BI starts today!!!!!!

So my stint as a naturalist begins this Wednesday the 25th of August when I teach Seining to my first "class" ever. Interestingly, training is not finished. This year we have a "training school," which is coming in during the middle of our learning curve at a discounted rate. I'm excited! But the true reason for this post is to share with you something that the Lord revealed to me this morning as I was preparing for the day.

"Making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to untie all things to Him, things in heaven and on earth."

- Ephesians 1:9-10

Father, You bestowed upon us - in all wisdom and insight I might add (v. 8) - Your grace, and revealed to us Your will, which is this: Christ as a sacrifice to unite ALL things to You. You called/call this action "the fullness of time," which means that You are obsessed with what happened on that cross outside of Jerusalem. But to stop there would be odd, even slightly morbid, and especially befuddling as to our purpose in life. Fortunately, that day was only the beginning. That is because we are now in the "uniting all things to Him" stage. And we now have new mysteries being revealed to us daily by Your Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2: 6-16)!!!

Another purpose of this passage is that it brings light to the true meaning of "predestination." Over in verse 5 of this chapter it says "He predestined us...according to the purpose of His will." We see this phrase repeated in verse 9, with an interesting clause following it: "which He set forth in Christ." Thus, His entire plan and will is Christ. His purpose was/is not to select a few of the "elect" to be with Him for eternity. His plan, in Christ, is to "unite all things to Him." And at the risk of being redundant, that is EVERYTHING on heaven and on earth. His plan is to get back to before the fall, when we were in perfect communion with Him. I personally think that the concept of an exclusive predestination theology arises when man begin focusing on the "you's" and "us's" in the passage and in Romans instead of the "Jesus's," the "His's," the "You's," and the "He's." That's the danger of a man-centered faith. Instead, let us walk in a Christ-centered life of adoring the Father: a life we were predestined for.

A More Pragmatic Update

I realized that most of you have little knowledge as to what I'm actually doing here at camp. So here goes:

Camp is good. Very different from the perspective I had last year, but still good.

The community here is awesome. And the garden is going well. Unfortunately only two of the thirty tomato plants I planted decided to pollinate and bear fruit. Still waiting on the rest. Fortunately, the spiritual fruit has been much easier to come by. TONS of emotional healing, and some very good teaching on Jonah. One week we had a rising senior get delivered from some demonic influence. Not sure what most of you think about that, but by all accounts it appears very true. He was one of the kids I have been very intentional with over this past year, and he seemed like a different person the following days - a lot more peace.

Anyway, back to the teaching. My co-head counselor Laura and I have been speaking to the counselors (high school upperclassmen) about Biblical Community. And I've also been able to lead a couple of worship times, which is new. Still working on keeping the rhythm AND singing AND listening to the Spirit - kind of not that easy.

Also, for those of you who I haven't told yet, I am going to apply to graduate schools for design/build architecture. Right now I'm thinking either U of Florida, Auburn, or U of Miami (FL). So be praying for that. In lieu of this, I am trying to revamp my thesis on Green Home Building into an actual book. Also, I am sketching ideas for homes as they come to me. Pray that I would have peace about the future and that my work here at camp, and on the side would be a sweet offering of worship to the Lord.

Much Love and Peace to you.

Fresh Pics

Joy!

I want you to consider a moment this line to the old hymn:

"Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above."

I had never seriously considered this prose to be of much significance in my daily life, that is, until I started gardening...

...See the whole point of gardening is to get a plant to flower. If you want any sort of fruit, any beautiful display for a centerpiece, any realized reward for your efforts, you must entice the blooms from each plant to reveal themselves. (Of course this does not necessarily hold true in the case of herbs or root vegetables like potatoes or carrots, but bear with me). In order for this to occur however, the conditions have to be perfect. Everything I have been doing thus far in the garden at camp: giving the plants enough water, the right amount of sunlight, ensuring the provision of nutrients and soil, all has been for the flower.

When a new blossom shows up, there is the excitement of potential. What will this flower become? Will the stems on the asters be long enough for a vase? Who knew an eggplant's flower was so beautiful? And when a flower dies without being pollinated or cut in time, there is a sense of disappointment, of something lost.

All this to say...God is freaking awesome! Think about that line again:

"Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above."

Yaweh is the glorious sunlight. Jesus is the nutrients and the Living Water for our souls. The Father is the constant gardener, always trying to evoke our hearts to bloom to Him so that He can pollinate our hearts, thus bringing completeness and fruit by way of His Holy Spirit.

I think of my failures as a gardener: the irrigation system is inadequate, the tomatoes won't pollinate, the zulu prince daisies never really worked out. Then I remember that the LORD is the perfect gardener. I take great comfort in that. It makes me want to stretch open the petals of my soul to Him even further. I want to be completely presented to Him so that He can romance me and transform me into something greater. Amen.

Off the Grid

Some of you may remember last fall when I "lost" my cell phone charger and went "off the grid." I was convinced I had left my phone charger in the magical land of Boone, where houses are structurally supported by 200 year old tree trunks. But really I had just left the charger plugged into my kitchen counter and forgotten about it. Well this time it's different:

1. Palm Centro (which wasn't really working anyway) into the estuary
2. Sprint Katana is reported missing around 11:30 AM EST after owner scours the car in which he thought he left it.
3. Efforts to retrieve Katana have been futile thus far.

So for right now I'm phone-less....but thank God for social media. Plus I didn't get good service here at camp anyway. I'll definitely be blogging more, but the real question is whether or not I can swallow my pride and use facebook more...thus far I've begun the transition.

Muse-ical

I'm sitting on a red, 80's patterned, couch in the upstairs of the staffhouse at camp.

Tweety Bird and Sylvester are providing white noise to my 4 o'clock.

I just ate four pieces of cheesecake.

I thought I went on a detox diet (70% raw diet) yesterday - try again tomorrow.

Trying to design a TJ-fit for the fall- suggestions welcomed.

I just used the bathroom and I feel better.

Think how much we consume.

Water.

Food.

Trash.

Space on the internet.

Endless cycle.

I have a passion to be a voice for less consumption, but I'll always be a hypocrite.

Such is the life of a sinner saved by grace.

Jesus saves my life everyday.

It first started when was five, when He first washed me clean.

Now it happens all the time.

Only free men and women can set others free.

I like that statement alot.

It's truthful simplicity purifies.

It's why Jesus makes sense to me.

Do I want to be a conservationist, a voice for the needy and oppressed, or a healer of the body and soul?

I want to be all of these things........Father help me.

Photoshop?????? You Decide