the pathway to our true identity

Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

If that sounds familiar to Romans 12:2, you guessed correctly! This is the Message Bible translation, and although I do not recommend you memorize this version, I do encourage you to write these words on your heart. I like The Message because it directly explains what it means to renew your minds. I would like to briefly write on the importance of this and the pathway it paves to our true identity.

Renewing of the mind begins with a choice — many choices, actually. Before you know it, one lie in your head can lead to another and you start to think about impossible circumstances you never want to find yourself in. Taking captive every thought and making it obedient to Christ is important because it directly effects how we see ourselves and the rest of the world around us. We have full control of what happens in us, but not always what happens around us. Before long, we start to become what we think the most important person in our lives thinks we are.

The next thing I would like to talk about is a true sense of our identity. Our actions and reactions to what goes on around us is rooted in our sense of identity, and I believe that is more important to target than the renewing process itself. To know who you are means to know Who you come from. Your identity is nothing you have made yourself to be. It is not an equation of gifts + passions + accomplishments. Everything comes from the cross and God’s original plan for you. Something I have learned since being in Ministry School is that the biggest lie is “I am a sinner, saved by grace.” No, I was a sinner, but now I am a saint. I am seated in heavenly places. The truth is that you are royalty. You are seated next to Jesus, and He wants you to live like it. Believe in the truth about yourself because the truth sets you FREE. You, as a royal heir, cannot afford to believe another lie about yourself. You wear a crown but you live like a slave. That ends today. Remember where you came from. People will only love you as much as you love you. People will only honor you as much as you honor you. You are a gem, a treasure to many, but most of all, to our King.

As you walk in this identity, you will see change from the inside out. You will readily recognize what He wants for you. You will lift others up instead of tearing down. Your eyes will be opened to the best in you and your mind will be made new. The most important person in your life will become Jesus and you will desire to become the way He made you to be. Pray this today:

“Father, I am yours. Everything from You is good and I find myself in You, therefore I am full of Your goodness. Today, I conquer fear and lies in the name of Jesus. I am built in Your strength and I declare a spirit of boldness in me. I choose to walk in Your fullness today. I find out who I am when I find out who You are. Thank you for loving me with an everlasting love. You da’ best Lord, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” [The last part is for Robert Moody…:)]

Bless you Massive! My heart is for you all!

Charley Woodman

——————–
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
——————–

What are your questions or reactions to what Charley wrote? Do you agree with what she said or disagree? Share in the comments.

——————-

To print the artwork above, click here to open higher resolution image (may take a minute to download), save to your computer, then print out on card stock or paper of your choice! Tag Charley ( @charleyjwoodman ) in your instagram pictures to show her how you use her art!

|Author + Artwork >> Charley| 

3 ways to keep the flame bright

Hey young people!!

By now most of you are back to school and in a normal routine. I want to wish each and every one of you a great school year! As I have also returned to school myself there is one question I keep asking: how do I keep the fire or the “camp high” going?

Personally, it’s very easy to get busy with schoolwork + friends that I slowly but surely allow my flame to dwindle. When you don’t spend every day in an atmosphere where you are constantly surrounded by fellow Christians who want the same exact thing as you, it is easy to allow your flame from camp to be extinguished.

If this is you right now, does it make you any less of a Christian? Absolutely, NOT!! Jesus loves you right where you are at this very second. He doesn’t love some future or better version of yourself more than He loves you now. Jesus loves you as if you were the only person He created. The crazy thing is that He does that for ALL of us.

So with that in mind I want to offer 3 ways to help keep your flame burning bright for Jesus.

1)   Community - Community in the Christian life is vital. When God made Adam he saw he was lonely and needed a companion so he created Eve. We were made for companionship and community!! Otherwise, God would have left Adam to hang out with all the animals.

If you are not in a small group or some sort of gathering where you can go and just do life with other people, I would personally offer that you find one. If there isn’t one at your church and you want this, you can always start your own! Go for it!! God loves when His people gather together to talk about life and Him.

