Tupos 2015

"Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within...Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!" What powerful lyrics! How do we look at God's grace? I am so thankful for grace, for without it, my eternity doesn't look very good. Lately I have been trying to wrap my pea brain around it. One thing I know is that I do not want to live my life only because I have received grace, I want to live my life to reflect God's grace. Thank you God for oh so gently reminding me of this on the 2015 Extreme Whitewater Middle School Rafting Trip!

This past week I had the privilege of going with our youngest daughter on her last mission trip as a middle schooler....give me a few minutes as I wipe my tears. Over the course of the years I have gone 5 different times, 2 times with my older two and 3 with Jenny Beth. The purpose of the trip is to teach the middle school students the importance of becoming a servant, to develop a heart for missions, learn to LOVE ALL SERVE ALL and get them ready for the mission trips out of the country. The trip begins with 2 days of hard work serving people in the mountains of Ducktown, Tennessee and then two days of EXTREME Whitewater Rafting.

We began Monday, with helping a Veteran by building a room on his house and repairing a screened in porch for his 82 year old neighbor. Tuesday, the boys went back to the Veteran's home and the girls....well, let's just say we went and found something to do. When you have 24 people working on a 10 x 10 room it gets a little crowded. But God is so faithful and good, He allowed the girls to learn a life lesson on Tuesday. We were not sure what we were going to do, but we knew that 12 girls from the ages of 11 to 14 had to be entertained for at least 8 hours....Holy Cow! I think even the chaperones were doubting Thomas' at this moment. We loaded the girls up, went into town and began stopping at churches, needless to say there aren't any churches in the area who have full time staff available and when you call, you get a voicemail. We regrouped at our local Dollar "Gentral" as some of our girls would say, made more phone calls and FINALLY got a sweet little lady from the Copper Basin Crisis Center....ONE MILE FROM OUR CAMP! 

Martha was her name and she was elated that a group of young girls wanted to serve in any way. She had a list that was a mile long.... no joke! She and her husband serve this community every Monday and Tuesday by giving out food, clothes, furniture...you name it, they give it out! I honestly could not believe the amount of traffic that came through there. I have been to many places, but have never seen the influx of people that I did here. We began by sorting clothes, food, unloading trailers and then we ended the day by painting and cleaning the amphitheater they use for Vacation Bible School.

While we were eating lunch, we invited Mrs. Martha and her husband to eat with us and what a sweet moment for God to reveal His faithfulness. Mrs. Martha began by saying what a blessing the girls were and how she appreciated their willing hearts, but then she went on to say what an answer to prayer. They knew the amphitheater needed cleaning and possibly painting, but did not know how it would get done. Little did she know that there were chaperones of 12 girls that had also been praying that God would allow for these girls to have the joy of helping someone in need! I know this is cliche', but our God is so ON TIME as the kids would say He is "ON POINT" (and did I mention that we called her on Tuesday not Wednesday, remember they are only there on Monday's and Tuesdays)! We all learned that day that you cannot sit idle and wait for something to happen, you have to GO! After all, God commands us to go, Matthew 28:19, "Therefore GO and make disciples".

Let me just say, how blessed our youth are to have a Youth Pastor and his wife (Todd and Robin Carr) who exemplify what it means to Love the Lord your God with all of your heart! He planned sessions each night for the students to learn about "Becoming a Person of Impact.....Tupos"! We all impact others whether it is in a positive way or a negative way and these kids impacted a lot of people this week with their willingness to work and their display of God's Grace in their lives. This particular study challenged each of us in the areas of speech, life, love, faith and purity. I believe many times in the life of a Christian, we excuse ourselves from these areas because we live under the umbrella of grace.....What a tragedy! Our lives should reflect these areas in a positive way because we live a life that portrays grace. 

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." 

~Brennan Manning~

Launching in the Nantahala for Class
2 Rapids

EXTREME High Ropes Course

Completed Amphitheater
Copper Basin Crisis Center

Team Building Exercise

1 Timothy 4:12

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an EXAMPLE for the believers in SPEECH, in LIFE, in LOVE, in FAITH and in PURITY."