what's doin...?

It's been quite a while since my last entry and I've really missed my humble little blog spot.
So often I find writing to be quite relaxing and soothing, so with all the thoughts that have been running rampant in my head of late, this place has been quite missed.
It's not that I haven't logged on for a while, because that I have done, but I have found myself unable to express my internal dialouge somedays and it seems it is those times when I really need to sit quietly and just think. Let my mind take over for a while.

So that I did. For a while. Now I think I'll keep writing =)

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Th past few weeks have been quite eventful. I feel like I have grown so much in such a short space of time and I really believe I'm in a time of preparation for something big. It's like I can feel myself changing, being crafted and refined. It's quite exciting and just a little bit daunting at the same time.

Most of my growth happened during a week long stint of leading at a Youth Camp. So much happened in those 6 days of my life that I will hold on to for a very long time.
Have you ever experienced something that shakes you to your core and leaves you feeling desperate but inspired? Well that's what the presence of the Holy Spirit at camp did to me.

There's so many stories I could tell, so many memories I want to hold on to forever but all that really needs to be remembered, I believe, is the very essence of what I believe camp was.
It was a time of transformation. A time of healing. It was Jesus at work in the lives of young, hurting kids whom many just needed love.
It was the beginning of something extraordinary.

I think it's going to take me a long time to realise just how much happened at camp and the possibilities that may follow. I don't think I'll ever have the words to describe that week of my life, but it's a feeling that rests deep within me that makes it all make sense.
It makes me want to cry, with both a heartbreaking sadness and a joyful spirit. It makes me smile and laugh. And above all, it brings me hope.
I may never know this side of heaven just what that Camp did for the lives of those 51 young kids, but perhaps someday I'll see them again in the House of God.
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It seems almost unsuitable yet oddly fitting to follow on from the above into something more personal. And I must say, whilst the camp was all about the kids, God was working in the hearts of many of us leaders at the same time, in His timing and all according to His plans.

So whilst my focus was on my group of children and the extended camp family for that week, I have also come away a changed person because of Jesus and the lessons He taught me in that week.
I have a renewed faith and different perspective of the God I know and I feel ready to take the next step in my walk with Him.

I believe it is by no coincidence that in three weeks time my home church are planning on being at that same camp site for our annual church family holiday and this year we are welcomed to take part in a Baptism.

Getting baptised is something that I have thought of doing for quite a while because people were asking me if I had been and encouraging me to do so, but until now it has never felt right. I always felt unsure and unsettled on the idea of being baptised, but now I know it is the right time. My heart tells me I'm ready and I feel such a sense of contentment and eagerness to be taking that next step with Jesus.

And I can't help but grin at God's awesome planning of having me baptised in the very lake where I shared my faith with those special kids just a few weeks ago.

I reckon my Daddy's a bit of a champion ;-)