8:33am

Most of you are still sleeping….or settling in to class for your last week of school before summer sets in.  WE are here, at a beautiful beach house on Topsail Beach….watching the tide roll in.  The sun is bright, my heart is full, and as we sit around this square table together- our minds are set on things above.  We are anticipating what will come from conversations about the ONE who created us and what HE HAS DONE.

Pray.

Know this, when ANYONE asks God to respond and rise to the occasion, GOD will always RISE ABOVE your expectations to show Himself loud and clear.

The night before

Tomorrow is the beginning of our staff retreat.  It’s the first time we have ever done this as a student ministry staff- go to an undisclosed location, completely away from everything to sit and meditate and pray through all that God has done and is doing and will continue to do through Detour Student Ministry.

I don’t know what the other fellow staffers have been thinking of as we have all been preparing our hearts for this time…

but I know I’m being flooded with emotions.

I’m excited for the time with those that I serve alongside.  I’m looking forward to hearing their hearts for our students. I’m ready to be challenged and stretched even more. But with that readiness, comes a sense of fear.  When God challenges those who serve them (which he does so often) it is never easy or painless.  With all that God has blessed us with as a ministry, He has called us to set the bar even higher for next year and that will be evaluating all that we do for Him to make sure it is effective.  Anytime you begin looking for areas of improvement, things are going to be uncovered that are exciting and yet eye-opening.

There’s the thing though, the exciting parts are great, but the eye-opening parts can be a bit painful and difficult to bare.  I KNOW there are areas where I serve within the ministry that will be eye-opening; areas where I know I desperately need to work on to make better- but it still makes talking about it and acknowledging it hard to do.

On the other side of the spectrum, there is this feeling that can only be described as the same feeling I use to get as a kid the night before christmas….PURE EXCITEMENT FOR THE UNKNOWN!!! As we spend this time away, we will be looking at Detour’s past, present, and future to see what God hold’s in the future!  This will be incredible- we need prayer for clarity, peace, and affirmation during this time.

“ Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”Just a few days ago I was reading this in Jeremiah 33:3- At the time I didn’t know what God meant for it- but now….as I am sitting here tonight- ANTICIPATING ALL THAT GOD WILL REVEAL IN THE NEXT TWO DAYS- I am amazing that I serve a God who would be so good to give a lowly sinner like me anything, much less “great and unsearchable things.”

See you guys on wednesday and I’ll tell you ALL about it!!!!