As a young girl, one of my favorite things to do was attend church camp. I loved the worship, the teaching, the friends, fun, food, travel, everything about it. I came home exhausted and refreshed, ready to take a nap and take on the world for Jesus. After this weekend all I can say is, “Same.”
This weekend, 40 years later than church camp days, my childhood friend for life and eternity, Kyle Suenaga, and I got to enjoy the grown up version of kids’ camp together, just like we did as kids.
We came from Oregon and Montana, met in Utah, flew to Georgia, ubered to Alabama and rolled in with suitcases and all (that’s a blog post of its own) just as worship was starting at the Living Proof Live in Birmingham.
Old and New Favorite Bible Teachers
We stood in awe of God and worshiped on our feet and on our knees and everywhere in between. We sat listening and learning to faithful and bold, old and new testament, black and white teaching from Bible teachers delivering The Message full of truth with zeal. Beth Moore and Jackie Hill Perry, teamed up and the combination served holy holy holy Words of God. They taught the Word, like a beautifully prepared meal that will take days to digest. Only God himself could have hosted such overflowing goodness and an event like that.
Go To The Nations In An Uber
Kyle Mischelle and I filled up on the Word of God, and delicious Southern food of every kind. Our souls and stomachs are satisfied and overflowing with His goodness to us. We ubered our brains and bank accounts out (again a blog post of its own) and we went to the nations during each drive. We had drivers from Saudi Arabia, Zambia, Detroit, Kenya, the Muslim faith, the family of God, lost and not yet found. Each one played a part in our trip; getting us where we wanted to go and sharing a piece of their journey with us as they drove.
His Goodness And Mercy Follow Us
We walked through the highs and lows of the cities we visited. Our husbands would have highly disapproved of some of the areas we found ourselves when we were lost in the moment and looking around, and out of place. We had some adventures that tested our faith and challenged our decisions and navigation abilities. God showed up every time and we feasted in the craziest places and it was always good, just like Him. His goodness and mercy follow us everywhere we go, as we follow Him.
His Timing Is Perfect Through Every Time Zone
God’s timing was always perfect, bless His name, because we could not keep up with all the time changes. We met together from two different time zones, and met in a different one for both of us. Then, we flew through two more time zones and drove to another one and gained an hour we lost, and then we drove back after two half sleepless nights. We lost an hour again as we headed to church in a new time zone, but it was the night of the time change so we got it back before we lost it completely. Scheduling flights and ubers; attending the conference and church on Sunday in places we had never been before, and filling in every second in between took some planning. We trusted God to lay out the plan, because our plan was to have a car when we got there (again, that’s another blog post). Checking in and out, sleeping sometimes, with time change and jet lag coming in hot and tired from much colder climates, and we never missed a tick or talk. Not even one. His timing was perfect every time. It was beyond our ability to keep up or keep track and yet we stayed the course and walked miles.
Glad We Are Home
Just like church camp as kids, we loved the worship, teaching and preaching, friendship and fellowship. The food was amazing the adventure was wild and fun. Jesus was with us, guiding us, protecting, teaching and laughing with us the whole time. We are all tired, and maybe even Jesus is glad we are home and off our feet, and in our beds and our own cars with the people that may not let us out like that again, until next time.
