Everyone has a story...

We survived Family Camp! Actually, we more than survived! It was a fantastic weekend! We had a group of 66 at camp and an additional 9 that joined us at the lake on Saturday. We had the opportunity to build new relationships, reconnect with established relationships and get to know each other as a family. We played games at camp and at the lake, we ate together, we laughed together, we worshiped together...it was a great weekend! God was bigger than our last minute cancellation. He took care of our camp and we grew as a community. If you weren't able to join us, I hope you can join us for our Rasar State Park camp at the end of July or our Labor Day camp at the end of August! It is always an enjoyable experience!

One activity we did as a group was that we each had a special fun fact about ourselves that we had listed anonymously. We got that collective list at the beginning of the weekend and our job was to do some detective work and strategically ask people about their facts and try to figure out who belonged to which fact. It was great to see how this activity gave us all a chance to learn things about everyone, even those we are closest to! There were facts about travels, special skills, interesting experiences, funny stories...you name it, we had them on our Fun Fact sheets. At the end of the weekend we knew some fun things about each other, we were able to share stories and understand each other on a new level.

Through this activity I remembered an important detail. We each have our own story. God created us with unique qualifications, skills, abilities, experiences. We each have our individual stories that make us unique, intriguing and amazing! Sometimes we might feel like our stories aren't significant or maybe we feel our stories are shameful and we run from ever being truly understood or sometimes our stories might seem overwhelming to us and those that happen to hear them. We all have feelings about our own stories but the reality is that we have an opportunity to reach and understand people better through our stories. We were created so that we could in turn share our stories and relate to people around us in ways that are unique and powerful. I heard so many stories being shared this weekend and there are hundreds more that are represented in our church. Tell those you come in contact about the impact and difference that GOD has made in your life. What makes you different from the world and how can God change your heart? What is your story? Who have you told lately?

Brent challenged us to reach out to those in our neighborhoods. He encouraged us to throw a BBQ, spend a little extra time chatting while mowing or gardening, bake a plate of cookies and deliver them to a neighbor...find a way to reach out and share life with those around us. This is a tough challenge, what if our neighbors are shy or what if our lives are just too busy to take the time? How do we fit it in? It is a challenge to me as well but I am encouraged to know that I have the opportunity to know God and share his love with those in my life and who am I to decide who it is that God is trying to reach? I just need to be willing to be available and open to what He is trying to accomplish. I am going to do my best to open my eyes, be available to opportunities to reach out to my neighbors and see what God does.

We all have a story to share and I challenge you to share it...

Elizabeth