THE HIKE

We arive at Windy Gap- a Younglife camp in Weaserville, NC....absolutely gorgeous site-pretty much takes your breath away. The Georgia group meets us there and we make our way up to Everest (not that high up, but it is where all of the backpacks and hiking gear is). We are all standing there with our suitcases and we are instructed to take out different numbers of clothes to but in the other backpack...I have to admit, it is pretty funny watching all of these students whining because they can't take everything they brought...

On to the hike....

PREFACE- When I decided to go on the trip, I was told the hike up to Plunge was about 1 1/2 miles....so Im in a pretty good mood:) THEN- I was re-directed to the understanding that it is just about 5 miles up. This is a steep mountain people! 5 miles feels like 25 miles....NUTS!

ok- we start the hike....not so bad at first- oh, and let me say that I have never been hiking or backpacking before- WHOLE NEW EXPERIENCE...about 5 min in I am already sucking wind...haha I got a good laugh at that.
About an hour into the hike I began to think about why in the world I was doing this...I mean, God totally told me to go, so that is enough reason in itself, but man it was rough. I began thinking about my family and missing them already, its funny how you don't see them for a while and you miss them, but its like a "miss" you always have, but when you go away you really "MISS" them. I also began to think about the good ol' Cabrera family. My heart began to hurt thinking about the kids and not seeing them for a week or able to talk to the "rents"...I knew it was going to be hard-it was way harder than I thought- I started to focus on Max...thinking about what he has to go through daily- dealing with Autism and not being able to get his thoughts across as easily as we all wish. Think about the hike that must be....It is funny how a little boy-almost 3 years old can inspire someone who is almost 21 or really any age- to get through this crazy hike I was on. I kept picturing his little chubby cheeks and big brown eyes with that heartbreaking smile running in front of me. He really, honestly kept me going. There were so many times I wanted to stop and take a break-my heart was pounding- legs were cramping- sweat was pouring out of me-but this little boy running ahead of me pushed me to a place of perseverance. I began to look at life and our spiritual journeys...thinking about the fact that there will always be people in front of us- no telling how far in front or how close and ultimately God and knowing they are pulling us up, encouraging us, loving us....and then there are always people behind-once again don't know how close or how far, but they are there....we are never last- those people are pushing us- sometimes encouragement come and sometimes struggle comes (like a tug-o-war) but at last- YOU REACH THE SUMMIT. As you can tell- my mind was racing...I did it- I made the hike, shaking a bit and all- but we did it...as a family!

Here is a quick quote from a book I just started... CRAZY LOVE " There is an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us is immune. No matter how many fascinating details we learn about God's creation, no matter how many pictures we see of His galaxies, and no matter how many sunsets we watch, we still forget. Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know Him better; that we are supposed to worship Him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. It confuses us when loving God is hard. Shouldn't it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again."

This past week was a huge expression of God's unfathomable love- it was awesome!

"I can do all things through-who- CHRIST- who gives us-what- STRENGTH!!!!!!!!!"
Phil. 4:13

The Distant Whisper

So I am ALIVE! WOOOOO! Didn't know if I was going to make it there for a while. Plunge was rough- I'm not gonna lie! Full of new experiences and people- not like me, but that is the cool part about it all. I would not say that I found a new love of backpacking, hiking, going partially insane being in the woods by myself, BUT it was an amazing experience-hard to put in words. The big picture of the week for me was finding the difference between aloneness and solitude. The act of being alone means that there is no one else present. without another's help or participation. Solitude is similar but get this, it is the state or situation of being alone-NOT actually being alone-it says nothing about having no one... so similar I know, but really so different. There was one part of Plunge that was a 24 hour SOLO. Yes, a whole 24-hour period of solitude in the woods with the next person about 50 yards away. I definitely understand why people go mentally insane now-it's hard! But, during this time I was able to reflect on the mysteriousness of God- His love, grace, mercy, joy, and crazy ways! There were no interruptions (except the rain)...think about the last time you had a 24 hour period with no one to jump in to say hi or a call on the cellular! That was the big picture of the week...next is the HIKE!

