The Parish

Springtime

Lately, I have had the absolute pleasure of discipling two girls here on campus. They are so great, so different and exactly the same at the same time. Seeing Him through their eyes has been better for me in these past few weeks than anything. And sometimes giving them that much needed nudge back to where He wants them? Well, that’s ridiculously humbling for me and priceless in my mind.

This process has been so cool all the way around, but one thing sticks out particularly.

One of the girls and I are walking through Philippians-- just a chapter a week for this final month of school. Last week, we went through the first chapter of the book, talking about what it meant to live without selfishness, and to live a life worthy of His calling.

I cannot say enough how absolutely good it was.

Somewhere in the middle of it, I began to tell her about how I stumbled across these verses.

Way back when, in the late 1990s/ early 2000s, I would attend these camps with my youth group. Listen, my parents are great. They would give the shirt off their backs to anyone who needed it, and I am thankful that they instilled that idea in me. They are both great teachers, but aren’t exactly rooted in the word. Make sense?

Because of this, my childhood/ teen years were pretty void of those “Bible moments” where we would sit around and talk about scripture. Or when they would remind me of what the Word said.

Do I regret my childhood? Not at all.

But it does make me a little sad. Only because I know the joy of saturating myself in scripture and I wish they did, too.

But, that’s a story for another day.

Because of this, and my sporadic church attendance (and my ridiculous AD/HD that kept me counting minutes until lunch on Sunday mornings rather than listening to the pastor’s sermon), I would go to camp as dry as Elijah’s valley of bones.

This was my second summer to go. I was in 8th grade, and could have not been more stoked and ready for God to show up.

I was ready to be filled.

And He blew my expectations out of the water--

--which is one thing He is so, so good at, you know?

At the end of that week, each of us got an “admit one” ticket. On the back of it, we were instructed to write a realistic amount of our lives that we were willing to give to the Lord.

The pastor challenged us to go about it prayerfully, so I did. I did not write “my life”, but instead went for a more practical approach.

I wrote, “One Hour a Day”.

That might not sound like much, but I was determined to keep it.

So, I did.

Every day for the next year, I spent one hour in the word, reading, praying and journaling.

And guys, it changed my life.

But one of the sweetest experiences I remember was reading these passages that are pounded into some kids’ minds since birth, for the first time.

Things like the armor of God, verses about how He did not give us a spirit of fear. Stories of Jesus healing, challenging potential followers to give up everything, Him praying so hard, he sweat drops of blood?

I had heard most of these stories before, but now they were so real.

I fell head over heels for the One who loved my soul.

One passage that stuck out to me around 17ish was Philippians 2. No I hadn’t kept up with my hour a day. By then, it was long forgotten. But the Lord was faithful when I wasn’t. (thanks for that)

But I can vividly remember reading Philippians 2-- that Jesus humbled himself to the extreme. these few sentences that explained how Christ acted, and how we should strive to imitate that.

If you’re keeping up, you know that is the chapter that I am reading this week with one of my girls.

Guys, I opened it up and was immediately blown over by the grace and the sweetness of Christ. How good He was to me to guide me through His word when I had no one there serving in that role directly. My heart was struck by Him today. By His example, His humility and love, by His faithfulness. How good He is, over and over. And how thankful I am that not only His mercies are new, but also His word will never perish.

He’s a good God, guys. And I am thankful for that.