2)   Listen to the Word - If you go to church weekly but you find yourself wanting to hear more of the word, that’s GREAT! I like to get Podcasts of some well-known pastors and listen to what they have to say. This is a great tool to utilize.

3)   GET in the Word – Daily quiet + alone time with God is the most crucial and fundamental part to keep your fire burning bright. Just like you did at camp. It doesn’t mean you have to get up at 4 am and spend 3 hours praying and reading. If 30 minutes is all you can seem to do right now, that’s awesome! I promise you God LOVES those 30 minutes He gets to hang out with His Beloved child. 

I love you all!
In Christ,

Seth McClure

|Author >> Seth| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie + Charley| ^^ |Featured Groups >> 5 Stones Middle School + Hilton Head + Gateway|

moving forward after camp

Dearest campers + friends!

Writing from the passenger seat of my car, this is Charley coming to you today! I am thrilled to be a part of the great transition of this blog. I pray these words may encourage you and open your eyes to something new today.

As most of you are campers whom we spent only 6 days with this summer, I decided I would share some little bits of what life after camp looks like for the summer staff. I think it is necessary that you see our humanity and how we are called to step out into “oceans” everyday, just like you are.

Most of us drove back home to our families, jobs, and responsibilities that were put on hold while we were at camp. Some of us face broken families, where our family members do not believe in Jesus. We’ve had to face the skinny fear of new jobs and semesters that look different from any other. I know very well, and I am sure the rest would agree, that we have had to face the reality of not having daily, authentic community. We are blessed to have great friendships at camp, ones that contain deep accountability and encouragement. Coming home is not easy, but it is what the Lord spent all summer preparing us for. I will share personally a few things the Lord has revealed to me since being home…

1) Nothing can substitute His Word. Any quote or cool devotional pales in comparison to the promises of scripture + the peace that comes when you can recite it from memory in times of need. I’m reading a lot of books at once for the ministry school I’m about to attend, but that does not suffice for the power that comes directly from His word. So, read it. Meditate on it and memorize it. It is not impossible, you did it at camp and loved it. You contain the Holy Spirit in you that gives you every skill of memorization possible. You access that power when you press in to Him.

2) God is on my side. He is not just on my side when I’m surrounded by other Christians who encourage me. He is not just on my side when I succeed at something I do. The favor of the Lord is over my abundant life and I need to press in to that truth! Getting in to the swing of school or a new season is not easy or fun, but with God on your side, you can do all things. You can have all the joy and all of the peace that His love made a way for.

I encourage you to keep going. I encourage you to press on and press in to all the Father has set before you. When it is uncomfortable + unclear, keep going. This year will be your best one yet. May His love fill you up today and tomorrow and the next tomorrow.

In Christ, becoming

Charley Jo

|Author >> Charley| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie (photo 1 by charley)| ^^ |Featured Groups >> Estero + Berry’s Grove|

Woven 2014 in pictures

 

What a weekend we had with the women as we gathered to be spiritually encouraged and try our hand at the art of basket weaving!

Some (one!) of us hated it, many of us loved it, almost all of us walked away feeling the sense of accomplishment and proud of our handiwork!

The teaching by Deb was uplifting as she offered gems of wisdom and gently challenged us in our walks with Christ.

Worship with Charley and Chelsea was completely renewing as we turned our hearts to the Ultimate Weaver of all of life!

Ruth and Renee were a strong sister team teaching us the art of basket weaving. We have such an appreciation for baskets and for their patience!

Patti put together amazing meals, added her special touches on the whole event, and decorated the Hub to be a beautiful splash of happy and spring for our guests–as is her usual!

(I still was not feeling well and really only managed to take some really blurry/bad pictures! My apologies to you!)

While the company was fantastic, the art satisfying, the teaching uplifting, my very favorite part of the whole weekend was having both young and older women all in one place, sharing the whole experience together. Too often, in both the church and life, there is such a divide between the young and the old. We need each other, benefit from each other, are stronger with each other. My heart was made happy by such a sight!

Pretty hard to believe we went from a baggie full of confusion to a basket full of awesome in just a day!

