Through the years Camp Buckeye has held a lot of memories for our three now- grown kids. All of them attended Back-to-Basics camp most summers from the time they were 8 yrs. old till they outgrew camper age and then each of them had stints as camp counselors. I still chuckle over the year we received a post-card from Jared saying he had gotten very ill and was up all night throwing up. His childish handwriting exclaimed he had "pucked" 14 times that night and his sweet cousin SaraLisa had held him close to comfort him through the ordeal. Several years in a row I went to camp myself to help in the kitchen cooking for all the little tykes and gaining new friendships with many of the Amish and Mennonite cooks and volunteers. I still have some great recipes from those years.
*Here is a picture of Dan, myself, and Dan's brother Nate...at a cabin at the camp, that Dan helped build with other volunteers)
This morning as I read over Dan's speech he will be presenting tomorrow night I was struck by a spiritual insight that resonated truth to me and I wanted to share it with readers.
Dan was expounding on his usual theme of pursuing dreams in spite of obstacles, and having a clear plan of action. To quote from his notes:
"There is a spiritual life lesson for all of us to gain from seeing what happened here in this process. Yes, we can have dreams - yes, those dreams may come into view - but it requires a clear plan of action. It requires imagination. It requires desire, hard work, self-discipline and faith."
The ancient Jewish church had a prayer that they would recite at Passover that describes how this works: "I thank you Lord God, King of the universe, for this bread; which you have created and human hands have prepared; it shall be for us the body of Christ."
That prayer reveals a profound spiritual principle: God's gifts are raw materials, not finished products. Think about the most revered sacrament in the church - Holy Communion. Does God give us bread and wine? Where can you find those in nature? You can't. God makes wheat, He doesn't make bread. He makes grapes - not wine. But when we take the raw materials God gives us, we can add our work and give them back to him as an offering."
Now to me that is pretty profound. Giving praise, compliments and encouragement to people who have worked hard to do an outstanding job with a concept, business, act of kindness, etc. is something I make a habit of doing. I find a little encouragement goes a long way to propel others to higher levels of success. But I cringe inside when my efforts to praise someone for their efforts is brushed off with a comment like, "Oh, it's all God. I had nothing to do with it!"...
Yikes! I want to respond with "Oh, are you a robot? Were you in a coma and God just made you do miraculous things and you took absolutely no part??"
Come on! I believe in being humble but I also believe in using my brain to recognize that God gives me the dream, the insight in how to fulfill that dream and then to ability to work the plan! He gives me the tools but He sure expects me to break a good sweat over the work involved. And it is in that process of working hard to achieve what God has ultimately lain on my heart that gives me incredible fulfillment. I'm not a puppet or a robot just sitting around waiting for something or someone to pull my strings or flip my switch. On the contrary, I am a Child of God working daily to live in His will and fulfill the Plans He has for my life...working hard to use the raw tools He has given me to fulfill my dreams and goals.
I have a plaque on my office wall that I have had for probably 20 years or more. It says "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true". It is a quote from Richard Bach. Now don't go jumping on your Christian high horse labeling me "New Age". I have no delusions that I alone have the power to make my life a success without the guidance of my Heavenly Father and without His blessing. I believe adamantly that one should live his/her life as if it is a prayer to God. And if I am in constant communion with God I also feel confident that He is leading me to dream big dreams and giving me the tools I need to bring them to fruition. And I am equally confident that He expects me to work hard to get to my goal.
So, next time someone praises you for something you have accomplished, whisper a prayer of thanks to your Heavenly Father for allowing you to accomplish something of value. By exclaiming you had nothing to do with it, you are forgetting that God thought you important enough to plant a seed of desire, help you bring it to fruition and now He is smiling at you for having understood the Plan He had in mind. You are pretty important to Him. Wow! Pretty incredible when you think about it!
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