Masterpiece Part 1
11I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)
We have just wrapped up Day 3 of our home church, Compassion Christian‘s, annual Kid’s Camp. This is their version of “Vacation Bible School” (as it was called when I was a kid). If you may remember last year, I was able to sit down and put a post together each day of the week. I had titled that series “Start The Party” after the name of the Kid’s Camp theme (you can read those by clicking here for Part 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). Last year, the schedule for Kid’s Camp was a bit different and Mrs. Z and I were able to sneak in the Worship Center and hear the message for each day, which, in turn, gave me inspiration to pass on to all my followers here. However, the amazing Early Childhood staff decided to change up when the kids attend large group worship this year, so Mrs. Z and I have not been able to hear any of the messages. But I have had plenty of inspiration once again.
Today, I just wanted to share the pure joy I have volunteering in Kid’s Camp. We get to run the “Upstairs Games” which consists of two laser tag rooms, a Floor-is-Lava room, and a craft room. This is a one-hour block of time during the kids’ four-hour day to have some fun between their small group and large group lessons where they are learning about God and Jesus. The kids have a ton of fun, which is great, but what really brings joy to my heart each day is seeing the nearly two hundred volunteers who have come together to pull this off. This year, Compassion is hosting 445 children in grades K-5, which are broken down into 36 small groups. Each small group has at least two volunteers. Then there’s the Children’s ministry worship team, Sheriff’s (who keep everyone safe), food prep staff (who feed all the volunteers an amazing lunch each day), Games and Activities teams, and the cleaning crew. It is truly incredible how many joy-filled volunteers show up each day to pour into these kids and hope that they have a life-changing relationship to know Jesus Christ. As we have been members of Compassion for the last six years, we have seen the children from the four-year-old Sunday School class grow up, and although they do not remember us, Mrs. Z and I surely remember them. So, seeing them grow in the Son is such a pleasure. Each day, many of the OGs of the church thank us for all we are doing to help make Camp run smoothly, but really, I owe them all the thanks. I am excited to show up every day to bring joy to these kiddos’ hearts. I find great reward in hearing these kids scream for Forrest Frank songs and to win silly games. And my heart bursts with pride when our 8-year-old comes to me on Day 3 and has the extremely long memory verse memorized already.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Jesus Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
In a world filled with darkness, where horrible things are happening locally and globally, for the first time all year, I found myself driving home today full of joy. This is the joy that is meant for all of us, to love God and to love everyone as God loves us. To bring the next generation to know that same delight and love. To help those in need. To teach peace and generosity. To be good people. I just do not understand why everyone would not want to have this same level of cheer and happiness for themselves.
If you do not have a church that you call home, I beg you to find one. Find one that pushes you to step out of your comfort zone. Find one that chases after the next generation and realizes how important their hearts are to lead to Jesus at the earliest age possible. Find one that lives by the Gospel and holds their congregation to do the same. And find one that does all of this in a fun and exciting fashion, because being a follower of Christ was never meant to be boring and stuffy.
I hope to be able to sit down and put a post together these next two days. I know for sure I will be back on Friday, as we wrap up Camp. There has been a lot of new music Christian that I would love to share, but for today, I want to circle back to Forrest Frank and one of my favorites of his latest album. Frank’s “Home” is one that really sings to my soul this week as I feel like I am finally home, where I belong, bringing these little children to know Jesus and filling my heart full of joy. God bless you all.
Common Sense Reborn 