Hospitality

It has been really cool to look at a lot of the ways God has
been at work in my life. Through friendships, roommates,
living situations, school, parents, etc. It has also been very
encouraging to see Him work in and through me to reach
and share with others. As I said in my last post, I love, love,
love hearing peoples stories and I am really excited to have
this experience at Plunge to hear 30 different stories from
all different backgrounds.
Through my study of 1 Timothy, in chapter 3 it talks a lot
about how women should hold themselves and live out
their lifestyles. At first when I was reading through this
I just merely read it because it was about marriage and
submitting to their husbands, and being a good mom, but
the last one has recently took a hold of my heart...
hospitality. You can think of hospitality of offering water
to someone when they come over or having the small group
at your house, but hospitality is the act of generously
providing care and kindness to whomever is in need.
Wow! That is such a big statement- It makes me think
of the passage of scripture where Jesus states: Matthew 23:33-40
33He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34Then the king will say to those on his right, "My father has
blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared
for you before the world was created. 35When I was hungry,
you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you
gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you
welcomed me, 36and when I was naked, you gave me clothes
to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was
in jail, you visited me."
37Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we
give you something to eat or drink? 38When did we welcome
you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear 39or visit you
while you were sick or in jail?"
40The king will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my
people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me."

I used the Contemporary English version because I love how the last
line is stated..."whenever you did it for ANY of my people, no
matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me...."

So this trip for me is like a mission trip. 100% service to all of the
students and leaders going on this trip....and most of all, service to
the Lord! sweet!

-I'm off tomorrow bright and early----joy! haha

God my prayer is that my devotion to you is evident in all that
I say and do, and there is a seriousness and purpose to my life
that is not missed...thank you for this opportunity to serve you
others I don't even know...!

PlUnGe

This picture is from Pioneer Plunge (in the winter obviously). It is a Young life camp that is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. After wrestling through and praying about being a counselor for a group from Naples going on this trip, I felt led to take the journey. We leave June 10th and return (hopefully...jk) June 17th. CAMP- you think...fun, exciting, fun pictures, new friends, mountain top experience in your faith (most of the time), closer as a group, something to do over the summer...yada yada- but my heart doesn't want that. I know it is going to be fun, a push out of my comfort zone (once again), definitely meeting new people because I know no one I am going with, and let me just say..no lie...no mirrors, no deodorant, no running water, no electricity, wood burning stove (meaning we cut down the trees and take an ax to them), in the WOODS (there are bears there-YIKES!)- but why would people make a camp like this? Why would anyone want to go on this trip? Do you really meet God face to face? These are just questions running through my head...and if you can't tell- I am crazy nervous about this trip-but even more excited about it. I was doing a devotional this morning, from The Ransomed Heart,
- If you want to get to know someone, you need to know their story. Their life is a story. It, too, has a past and a future. It, too, unfolds in a series of scenes over the course of time. In order to make you understand their story, "to give you my life, I must tell you a story..." (Virginia Woolf). I expect all of us, at one time or another, in an attempt to understand our lives or discover what we ought to do, have gone to someone else with our stories. This is not merely the province of psychotherapists and priests, but of any good friend. "Tell me what happened. Tell me your story, and I'll try to help you make some sense of it."
We humans share these lingering questions: "Who am I really? Why am I here? Where will I find life? What does Go want of me?" The answers to these questions seem to come only when we know the rest of the story....

While reading this devo- I could only think about all of the grace stories I am going to hear on this trip. After meeting with the other leader (Zach) and his wife (Blair) and hearing just a tad bit about each of the girls, my heart began to break for them. Yes, we all have a story- a wonderful story-and throughout the week everyone on this "retreat"/camp will get to share them....that make me excited!

...So if you think about it- please pray for me and the group of 15 from Naples that will be leaving June 10th- that we will experience God in a clear and authentic way- and most of all...that it would not just be a mountain top experience that will last who knows how long- but a real and exciting way to live out our faith.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, be prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7