These people.
This is Soddy Daisy.
What?!
2 years ago, we brought 1 girl to summer camp.
Last summer, we brought 4 girls from Soddy to summer camp.
This summer, we had a full cabin of girls and even threw in some boys too.
God is up to something.
June 2-8, Chattanooga YL went to Windy Gap for summer camp. And it was the best week of my life...
Getting to know these girls was so great. It was exactly what I need before heading off to my next adventure in life...SharpTop Cove. Still praying that they would know that this Jesus that they heard about all week, the One who washes them clean, the One who loves them with an UNCONDITIONAL love, the One who is patiently waiting for them to say YES...
THAT Jesus...is here in Chattanooga, TN too. Jesus chooses to dwell within our broken hearts, because He is the only One that can fix it, fill it, and heal it. He is the One who created it anyways right?
Monday night, a few of my pals and I drove to Gatlinburg (Elkmont) to watch the synchronized fireflies. It's so hard to describe this event; I saw it a few years ago and was in awe the entire time. It was even better a second time. Before it got too dark, I was just looking around at the trees that stood around us. Every tree that surrounded us had different leaves; no two trees around us had the same leaves. And then I looked at the bark of the trees. No two trees had the same bark; no two trees had the same shape. Each tree had a different design, and it just looked like a painting...that the artist took his sweet time on each tree. Because he was so proud of his work. And then the fireflies came out, and lit up the entire wood floor. I felt like I was at a symphony...I pictured a someone standing in front of them moving their hand to let these fireflies know when to light up. It was a song..
and it was for me.
I thought about my life. About all of the details that Jesus writes in it. Things that we think are coincidence...things that surprise us, are all detailed in our story by the One and Only Jesus. When God created us, He took His time on us. It's not like a factory, where we are all created exactly the same. God intricately and passionately created you and I. And when He was done, He took a step back and said it was VERY good.
Had these thoughts on my mind all week for the girls from our Bee Tree cabin...It is so hard to believe that we are special in God's eyes sometimes..because of the things that we have chosen in our past, because of the circumstances we are in, because of the mistakes we have made.
Jesus knows you. He knows your past; He knows your circumstances. And He still chooses to love you.
I picture God with a canvas. And He is intricately painting away something for you.
And then we have a canvas, and on it, we write words like "worthless, dirty, not good enough, broken, unloveable..."
And then God shows us His canvas...
and it says words on it like "Beloved, worthy, washed clean, loveable, MINE..."
And then He takes white paint..
and paints over our canvas, over our words...
and He write Jesus all over our canvas.
He chooses to love us every day. He can't love you any more than He does today.
That's what unconditional love is.
"...that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Phil.1:6
Love, T
This is Soddy Daisy.
What?!
2 years ago, we brought 1 girl to summer camp.
Last summer, we brought 4 girls from Soddy to summer camp.
This summer, we had a full cabin of girls and even threw in some boys too.
God is up to something.
June 2-8, Chattanooga YL went to Windy Gap for summer camp. And it was the best week of my life...
Getting to know these girls was so great. It was exactly what I need before heading off to my next adventure in life...SharpTop Cove. Still praying that they would know that this Jesus that they heard about all week, the One who washes them clean, the One who loves them with an UNCONDITIONAL love, the One who is patiently waiting for them to say YES...
THAT Jesus...is here in Chattanooga, TN too. Jesus chooses to dwell within our broken hearts, because He is the only One that can fix it, fill it, and heal it. He is the One who created it anyways right?
Monday night, a few of my pals and I drove to Gatlinburg (Elkmont) to watch the synchronized fireflies. It's so hard to describe this event; I saw it a few years ago and was in awe the entire time. It was even better a second time. Before it got too dark, I was just looking around at the trees that stood around us. Every tree that surrounded us had different leaves; no two trees around us had the same leaves. And then I looked at the bark of the trees. No two trees had the same bark; no two trees had the same shape. Each tree had a different design, and it just looked like a painting...that the artist took his sweet time on each tree. Because he was so proud of his work. And then the fireflies came out, and lit up the entire wood floor. I felt like I was at a symphony...I pictured a someone standing in front of them moving their hand to let these fireflies know when to light up. It was a song..
and it was for me.
I thought about my life. About all of the details that Jesus writes in it. Things that we think are coincidence...things that surprise us, are all detailed in our story by the One and Only Jesus. When God created us, He took His time on us. It's not like a factory, where we are all created exactly the same. God intricately and passionately created you and I. And when He was done, He took a step back and said it was VERY good.
Had these thoughts on my mind all week for the girls from our Bee Tree cabin...It is so hard to believe that we are special in God's eyes sometimes..because of the things that we have chosen in our past, because of the circumstances we are in, because of the mistakes we have made.
Jesus knows you. He knows your past; He knows your circumstances. And He still chooses to love you.
I picture God with a canvas. And He is intricately painting away something for you.
And then we have a canvas, and on it, we write words like "worthless, dirty, not good enough, broken, unloveable..."
And then God shows us His canvas...
and it says words on it like "Beloved, worthy, washed clean, loveable, MINE..."
And then He takes white paint..
and paints over our canvas, over our words...
and He write Jesus all over our canvas.
He chooses to love us every day. He can't love you any more than He does today.
That's what unconditional love is.
"...that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Phil.1:6
Love, T
