I hope that all of you are having a great summer so far, and know that I have been remembering each of you in my prayers regularly. One of the coolest things is praying for each other over three months and then coming back together in August to find out that God has exceeded our expectations.
Here's a little update from me:
I arrived in Orlando last Tuesday, and I hit the ground running. For those of you who don't know, I'm serving alongside eight other interns, six of whom are fellow Covenant students (Karen VanderHart, April Hoekstra, Kasey Welsh, Evan Kline, Sam Egertson, and Sam Bowman). I've really enjoyed getting to know them all over the past few days. We went through some training the first day, and we got to meet some of the high school students at youth group on Thursday night. The interns went on a retreat to St. Augustine on Friday and Saturday, which was an awesome time of getting to know one another and hearing stories of God's grace in each person's life. It was so encouraging to hear people being so honest about the wounds and brokenness in their lives, as well as the transforming grace that God has extended in those situations. I don't think I've ever wept over God's grace like I did this past weekend. This week will be full of contacting and hanging out with students, planning our small group lessons, and going through more training, studies, and meetings.
I wanted to share with you all something from a book that all of us interns are reading this summer. It's called Whiter Than Snow by Paul David Tripp--meditations on Psalm 51.
"God doesn't want you to come to Him empty-handed.
No, you can't come to Him full of yourself,
And you can't come to Him based on your track record
And you can't use your performance as a recommendation.
No, you can't come to Him based on your family,
Your personality,
Your education,
Your position in life,
The success you've had,
The possessions you've accumulated,
Or the human acceptance you've gained.
But God requires you to come with your hands full.
He requires you to bring to Him the sweetest of sacrifices,
The sacrifice of words,
He calls you to bring Hosea's offering.
'Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
And return to the Lord.
Say to Him
"Forgive all our sins
And receive us graciously,
That we may offer our lips as the sacrifice of bulls."'
God doesn't want you to come to him empty-handed.
He asks of you a sacrifice.
Not a grain offering.
Not a lamb or a bull.
No, that requirement has been satisfied
By the blood of the Lamb.
Yet God asks of you a sacrifice
It is the offering of words,
Words of humility,
Words of honesty,
Words of moral courage,
Words of moral candor,
Words that could only be spoken,
By one who rests in grace.
Words of confession are what you must bring.
Place words,
Free of negotiation or excuse,
On His altar of grace,
And receive forgiveness and cleansing.
Uncover your heart,
Exposed by words, and say:
'We will never again say, "Our gods!"
To what our own hands have made,
For in You the fatherless find compassion.'
What David willingly did He requires of you,
Come with words,
It is the way of grace,
It is the way of freedom,
It is the way to God."
