The Fishing Tournament is this weekend down in Florida! Would you be willing to pray for this event? Pray for all those organizing and heading it up. Pray for Marty as he will have the opportunity to boldly (and briefly) share Jesus! Pray for safety, a great turnout, pleasant fishing weather, and success as we seek to fundraise scholarships for campers and meeting other financial needs of Whisper Mountain!
Thanks for praying! Your awesome!
May your weekend be filled with goodness!
Sleepless nights, limited movement, constant and nagging pain. Marty's life has been this for over a year when he (re)injured his shoulder while spotting a camper on our low ropes course. After months of workman's comp paper shuffling and doctor visits, he finally goes in for surgery this morning.
Did you see the note: Massive Rotator Cuff Tear. The doctor literally has a thread to work with, hoping to ease the pain and return a little motion to the shoulder.
The operation takes place today. Are you a prayer warrior? If so, will you pray for a better than expected success with this surgery? For Patti as she has the job of helping to keep this caged lion caged during his months-long recovery? For our guys as they carry a heavier workload (I think we will see just how many details Marty sees to in a day!)? For Marty's sanity as being down, holding still, resting isn't something he's good at? Which is kind of funny since that is the mission of this camp ministry! I'm believing there's a good thing going on here!
And you? How can we be praying for you? We spend time praying for many each morning in our staff meeting! We'd love to pray for you as well!
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POST SURGERY UPDATE
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In case you missed the update in the comments or on fb, here you go!
These pictures show how they borrowed some p-cord from our high ropes course (only kidding of course!) to tie the tendons into a bundle. We pray this fuses together around the ball and socket! While inside Marty, the doctor also repaired a bicep tear, did 3 convergence sutures to tie around the shoulder socket and removed a bone spur! They didn't intend on all that coming into play, but alas, Marty never goes to the doctor so of course there are issues in there!
He got home last evening, still on drugs as you can see! (I did get permission to share this!) He will be quite sore for some time, so please continue to pray! He undergoes therapy and all for several weeks! His biggest struggle, I believe, will be remaining sane with all the work that comes with this time of year and entrusting it to the guys!
Thanks for your prayers! You are awesome!
Our little family had the fun priviledge of staying with the Luettich Family while in Florida for the missions conference! Set back in the woods, near a quiet river, surrounded by Florida beauty, the Luettich Lodge was a perfect getaway for us! We had to undergo cabin checks daily! Cabin 2 (my and Shaun's room!) ROCKS! I must say we had a favorable judge (smiling up there in the yellow!). The laughter from the kiddos, the connecting with the adults, the times of prayer for each other…man, it felt like camp for the camp people!
Wayne and April are the humblest, most sincere and fun people to be around! And they are on an exciting journey with God right now. We are thrilled for them and blessed to have spent this week at their home!
Thank you Luettich family for loving us! We will be missing you!
{We enjoyed each of those we were able to spend any amount of time with. Our only regret is that we could not see everyone we care about down there!}
We return feeling refreshed and encouraged! More on that to come this week!
(p.s. in case you didn't realize…colored text above are links, some to the Florida Postcards I posted throughout the week!)
Happy Monday, friends!
Things are starting to feel a little girly around Whisper Mountain! We are in the final hours of preparation for our teen girls True ID retreat! Details, menus, decor…details! These are just a few of the things filling our minds, hands and time. We are praying that both the local and non-local girls attending will find themselves awash with God's redeeming grace and the mission of living for Him! Will you join us in praying?
We have some college guys with us this week that have given up their spring break to come and work. Yeah…they wanted to do this! Pretty unusual, but that's just how great they are! To start our day off, we hiked to our hopeful lake spot! Marty shared the vision, scoped out the layout and then we circled up and prayed that God would do it!
At the end of the prayer, one guy said, "Hey guys, we are walking on water right now!"
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. James 5:16
I know, I know…you haven't gotten any sleep all weekend because you were just dying to know what Shaun's #1 favorite thing about working at camp is! (hee-hee!) Plan to sleep tonight! (Drumroll please)
Without further delay, Shaun's #1 reason why working at Whisper Mountain is living the dream:
#1: pay day is big on the last night of camp
On the last night of camp everyone gathers around the campfire one last time. In the light of the flickering flames, hearts are opened in a way that isn't done in everyday life. Teenagers take the time to offer verbal encouragements to one another. They pray for each other. They pray for their youth pastor. Teenagers, and at times their leaders, become raw, spilling from their hearts all God is doing in them, all He is calling them to, all they hope to apply to their walking through life with Him. Shaun's payday, as he calls it, is knowing that all the energy, lack of sleep, time and heart that is poured out throughout the week is worth it when the evidence of God whispering into lives is seen. This is the heartbeat of camp, the very life of the ministry…God encountering His people so they will know Him, they will know peace, new life, restoration and hope. Now, that's a beautiful thing!
**Note: If you are just joining today, you can go here, here, here, and here to learn about the other items on Shaun's Top 5 Countdown on why working at Whisper Mountain is living the dream!
Ever felt like you were just hanging on by a thread? When I've felt like that I've often wondered if the thread was someone praying for me!
Too often overlooked or underemployed, prayer is often the lifeline we can offer someone in need! I have found our staff is unified, carried, encouraged in our times of prayer together. Shaun and I know that those "supporters" who pray for us regularly are the muscle that allow us to keep on keeping on! As a ministry, we each realize that those who pray for us are fighting the spiritual battles that allow us to be an effective tool for God's kingdom! 
I've been having a nudging toward the pursuit of a deeper prayer life in my heart lately! It takes work, battling in prayer, staying focused, carving out the time…at least in my experience…but I do believe that the benefits always outweigh anything that might feel like great effort!
A couple encouragements along those lines (both for me and anyone happening upon this space today!)
The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous. (Prov 15:19)
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Lk 5:16)
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers
and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him
from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. (Heb 5:7)
I find this pattern crazy: we pray~God moves~we're surprised…by how extravagantly He does so! Pretty silly, really! Nonetheless (love that word!) that's how we tend to operate! Tonight was one of those times for us as staff! We have covered this week in prayer (as I know many of you are doing…thx) and continue to do so at every turn, yet we found ourselves delightfully surprised tonight at the evidence of God's powerful work in the lives of those with us this week, even those among our staff!
Tonight's worship, teaching and footwash went further than anyone expected. The tears, the encouragement, the steps toward group unity, the brokenness that began to take place in lives…all this, to the extent that it went, surprised and overwhelmed each of us in a way that only God can do!
One last thought about it all…it's only Wednesday!
I came to the office today after a nice little break, to find my new Layers magazine (exciting!) among other things that need my attention! Mondays are days for us camp staff to regroup, plan out the week and spend time praying together for this ministry and the individuals that are somehow involved with us. We have a board:
As people share their needs with us, we write them up on our board and become intentional in remembering them in prayer, together and on our own! Today we were going through the list and found that prayers have been answered! How encouraging to realize the involvement of God in each situation, to remember again that God hears us when we call to Him…really, He's waiting for us to call to Him!
At Whisper Mountain, we have people standing by to take your requests…let us know how we can pray for you!
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