Halfhearted

Dear readers,

I am sorry I have not posted in a long time; I have pushed it off for awhile now. Some of it was laziness, but most of it was because I do not want to write halfheartedly. Let me explain....

I work at a Christian camp called Spruce Lake located in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. I am a counselor for a program called Day Camp there. Day Camp is like day care and vacation Bible school smashed together that lasts eleven weeks in the summer. At Day Camp we average close to 100 campers a day, and anywhere between 8-15 of them are my responsibility every day. I am the counselor of the Rattler group, which is the 12-13 year old children.

These kids pretty much drain me Monday through Friday. My day consists of teaching devotions, feeding them lunch, running games and playing along, walking them to each activity, and anything in between. We do camp games, hike Spruce Mountain, go on field trips, swim, make crafts, and many other things that occupy time from 9-4 every day. Since it is a Christian camp, God is shown and talked about at every opportunity found.

Like I said, these kids drain me, but I love my job. I have such a burden for teaching these kids about who God is, what God has done, and what God is doing. I want them to know about Christ and be able to share the same relationship I have with Him. Some of the children come from a family that go to church or at least have heard about God, but many of them do not. Many parents use Day Camp as just a day care and opportunity for their child to do something with their summer instead of sitting in front of a TV.

I get home from work every day around five. I am then exhausted and ready to do nothing; I get the urge to write many times and want to when I get home. I just don't want to write with the attitude of trying to just get it over with, or quick putting something together without studying my Bible or feeling inspired. I don't want writing to become homework; I want my writing to be done out of pure love for God, knowing that through my writing, God can use it to touch the lives of others. 

I guess I am kind of challenging other Christian writers with this: Don't write because you feel like you need to, but write because you want to and are moved by the Holy Spirit to motivate, discipline, encourage, or overall point others to Christ. Yeah, maybe some of my delay in writing was out of laziness, but there were many times that I thought, "I do not want to write if I am this tired and unprepared."

I know I could throw something together in twenty minutes that sounds good and says to love Jesus, but is that really the attitude I want to go into writing with? I mean, this is talent given by God that I can use for His glory! I don't want to do a sloppy, halfhearted job on the Lord's work; I want to take my time and do my best to glorify Him. If I just try to throw something together quickly, am I going to hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."?

This doesn't just go for writing. This goes for any occupation, hobby, or work done by us. If Christians are going into life with the attitude of, let's just get this over with, are they truly bringing praise to God? If you are going through life with this this kind of rushing or sloppy attitude, you're lacking the heart and motive.

What is your motive when you work? Is it, "How can I point someone towards Christ today?" or is it, "I can't wait till this day is over so I can do what I want!" The second one definitely sounds selfish, but it's how so many of us act so often. 

To close, I would like to just try to encourage (as well as myself) to humble yourself and remember what you are working for. Pray and ask God to give you the opportunities to set an example of a follower of Christ to others. Be all in for the glory of Christ. Put your own desires and goals aside when you are doing God's work. Don't get sloppy or become lazy; become motivated!