I got back from UCYC summer camp with our middle school students on Friday afternoon and it has taken me this long to get back in the swing of things and ready to hit the blog again. So many excellent memories from the trip that I can’t really put them all here or most of you would go blind attempting to read it all. So here is a top five list of the best things that I was able to witness/take part in at camp…

5. About 100 “pinkbellies”

4. Stephani and Sarah in helmets and innertubes running into each other at full speed.

3. Joe Duron winning the championship dodgeball game as the only man left standing vs. ten guys (including two adults)

2. Talking with five guys late Thursday night about baptism and what it means

1. Listening to students talk about what they need to “die to” in their lives

That last one may not make a lot of sense, so let me explain. Each day had a different theme as we studied the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (check in out in Daniel 3, it is awesome!) The theme of the last day was “Die.” The three guys in the story all decided that they would be willing to die for what they believed in rather than bowing down to the golden idol created by King Nebuchadnezzar. I love their commitment and willingness to stand up for God to the point of death, but let’s be honest - how many of us will ever stare death in the face as the result of our faith? I am not saying it never happens in the U.S., but we need to consider how we can die in our daily lives for God.

We were posed with the question, “What do you need to die to for God to live in you?” I repeated the question to our students that night to our students and I was so impressed by the people who were willing to be vulnerable in front of their peers. I heard answers like “fear,” “anger,” “not reading the Bible,” “impatience,” and “my appearance.” For me personally, I know that I need to die to laziness. It is a constant struggle for me, I can be so content just watching TV, surfing espn.com, sleeping in too late, and just putting off responsibilities. I even lost the battle this morning - I was awake in bed and thought about getting up, reading my Bible, and working out. I managed to drag my butt out of bed and read in Luke 1 this morning, but I then crawled back into the bed and skipped out on exercise. Not that sleep is a bad thing, but I didn’t “feel” like working out, so I just skipped it. I figure the battle will not be easy, but I’ll just take it one step at a time as I learn to die to myself.