Down from the mountain, literally

Several times in the Bible, mountains were used as places where men met with God:  Moses with the Ten Commandments, Abraham with Isaac, and there are more.  There are some mountains in SE Oklahoma where several men, women, and children have met with God.  Many, many years ago, a group of people decided to put a church camp on these mountains, Kiamichi Baptist Assembly.  This church camp has been a special place in my family for a couple of generations, will continue to be a special place throughout the next generation.  This is a picture of me and my niece from last year.  I took a week off work to go and be a sponsor for her and three other girls.

I did the same thing this year.  We took six girls this year, and my sister also went along as a sponsor.  This year, though, I experienced things that I have not experienced in years past.  I have gone as a sponsor several times in the past.  We had a small group in our cabin this year, but the closeness between the sponsors from the other church and our church was awesome.  One night, when I was could not finish praying for my girls (nightly ritual), a sponsor from the other church came in and prayed for our girls, one by one.  I know the Bible says that the Holy Spirit will pray for us when we are unable to pray for ourselves, but I had never experienced it coming from another person.  This sponsor, and the other lady sponsor that was with her, stepped in many times over the course of the week when they were needed.  I truly appreciate that. 



 

The music and the preaching during the week were great. I had/have a couple of issues I was/am dealing with at the same time, and a lot of the messages kind of went along with the subjects with which I was dealing.  I love how God can use a class lesson/sermon/devotional to reach out to people who need to hear it, for a variety of different reasons.  I told the kids on the last night that they needed to remember what they had heard that week, and I need to remember this myself.  The lessons learned over the last week were applicable to all ages. 

 

So, now that I've come down from the mountain, I have a choice to make.  Do I take what I learned and share it with others, as I told my kids to do?  Or do I take it and keep it inside until the thorny thoughts inside my head slowly choke it out?  Please pray that I will make abundant use of the weed killer that I have and that I will be able to share the message that I heard.  Pray that I will be able to use the shield of faith to throw off the fiery arrows from the enemy and that I will find ways to fire back.

 

 

 

And pray for the children who were at camp last week, that they will be able to find their purpose and take the light back to their families.