Open letter to Timber 2009

To my Timber Mountain brothers and sisters:

Greetings and blessings to you from your brother in Christ, Jesse :). Whether or not you know me, I've been praying for you consistently the last couple of months, for Christ to give you strength and guidance for these summer months at camp. I've been blessed to be there the past three summers, but God has me serving Him in another place now, so I am there with you in spirit and in heart, and I hope that this letter will encourage you in your journey this summer.

I have no clue where you're at right now, but I want to challenge you, consistently, at every moment, to give it your all! There are incredible things that will happen this summer, amazing time spent with your kids, incredible relationships created, ever changing weather, ducking sickness, finding dirt gets everywhere, dodging people with water guns, obnoxious jokes...I don't the list ends. These blessings that you will never want to trade will happen this summer, and that's why I encourage and challenge you to put out all you have, spiritually, emotionally, physically, every week. Nay, every day!
Because you will not regret it. God has called you to serve these kids, and be an example to them, and like anything that we do for God, we should give all that we have to Him, so that His will be done and that we can see the amazing wonders and miracles God does.

Let me share with you my favorite Bible verse, Luke 9:23-25 - "...If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" This is what my hope is for you this summer - that you would lay yourself down at Christ's feet, and offer yourself to Him so that these kids could see the love of Christ, could see what a life and dedication to Him truly is. I pray that you would imitate and emulate the image of Christ this summer, and that you would let Christ speak to you, mold you, and change you into an example of someone who truly loves our Savior.

I encourage you and challenge you with these things, because I challenged myself in the same way the three summers I was able to be there, and I would be up there with you if that was in God's plan, but since I'm not I pray that you would. As we serve in different places and ways, I pray that you would lean on and pray for your brothers and sisters that you serve with, that you would daily find strength and power in the Bible, and that you would be a light to these kids that come up the mountain. Be blessed.