Narrow Road

This past week at Shelterwood the staff and students worked on service projects all week. We went out into the Independence/Kansas City communities to volunteer in a variety of ways. We served in a homeless shelter serving meals, we put up drywall in a Habitat for Humanity house, and we sorted clothes at a thrift store, among other things.

Some of the littles (which meant some of the bigs went too) chose to go on a three day retreat at a campground a couple hours away this week. I was chosen to be one of the bigs who went, and it was a very relaxing time to spend with the girls. We went to a few group sessions and heard the speakers talk about various topics, then we had small group times where we discussed those topics. We also had prayer partner times where I got to pray with the little I was paired with for the retreat. I got to know her so much better because of that time together, and I am so thankful for the growth I am seeing in her life and how God is challenging her and comforting her amidst her struggles.

During our time there I also got some time to be alone and also to take a walk down the trail around the campground. It was so nice to just step back from the daily grind for a couple hours to think through some of the things God is doing in my life.

Satan also tried to cast doubt and lies into my life through a situation and conversation where I began to feel really stupid, inferior and not good enough. Thankfully, God would not let me accept that lie, and I was able to pray through what I was really feeling to realize that I am a child of God, and as long as I follow Him I am doing just fine. I used to struggle a lot with self-worth, but lately I have see just how much I find my worth in Christ and not my own talents/possessions. God also worked it out so that what the speaker talked about that night was about what we put our hope in. The speaker, Chris, said he used to put his hope and confidence in his intelligence (I do that too) but now he realizes that his intelligence will fail and our confidence needs to be in Christ because He is the only One who will never fail.

On Friday we were back on property and I worked with the group at the Habitat house. It was so much fun to work with everyone there putting up drywall. I miss the hard physical labor of working on a farm. Now, I have the weekend off and I am just chilling in Blue Springs, enjoying some time alone to rest and pray without distraction.

God is so good to provide. :)