A New Day

Hey hey, my little ones!!
It feels really odd to not have a camp this weekend! I feel like it has been a lifetime since I saw all of you :(
BUT camp starts in one month! WOW!! Time is a crazy thing :O
SO... we are heading into a new summer and I would like to let you in on who your leaders will be this year! Introducing your new CLTD leadership team:


I would like you to welcome back for her encore performance:

EMMA!!

Working along side Emma, a gal we got to know during winter CLTD:

NIKKI!!

Nikki gets 2 pics because I couldn't choose between the strange face one or one from a million years ago at a 'Gilligan's Island Christmas' banquet ;)

And heading up our guy's side we welcome

Jeremy!!

I hope you are all as excited as I am to have these amazing people to work with this summer! I can not wait to getting this team underway! Please keep us all in your prayers as we join with God's Spirit to build this summer's CLTD program! I think it is going to be an amazing summer!!

Stay in touch all and I hope to hear from you all soon!!

- shelley

You Are An Original Masterpiece

A few years ago I was on tour with Rosebud and it was a particularly hard tour. I was in a place of transition and it hurt like hell. I had an amazing friend who was a great support. She wrote me a note and sent it on the road with me. In it she quoted something she read in a book. Unfortunately I am not sure when the note is and so I am going to attempt to paraphrase what I remember.

We are like a cottage that God moves into. It is a good cottage and God loves it very much. He loves it so much He wants it to grow and so He begins to work on it and renovate it. He will tear down a wall here and add a room there. He cleans it up and makes it bigger. It is hard work and some jobs can take a long time. It can be painful and sometimes some renovations won't seem to make sense. But in the end that little cottage is a shining mansion that can open up and serve others. God's handiwork can then shine through. The little cottage is better and more beautiful.


So often we want God to play Santa Clause or a rescue worker. We pray to Him when we want something or when life is hard and then are disappointed when He doesn't seem to show up right away. I've done it too. 
But, when I stop and think about it do I treat other people I am in relationship that way? Do I only talk to them when I want something? Do I only call them when I am in trouble or when life is hard? No, I don't.
So why do I do that with God? We need to build into our relationships with God. We need to stay in touch with Him. Sometimes that is hard, but if we really want Him in our lives we need to put the effort into the relationship. The thing is, once we are truly seeking Him, He will want to change us and make us better. He wants us to be the best version of us we can be! He wants us to be doing what we were made for. But it will not always be easy. God will not just make you better. He will teach you to be better. If you ask for patience, God will teach you how to be patient. Sometimes the lessons can be hard and sometimes we will fall on our faces, but we have to remember that God is there with us.
I have seen situations where people allow themselves to get deep into situations that they know can lead to demise; that are potentially very dangerous. They follow down paths that they know lead away from anything God wants for them. God does go with them and I believe if these people were to look back over that journey they would see places where God tried to call them out of it; where He warned them of the dangers. 
And yet, they continued on and along the way they got hurt. Sometimes by others, sometimes by the things they did to others and sometimes what they did to themselves. The pain is often very deep and can take a long time to recover from, if they recover at all. I have seen people in these situations then turn to God in anger and insist that He wasn't there to protect them, that He let them down and allowed the pain to take place. They come to me and demand to know where God is in such situations.
I know where God is. He is standing beside them wanting them to turn to Him and ask for forgiveness and ask to be made whole again. It is hard to ask and it is hard to do the work that it will take, but God wants that for us. He won't say, "I told you so." or suggest that you got what you deserved. He will just take you and walk through the pain with you - however long - as long as you want Him there.
God is a gentleman. He does not force His way on us. He grants us freewill and won't take that away. If He demanded that we follow His way we would rebel and be furious about it, yet we are furious when He doesn't step in and take control of the bad situations. It we step into the lion's den we need to be ready to face a lion. If we step up the the fire we need to be ready to be burned. When we step through the doorway of sin into a world God weeps to see us enter we need to be ready to deal with the consequences. I have a friend who used to say, "God is not required to save me from my own stupidity!" But God is there with each of us. I can't imagine how He breaks when we run away from Him into danger - it breaks my heart to see you guys do that, I can't even bear to think of how it must hurt Him. For every we tear we cry He must cry a million more. He feels all our pain. How heavy that burden must be to carry.

I want to urge you, friends, when you ask God to build you into His masterpiece, allow Him to change you. Be strong because He is your strength. Stay with the pain until you get to the other side where you will be better and stronger and a portrait of His handiwork. That is what a real relationship with God looks like - a life changed by Him to be all that it can be!

I have a video for you to watch. It is just over 9 minutes but is really worth the watch and considerations. You may have seen it before, but even if you have allow it to speak something new to you today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhfUzodLRvk&feature=related
(Image found at: http://ArcZero.deviantart.com/art/Hold-On-to-Jesus-24078808)
I love you all.

-  shelley

I found this image at:

http://elcrazy.deviantart.com/art/Jesus-Is-Real-110888293

Wanna Get Your Hands Dirty?

Hey all!

On Saturday May 29 the camp will be hosting a work day to do things like paint the lodge, fix the firepit walls and 10 other projects to make the camp beautiful before the summer!! Wanna come help? We'll give you lunch! And as you, my fine dish-doing, seaweed-raking friends know when your at camp even the dirty jobs can be fun!
If you wanna swing in for awhile on that day please just let me know by the Tuesday before it either by email, text, phone, fax or carrier pigeon!
I hope all is well!

-shelley

ps GET YOUR APPLICATIONS IN!

More Reading

Hey Peeps!!
This past weekend Casii asked if she could read to you from Eldon's blog, but since we didn't do that I thought I would encourage you to do it yourselves: http://eldonsproule.blogspot.com/2010/04/farmer-fran.html It's a good read - check it out!
Also I thought I might also connect you to another friend of mine. Her name is Nora. She used to lead CLTDs back in the day as well as lived with me for just over a year. She is a part of this cool group that some of you might like: thisislegacyone.blogspot.com


Blessings to you all! I hope May treats you well!
-shelley