Elevate 2012

It was such a privilege to hang out with six eighth-grade girls and Hallie, my co-leader, for an entire weekend at the middle-school retreat, Elevate. This was my second time leading at Elevate and the one-year anniversary of my involvement in the Middle School Ministry (MSM).

Wow. What an awesome God I serve who has placed me in a church whose heart is so centered on HIM.

The theme of this year's Elevate was how obeying and submitting to your parents is a way in which we obey and submit to God, our heavenly Father. The middle schoolers' parents were all invited to a conference Saturday afternoon during which I took a break from Elevate Olympics to talk to the parents about what Liz and I are going to be doing in Thailand and why we're going.

I tried to communicate to them how they are participating in my work in Thailand just by being part of the sending church body. It started with Kairos and the tutoring program with the refugees in Fredericksburg; expanded in the work we did in Philadelphia; expanded further when we went to Thailand the first time. The heart that God gave Spotswood to impact the world with the gospel can't be contained because the gospel can't be contained.

This retreat was also an excellent reminder of the role that my own parents have in sending me to Thailand. I am often asked what my parents think about me going so very far away. I respond by nonchalantly saying how they expected that I would go after the initial trip in August. What I don't say is how grateful I am that God ordained that I would be brought up in that particular household with those particular parents. I take my parents' support for granted. They are helping as much as they can financially, pointing me towards their friends who can help, and lifting me up in prayer all the time.

Wow. What an awesome God I serve to display His love towards me through my parents. He didn't have to do that but He did.

Thanks Mom and Dad!