souldare

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

I have been occupied this week with being “Ant” to my two nieces and twin nephews. This is our second summer spending the days being together. It’s like a second childhood for me to spend the lazy days of June creating memories, weaving goodness into their lives and making room for them to open their hearts to God.

We have a morning routine, which we abandon when need be. We eat lunch together. And we plan adventures at home and outdoors. This week was mostly a home week. Getting into our routine. Creating good habits. Trying new foods for lunch.

We are being adventurous. We explore, discover and write down our observations. I made them journals, treasure boxes and travel sacks.

At the beginning of the week, we designed and decorated our Kamp t-shirts!

We had good conversations around the table. I was suprised at how willing they were to memorize the above verse with me this week. We practiced together, recited it individually and by the end of the week, each of us had hidden not only the words, but it’s truth in our hearts…NOTHING will ever be able to separate us from the love of God! God loves us no matter what! I love being at this place and time in my life, sharing the love of God and experiencing it with these four!

At the beginning of the week, their Mom prayed with us to see God. Without her knowledge, I had read about blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10 over the weekend, and decided it would be our camp Bible story. What a special meaning the reading had for us after that time of prayer. In the account, Jesus asks Bartimaeus a searching question:

What do you want me to do for you?

The kids actually “journaled” in response to that question! I loved the simple response of one of the kids: “Come into my heart.” I am sure that response made Jesus smile. And it made me remember that faith can be that simple.

Just like blind Bartimaeus, I want sight. Sight that enables me to see Jesus and motivates me to follow Him. Childlike faith that believes Jesus comes into hearts and loves us always.

What do you want Jesus to do for you today?