Before the ladies left we gave them a few little goodies to put in their baskets, one of which was fudge from these amazing fudge makers over in the Raleigh area. If specialty fudge is your thang, or you're looking for something special for your upcoming something or rather, we highly recommend North Carolina Fudge! (whatever weight I've lost being sick has been kindly placed back on the hips thanks to these yummy morsels!)

Most of the crew here–aren't they beautiful! Don't they look so proud?! I love it! There's already chatter of next year's Woven! We weren't sure how this retreat would go, this being our first go at it, but we are very pleased with how well received it was! We look forward to next year. If you missed out this year, be planning to join us in 2015.

A Team Woven Together

A couple weeks out from Whisper Mountain's Woven Retreat, we find ourselves expectant and excited about the ways God is weaving this thing together! (ha. Did you catch it?!)

Ruth, our basket weaving teacher, is gathering supplies…and is a little nervous about the size of our crowd! We won't tell her the number Deb, our speaker, is praying for! Charley and Chelsea are preparing heart and song to lead us in worship–a treat for all of us! We are, and I know some of you are, bathing this weekend in prayer! Thank you for that! (If you're not, you could start now…if you wanted!!) We want the whole event to radiate Jesus! His is the grace and love and compassion and healing and power we need woven into our lives!

I'll leave you to the praying (and waiting with bated breath to see the event in pictures!). I'm gonna get to the details of it all! Have a great day!

a relevant voice | an interview

As teens and adults, we each struggle with insecurity on some level. Those of us who are Christ-followers have likely understood the truth that we are created wonderfully. But how many of us spend time wondering if this is really true. When circumstances, relationships, or every other outside influence seems to be screaming something different, it’s hard to cling to the truth of being of value. The voices we ultimately choose to listen to greatly impact our lives. Being a voice of encouragement and truth becomes vital.

Today I wanted to introduce you to three ladies who have found a relevant, Christ-centered way of being such a voice on the social media realms of Facebook and Instagram. Maybe you can be inspired to find your own way of reaching the world with some loving truth. Maybe you know someone who would benefit from hearing a voice of encouragement like this–hook them up!

 

 

 

#bicflawless | aka: BeYOUtiful in Christ

an interview 
with (the awesome) Kaleigh 

For those who may not be familiar with you, what exactly is #bicflawless?
#bicflawless is a ministry meant to encourage girls to embrace their beauty. It gives them the opportunity to recognize the way they were created: flawless.

Share with us a little peek into the people behind the scenes of #bicflawless.

Charley was the one who suggested we use Instagram and it has been a very good idea! She has been very helpful in keeping up with the Instagram posts. Since I know Charley has struggled with self image before, as she would tell you in her testimony, I thought she would be a very good role model for girls who struggle with this as well!

 

Chelsea-we all love her-She used to help a ton with Facebook, but I think she has been more involved lately with helping Charley keep up Instagram! I knew I could trust her to help and give wise advice as well. She has such a sweet spirit, I think it’s easy for girls to open up and share their struggles with her.

 

Where did the inspiration come from to reach girls with the countercultural truth of inner beauty?

As a girl, I understand the desire to feel beautiful. It’s hard when the world and media are constantly shoving lies in our faces about what the perfect body size or the perfect image should look like. When I was younger, I thought part of growing up meant my insecurities would go away, but they didn’t/don’t. While working at camp over the past two summers I got to read several prayers by young girls. I realized that the struggles they were going through stemmed from their insecurities. I wanted these girls to know, more than anything, that they weren’t alone. We all struggle with it, but there’s hope. There’s always hope. I wanted Beyoutiful in Christ to encourage girls to find their true beauty in the One who embraces them for all that they are.

Share some ways you’ve seen people impacted by what you’re doing.

I think because right now it’s just social media, I probably won’t ever see results, but that doesn’t stop me from doing it still. Megan sent us girls a package with t-shirts–that was SUPER
encouraging and I don’t really even know her.

