Young Life

I took some Cedar Ridge High School girls to Windy Gap this past weekend and as I'm sitting here typing this I can't help but think how special Young Life camps are. Emma, a girl on my young life team said it well, "There's just something about Windy Gap...you walk away completely exhausted yet completely refreshed." Young Life has sets up camps in a way that the daily distractions of high school kids are pushed aside in order to show them what real life is about. It's not Windy Gap's beauty, (although Windy Gap is beautiful) its far deeper then beauty. Many places and things are beautiful to the eye but you walk away unchanged because beauty in and of itself is shallow. The peacefulness and serenity found at Young Life camps is something you can't put into words, I am convinced it is holy ground.
If I knew beforehand the things I would have to sacrifice as a young life leader I probably would not have signed up for such an adventure. However, I can honestly say NOTHING in college has been sweeter and more worth it.
God has taught me more then I could ever put into words, but probably the biggest thing I am continuing to learn and discover is that even in my walk with the Lord I am still in rags; my best prayers are still stained with sin; my receiving of the Spirit is colored with selfishness; and my ability to lead apart from God's grace will fail. I'm incredibly prideful. I'm in the process of learning again that I am pretty mediocre at everything. I, in and of myself, really have nothing to offer the world and whatever few things I claim to be "good" at, my faults multiply all the more. Not only is the Lord teaching me about Him but also who I am along the way. In leading Young Life, I'm beginning to see how small I am in comparison to the Lord, and I have never felt so insignificant and humbled. Despite what I may think, God doesn't need me. God would move, change, and work in crazy, incredible ways without me and anything that I bring to the table someone else could too. He doesn't need me but He wants me. He wants my meager "talents" and "gifts". When I finally came to this realization all the pressure to be the "best leader" I can be was lifted off my shoulders and I am now able to see that Jesus is...Jesus does...Jesus works. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus...NOT Mary Norris.
We spend so much time trying to fill our lives with things that we hope will bring us fulfillment. I have truly tasted and experienced full and abundant life. God has used Young Life to show me His face through so many people (going all the way back to when I did work crew summer of 06). I have made so many friends within the Young Life circle (in both high school and college) and I have felt and seen the love of God immensely. It's been so much fun to live this journey with people who are passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. What a privilege and blessing it is to be able to love on high school girls and walk through life with them. I've found there is nothing more exciting to share than the truth of God's loving embrace upon one's life. It really is true that the times in my life I have experienced the greatest joy is when I gave it away.
I have so many questions about what the future might hold but something excites me in these questions of uncertainty. Something invites me to loosen my tight grip on the life I call my own and instead gives me an image of what it means to give it away.

"The fundamental building blocks of the kingdom are relationships. Not programs, systems, or productivity but inconvenient, time-consuming, intrusive relationships. The kingdom is built on personal involvement that disrupt schedules, and drain energy. When I enter into redemptive relationships with others, I lose much of my "capacity to produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, or materials" In short, relationships sabotage my efficiency. A part of me dies. Is this perhaps what our Lord meant when He said we must lay down our lives for each other?"
-Theirs is the Kingdom by Robert D. Lupton