In the Waiting
Waiting for the Governor to make her announcement was a time filled with hope and encouragement. We were still taking camper registrations, and God was clearly pointing us in that direction. We shut down all operating as all of our retreats canceled, and our normally busy time of the year came to an abrupt stop. But even then it felt like God was telling us to keep praying, keep hoping, keep moving forward toward a summer at camp.
It was during this time that God led me to read Praying Circles by Mark Batterson. Our summer theme is prayer, and everything around me seemed to be in the theme of prayer. God was making it clear that I needed to enter into a season of prayer. So I took the time of nothing else to do, to read this book, and learn what God was pushing me to. It was while reading this book that I felt the nudge to begin prayer walking around camp. With the bold prayer of a 2020 summer camping season. For 21 days I have walked at 6am with God praying for Camp, the pieces that make camp function, the people, the ministry, and this coming summer.
Some days these prayer walks were exhilarating as I had the time and the space to hear from God and started each day in His presence. Some days it was as if He was yelling an answer to me. Each day He gifted me with a beautiful picture of nature and a song that answered my heart. Each of these has been shared daily on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Day 17 was the day after the announcement and I remember not even knowing what I needed to pray, so I just walked. It started with a Good Morning God, and continued the 1.5 miles around camp. Day 20 it was as if all of the anxiety and fear that has been rolling through the world in the past two months hit like a bomb in my heart. My word for this walk was angst. Angry anxiety. I was supposed to have my answer by now. We weren't supposed to have to pause everything. This was supposed to be a big miraculous summer where we would be presented with these mighty opportunities to serve God and His children. Even the song on that day didn't really feel like an answer.
As the day went on my emotions rolled. I went from being fine to tears and everything in between. 20 days walking around camp equals 30 miles. When I started this journey I never would have guessed it would take more than 30 miles of prayer to get the answer that I was seeking. Then I started to look back on the year of 2020 itself. This has been a really rough year for me physically. Each month has gifted me with a new physical dilemma and each time it hit after I made the decision to focus on my health and be physically better. In January & February I worked really hard on eating right and moving more. I started a 100-day fitness challenge and cut soda and "fancy" coffee out of my diet. Then was gifted during that time two times of the stomach flu. The final time culminating in an Emergency Room Visit on March 1st. The food I had been eating in my new journey was too acidic for me, and being sick it had burned my esophagus and I was in incredible pain. It took me a while to bounce back from this one. And by the end of March I was ready to commit again to my health and being better. And April 1st I was gifted a round of shingles. Once again this brought me to my knees and incredible pain. It is really hard to explain to a 4-year-old why you can't go run and play when the rashy patches don't look like much. So it was as I came out of this battle that I was gifted the time to read and the journey of praying around camp.
The promise of camp was just a prayer away, and even though there was no office work for me to do. Praying was something I could do. So around I went. Each morning at 6ish am and my perspective on this whole virus and the world has remained in hope and security in Christ. God has spoken louder to me in this time of waiting than He has in years of doing.
So long story short. May 1st did not bring me the answer I had hoped it would. In fact it didn't really bring any answers. Instead we are still waiting. Saturday I put out a call to action for you all to join me in prayer. Today it feels like I should include you in this journey that I have been on, on behalf of Camp Horizon. This has been a very personal, miraculous journey, and even though we are still waiting. The one thing I can say without an ounce of doubt is that God is still here. God is still moving. We don't know about our summer season. But camp, and the ministry that is camp is still happening. We are being asked to wait, and to pray. So I encourage you to continue with us in this season of prayer that we have been on. We thought it was just going to be the month of April. But God isn't done. We are supposed to stand fast, hold on, and don't ever give up hope. Even if this summer does not turn out anyway like we had dreamed. It will still be a summer for God's glory. A summer to move and be bold and love like God loves us. If loving like Christ is our passion then the spirit of camp will never die or be closed or be canceled.
It was during this time that God led me to read Praying Circles by Mark Batterson. Our summer theme is prayer, and everything around me seemed to be in the theme of prayer. God was making it clear that I needed to enter into a season of prayer. So I took the time of nothing else to do, to read this book, and learn what God was pushing me to. It was while reading this book that I felt the nudge to begin prayer walking around camp. With the bold prayer of a 2020 summer camping season. For 21 days I have walked at 6am with God praying for Camp, the pieces that make camp function, the people, the ministry, and this coming summer.
Some days these prayer walks were exhilarating as I had the time and the space to hear from God and started each day in His presence. Some days it was as if He was yelling an answer to me. Each day He gifted me with a beautiful picture of nature and a song that answered my heart. Each of these has been shared daily on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Day 17 was the day after the announcement and I remember not even knowing what I needed to pray, so I just walked. It started with a Good Morning God, and continued the 1.5 miles around camp. Day 20 it was as if all of the anxiety and fear that has been rolling through the world in the past two months hit like a bomb in my heart. My word for this walk was angst. Angry anxiety. I was supposed to have my answer by now. We weren't supposed to have to pause everything. This was supposed to be a big miraculous summer where we would be presented with these mighty opportunities to serve God and His children. Even the song on that day didn't really feel like an answer.
As the day went on my emotions rolled. I went from being fine to tears and everything in between. 20 days walking around camp equals 30 miles. When I started this journey I never would have guessed it would take more than 30 miles of prayer to get the answer that I was seeking. Then I started to look back on the year of 2020 itself. This has been a really rough year for me physically. Each month has gifted me with a new physical dilemma and each time it hit after I made the decision to focus on my health and be physically better. In January & February I worked really hard on eating right and moving more. I started a 100-day fitness challenge and cut soda and "fancy" coffee out of my diet. Then was gifted during that time two times of the stomach flu. The final time culminating in an Emergency Room Visit on March 1st. The food I had been eating in my new journey was too acidic for me, and being sick it had burned my esophagus and I was in incredible pain. It took me a while to bounce back from this one. And by the end of March I was ready to commit again to my health and being better. And April 1st I was gifted a round of shingles. Once again this brought me to my knees and incredible pain. It is really hard to explain to a 4-year-old why you can't go run and play when the rashy patches don't look like much. So it was as I came out of this battle that I was gifted the time to read and the journey of praying around camp.
The promise of camp was just a prayer away, and even though there was no office work for me to do. Praying was something I could do. So around I went. Each morning at 6ish am and my perspective on this whole virus and the world has remained in hope and security in Christ. God has spoken louder to me in this time of waiting than He has in years of doing.
So long story short. May 1st did not bring me the answer I had hoped it would. In fact it didn't really bring any answers. Instead we are still waiting. Saturday I put out a call to action for you all to join me in prayer. Today it feels like I should include you in this journey that I have been on, on behalf of Camp Horizon. This has been a very personal, miraculous journey, and even though we are still waiting. The one thing I can say without an ounce of doubt is that God is still here. God is still moving. We don't know about our summer season. But camp, and the ministry that is camp is still happening. We are being asked to wait, and to pray. So I encourage you to continue with us in this season of prayer that we have been on. We thought it was just going to be the month of April. But God isn't done. We are supposed to stand fast, hold on, and don't ever give up hope. Even if this summer does not turn out anyway like we had dreamed. It will still be a summer for God's glory. A summer to move and be bold and love like God loves us. If loving like Christ is our passion then the spirit of camp will never die or be closed or be canceled.
Take Courage - Kristene Dimarco
Comments
Post a Comment