What are some of your goals as you continue to share encouaragement through your social media outlets?
My biggest goal is that it doesn’t just stop at social media. My hope is that girls who view the page will be able to share with their friends how beautifully they were created. 🙂 I also have been given the opportunity to share this ministry with girls in a chaplain position at school. College girls struggle with self-image too 😉

Do you have any tips to offer others who may have a quiet desire to reach out to others in some way?
Do it. Do it. Do it. It’s not just enough to talk about it. Actions really do speak louder than words.

/////// \\\\\\\ ///////

Where to find #bicflawless | Instagram | Facebook | Buy a Shirt
(Just a few shirts remain if you are interested in spreading the message of beauty! I’ve heard a rumor they are wanting to offer hoodies next!)

{Note: All images used in today’s post were taken from the #bicflawless fb | ig pages!}

Awesomeness Takes the [2013] Stage // Charley

Today with the awesomeness taking the stage you get a video encouragement (aka Trail Mix!)! Fabulous, right?! It's a good day!

You may remember meeting Charley last year. She's one of our high school GITs (Guides In Training) serving with us at Whisper Mountain through the summer!

As she's grown more over the past year, I have seen Charley begin to spread her wings a little more in the areas of leading worship and intentional investment in campers. Her tendered heart toward God allows her to be effective in her areas of ministry! She shines her some Jesus!!

Having a flare of artsy in her, she can be found capturing her moments with her camera or giggling with Chelsea over their spur of the moment lyrics to random songs!

I had asked if any staff wanted to share an encouragement for our Trail Mix Episodes and Charley readily agreed! Take a listen and be encouraged in your own walk!

  

{if you are unable to view above video, click here}

Little Fun Fact: I'm late in sharing her video which means Charley has already experienced her NYC trip! Check out/Follow her instagram @givebeautyforashes to see a window into her trip! 

We are thankful for Charley's service with us, her love for Jesus, and her heart for others to know Him too!

Has anyone let you know lately you're awesome too?! Have a great day!

Awesomeness Takes the Stage // Charley

Charley left her mark with us when she came as a camper last year! She:

// is one of the three girl GIT's (Guides In Training) with us this summer //

// is Captain America's wife //

// helps lead our campers in worship each week //

// graces the stage with the Bros on Ice Band at WM //

// enjoys capturing memories behind and in front of the camera //

// takes the investment she's received and pours into others //

// allows adversity to shape her into God's tool of beauty //

Cassi: What is your favorite verse?

Charley: Song of Songs 4:7 "You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."

Cassi: Why did you want to be a GIT with us this summer?

Charley: Chelsea poured a lot into me after last summer and I felt called to come serve this summer. It was definitely a God call.

Cassi: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Charley: I want be in music ministry or maybe start a ministry after I attend Oral Roberts and hopefully do mission work with it (with a grin and a giggle she added: with a husband!)

Cassi: What can WM friends pray for you about?

Charley: That I would be obedient after summer to do what God calls me to, whether in music or whatever, that I will follow the plans the Lord has for me.

Charley is someone who is quite adorable. I find her to be careful with her words and actions, and a girl whose learning to embrace all God has created her to be. She shines the most when behind her guitar or the keyboard, her unique voice engaging the listener instantly. I have been blessed by her help in using her growing talent of photography to help capture the week for campers! She soaks up life and all it offers and bleeds that life onto those she surrounds herself with. In whatever Charley does, she is meeting success, I believe because she's figuring out that the more she leans into Christ, the more she glorifies and becomes like Him!

 May we each be encouraged to lean into Jesus a little more today!

idk (i don’t know)

// idk why Aaron popped out from the armpit with a thumbs up //

// idk why Kyle looks creepy upside down //

// idk why Charley enjoys catching gnats in the woods //

// idk why they pose like this //

// idk why they are throwing my daughter in the pond //

// idk what's going on here //

// idk how many pictures Kaleigh has photo-bombed //

What I do know is our staff is meshing super well, laughter surrounds us quite a lot, and each person here is ama-ZING! I will start making introductions here on the blog next week! I'm excited to share them with you because I do believe you will find yourself encouraged by their hearts for God and just general awesomeness!

Enjoy today. Laugh a little more. Now is what we've got.