Walking

Finally, a cool, crisp, chill was in the air this past weekend, and a host of teens and adults took advantage of the opportunity to go camping together at Oak Mountain State Park. We did exactly what you are supposed to do at a campout…sat by a campfire cooking hotdogs over the fire until they began bubbling to perfection, gobbled them down, and then enjoyed roasting marshmallows. The goal is to smash them between a graham cracker and a chunk of Hershey’s chocolate while attempting to eat the entire S’more without letting the melted marshmallow ooze all over you.
As the crowd grew larger following the football games, we enjoyed togetherness, laughing and chatting around the campfire. Nowhere else to be, nothing else to do but be together. Have you ever been around a bunch of teenagers while they sing? Have you ever been around a bunch of teenagers when they are perfectly comfortable sharing about life with each other? Have you ever participated in encouraging them in their walk with God? There is nothing that encourages me more. It’s more than my job. It’s my life that I love living.
Two questions got them sharing after we sang songs about Heaven. What are you looking forward to most about Heaven? The second question was this…Compared to one year ago, how is your walk with God going these days? Those two questions prompted several others, but as I thought about the ups and downs many of us around that campfire have experienced over the past year, I was greatly encouraged by one word – GROWTH.
After Peter denied that he even knew Jesus, a girl picked him out of a crowd, around a fire, and Peter denied Jesus again. We all have our low moments on our walk with Him. Peter even went into a brief period of hiding from Him, but Jesus didn’t leave Him there. Jesus had another campfire waiting on a seashore where Jesus offered grace, love, inspiration, and motivation to start walking with Him again.
Peter accepted. What about you?