In Awe

Tonight I have found some time and available internet- so I shall blog. And I want to share something that I had the opportunity to share during our missionary-led service tonight.

I grew up in a Christian environment with parents who loved and served God and a church family who supported and taught me as a Godly church should. Plus my church was missions-oriented. At a Global Impact Celebration, where our ministry partners gather to share reports and updates about their ministry so we can pray and support them as they need us to, I met Larry Leming. Larry works for the Savannah River Baptist Association and leads LowCountry Ministries; he also has a pretty strong prayer line to God. I say this because when Larry says he's going to pray about something, God responds, and usually not in a subtle way. Before Larry left that church conference, he said he would be praying for me. That summer, in 2008, I found myself serving with LowCountry Ministries (LCM). While in Beaufort, I fell in love with the area, the children, the churches, the land, everything! I learned and grew and fellowshipped and experienced. Then last summer, 2009, I decided to stay home. It was my summer after graduating high school, and I intended to spend time with my family before leaving for the strange and far-off world of college. But my sister ended up going on a mission trip to Utah, and my mom got a new job, and we moved churches, so my summer was considerably different from how I'd pictured it. In the end, I felt as if I'd been unused. I may not have hindered God's work that summer, but I certainly hadn't helped. While in college, I heard God reminding me of that place I'd been before- remember Beaufort? And God was not going to let me push that thought away. So it's 2010, and I'm a summer missionary serving God with LowCountry Ministries! That's how I got here.

That said, I want to tell you a short story about our camp Tuesday morning. I'm on the Community Ministries Team which means my team spends our weekday mornings in apartment complexes and other communities holding Backyard Bible Club type day camps. This week, we started off with three siblings: a four year old girl and two year old twin boys. Eventually three other children joined us... we felt like babysitters. Even while we were trying to figure out how to restructure our plans for a younger audience, these children were simply enjoying life. At one point, one girl found a ladybug and we let it crawl across my hands for a little while. The four year old girl came over and for maybe a whole minute, she just watched this ladybug. In absolute amazement. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung slightly open, and she just watched. Then she spoke. "A ladybug!! LADYBUG!" She kept saying "ladybug" over and over, still very excited. All I could think was Really? It's a ladybug, what's so special about that? I've seen thousands of these before, and I know she must have. After she named it several times, she started pointing things out like, "Look! It has little legs!" and "And a head! It has a head." It was a cute little moment for this four year old girl. For me, I learned my lesson from it several hours later.
Our team has begun a book study on Crazy Love, and I was talking to one of my teammates after the group discussion. I started to explain a particular point and considered using the ladybug moment as an example. Then it hit me! That little girl was so amazed by that ladybug, and we should be just as amazed by God. How fascinating a tiny creature like a ladybug is, with intricate details, functioning legs, a teeny tiny head, and simple beauty, and yet, how much more vast and beautiful and complex and wonderful is God!! We ought to, when we see God or His work, be in absolute awe, to watch in wonder, to gaze at His perfection and be amazed. Then to speak His name. God. GOD. Yahweh. Abba. And just as that little girl listed the attributes of the ladybug, we have a book full of the characteristics of God. He is just, almighty, loving, gentle. He cares for us. He knows everything. He created everything. He is perfect and wonderful and more than worthy of praise. God is reteaching me how to love Him this summer, how to fall in love with Himself. I so enjoy being in His presence and admiring Him for all of who He is. Let's see God and be in awe!
Psalm 145:3-6
Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

Psalm 29:2
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
 
That's where my share time ended at the church this evening, but there is so much more I could say! Just to be in His presence should overwhelm us. Patrick, a member of the Kids Connexion Team, was teaching a class of 5th-6th graders during VBS at Hardeeville Baptist Church two weeks ago and made a comment that I doubt any of the kids caught. He was explaining what it means to have a "quiet time" and said that he starts his own by acknowledging God and praising Him, before even thanking Him for anything and especially before he asks for anything. It's nothing revolutionary, but it was definitely something that stood out to me because I so often forget that God is God. He was not made for me, I am not entitled to anything, and I am certainly not to consider myself inconvenienced by anything. I was made by Him, for Him. The end. So why do I so often forget to look at God for who He is instead of looking at myself and what did or did not go as I desired? And shouldn't I spend more time basking in His presence than talking?