elizabeth and I also got back into our Bible reading :)! So 2 Kings…
2 Kings 2 talks about the relationship between Elisha and Elijah just before Elijah is to be taken up into heaven. Elisha makes a promise, a covenant with Elijah saying “As surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you”. Elisha vows to follow Elijah, to stay by his side, until he leaves this earth. Now Elisha knows that Elijah’s time is short, in fact prophets along the way remind Elisha of this on multiple occasions. It’s as if they’re saying, “Look Elisha, this guy Elijah is going to be gone soon, so this relationship you’re building is kind of pointless. Why don’t you just go off and do your own ministry?” But every time that happens, Elisha renews his vow to Elijah, and every time they continue on “together”. Elisha also asks to be filled with the same spirit that fills Elijah, to be his successor. Elijah warns him it will be a difficult task, but agrees.
I really like Elisha here because he doesn’t do what is easy. He could decide not to grow close to Elijah and avoid the feeling of loss when Elijah leaves him, but he chooses to build their relationship instead. He could choose to just tell the story of his adventures with Elijah to his grandchildren, but instead he asks to fill his shoes, to carry on his task and his burden. And even when others encourage him to take the easy road, his continually renews his commitment. This blog is already pretty long, so I’ll wrap this up, but just think about that this week. What is the easy road, and what is the road worth taking? Which will you choose?
**Also, take some time to revel in the greatness that is 2 Kings 2:23-25**
Courage Weariness Vocation
Sisters in Christ,
~Allison & Elizabeth
~Allison & Elizabeth
Allison, I think there is a link with Elisha and Elijah's relationship to relationship you had with your YAC's. You could choose to remove yourself from the ministry you're doing and not be well involved since you know you won't be doing this next summer, but you choose to give it your all. You choose to motivate and encourage your high schoolers to help them grow and develop their leadership skills. I don't know if you saw that link, but you really seemed to link the part of 2 Kings you chose to write about with your experiences at camp and such.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you got new green shoes?! You didn't share that with me. I want a picture ASAP!
I really didn't even think about that actually. but that's really neat that you noticed it. I'd never thought of it that way, but I think you're right. and sometimes it was tempting, in those moments when i was frustrated or exhausted, to not give it my all since i know I won't be there much longer, but ultimately i knew that was wrong, and i wouldn't be okay with that looking back. i'd originally seen myself more as elisha than elijah, as one filling the shoes of those who have gone on, and really that's now i tend to see myself. but there's always two sides to it--as you follow the leadership that has gone before you, you hand off responsibilities to the ones following behind you. i wonder if perhaps recognizing both of those roles in a given situation would change my perspective of my role in the big picture of ministry.
ReplyDeleteI love the insight that you two bring to the parts of text that you focused upon. Elizabeth, I never looked at the Naaman story that way. I always saw him as being a really pompous jerk. But you bring a new side of him out. Allison, I think you're learning a valuable leadership lesson from your camps/Elisha.
ReplyDeleteWay to go, friends!