In This Season

This past year of my life has been unlike any other. It was the first time in 18 years that I wasn’t in school. I was super excited about being done and moving to my dream job to start working in a ministry I really wanted to get behind. I started off last summer well and was so sure I made the right decision to work at camp, but then the summer ended and everything got harder. All the people left and the ministering to people part of my job seemed to come to an end. For a while, I kept telling myself everything was okay because I love the place I work and the people I work for. Over time my view changed. It became harder and harder to do the background work for the ministry and not be able to do the ministering. I have struggled through this the whole year and have wanted to fix it, but I just held on to the hope that the summer was coming soon.

Fast forward to right now. As a camp, we have decided we will not be running our summer program this year (which in my opinion was logically the right decision), yet I feel crushed by the fact that it will be a whole year until I can do the thing that I love most again.

From most of the people I have talked to and also just from the things going on in the world around us, I think there is a lot of hurt and frustration. I don’t know what the answers to fix all the problems are (and if you know me, I want to fix all the problems) and I am so frustrated because I don’t know what to do.

Then, I found myself reading Ecclesiates 3:1-8. It’s a fairly popular passage, but nonetheless it says:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.”

I was reminded me so quickly of my need to sit at the feet of Jesus and recognize this is a time that needs to happen. This is a season I don’t understand and I wish I did, but I do know that through this, the Lord will be glorified. Of this I am confident. I don’t have to get it or even be happy all the time about everything, but I do need to continue to worship my Lord and Savior in this time and love everyone around me.

There will be a new season and new time eventually, but until then my hope is still found in the Lord.

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Author | Sam Wammock     Photos| Adrienne Cicero

Sam, Soccer, Worship?

by Sam Wammock 

Worship? Outside of Sundays?

 

I grew up thinking worship was something that happened before the pastor would get up and preach. I had no idea how wrong this is. I finally became aware of how worship can happen as we do anything in our lives. I learned how to worship while I play soccer and how to worship as I am going throughout my day. It has been a really cool experience to learn how to take a bunch of things that I love to do and use them as an act of worship.

 
There are two things that helped me get to a better place of understanding when it comes to worship.

The first thing is Romans 12:1, which says,

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

I began to think that if Jesus could offer his body as THE living sacrifice that offered me eternity with him, then I should be able to live my life in such a way that is for the Lord. The biggest misconception I had when I started learning this is that I cannot do anything that I enjoy (soccer, biking, hanging out with friends) because I needed to live a life that is holy and acceptable to God. How silly of me to think God would give me passions in life that I could not do because it was not holy or pleasing to him. So I learned how to instead use the things that I love to honor and glorify him as an act of worship.

The second thing that helped me understand worship better is realizing I can choose to worship God or his creation/people in His creation. We were made to worship something, so if I choose to not use my life to worship the Lord, I will find something else to worship. I think this was a hard pill to swallow because it reminded me of Romans 1:18-25 which says,

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

This is a bit more extreme than what is going on in my life, but the concept remains from Exodus 20:

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

I want to make sure that I am always worshipping the Creator and not allowing myself to worship any other gods in my life.

Worshipping is something that is so important and I want to make sure that I am aware of how easy it is to worship anyone or anything. I want to stay constant in offering my body as a living sacrifice to the Lord of what is holy and pleasing to be my act of worship to the Lord.

What’s something in your daily life you can turn into an act of worship?

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Author | Sam  (Photos provided by Sam)
FUN FACT: Sam played 4 years of collegiate soccer at Columbia International University. She was named Female Student Athlete of the Year and All-Tournament at Nationals for 2 years!

Awesomeness Takes the Stage >> Sam

Hey guys! Do you know Sam?!

If not, today’s your day to meet her as she’s the star on our Awesomeness Takes the Stage!

The things we love about Sam: Soccer Star (at CIU), outgoing personality making a person feel comfy with her, tender on the inside, fun on the out, hard working team player, and just down right enjoyable to hang with! Oh, and she loves Jesus!

She’s a friend you’d want to have in the tough times, but also that friend you’d wanna go have a carefree day with. She, like many before her, started her time with Whisper Mountain as a camper and has been a great first-time Guide for us!

She speaks her mind, but doesn’t allow differences to come between. She is a people girl after all! And Tegan loves her, which is saying a lot!! (nice photobomb from Kinsley!)

Her moods/exhaustion/struggles don’t hinder her from what needs to get done and in the end she’s always laughing! We like how God is shaping this girl for His glory and all the ways we’ve seen her grow this summer!

Sam, you may be tough on the outside, but we like how you’ve let your heart out while serving with us this summer! You’re beautiful! Thank you for being here!