My trip to MountainTOP this year really made me feel almost like a cheater!
When I am preparing each year for bringing a group up to the Mountain for YSM, I get caught up in all it takes- the planning, the driving, the lining up tools, forms and people, and getting everyone trained, in planning for the logistics of the trip. And then of course we expect to work hard while we are at camp, serving the people in the county.
I guess I get caught up in the “works”- how much effort it is, how hard we will work- and feel good about “all I am doing”.
And then I get to camp. And we meet the rest of the community- the Summer Staff and campers from other churches. Within a day or so I feel so surrounded by God’s love and joy- His energy and excitement- that all of MY efforts seem absolutely insignificant. While I thinking that I am supposed to be spending my efforts working hard, God shows me His love in such a powerful way that I receive so much more than I give- so much that it makes me feel as if I am “cheating” or I have lied to myself.
Praise God. As hard as we work, as busy as we are, God finds a way to refresh, energize and encourage us forward. We get so much more than we give.
And we are the ones who are supposed to be giving Hope to others!