An Unknown River yet to Explore

"We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown...We have an unknown distance yet to run; and unknown-river yet to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not...with some eagerness, and some anziety, and some misgiving, we enter the conyon below."
-From the journal of John Wesley Powell, August 13 1869, written at the junction of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River, Arizona Territory.
Thanks to Duffy Robbins and his book,
This Way to Youth Ministry for this quote. Having just gone rafting a week ago, I can somewhat imagine the excitement and anxiety that John Wesley Powell and his men must have thought as they explored the Colorado River. How exciting it must be to go where no one has gone before...to see obstacles in front of your path and overcoming them.

The Quest of Life is much the same. We don't know what falls there are ahead...or rocks blocking our path, or walls rising beyond the water. It can cause anxiety in our life. And yet, at the same time, can bring so much excitement. I asked the question of what attracts our college students to the message of Jesus...and the response was encouraging! Many were attracted to the full life that Jesus promises in John 10:10. There were also attracted that Jesus was there during the hard times. I think those two responses go hand in hand. God desires us to have a full, exciting, satisfying life...yet Satan, the destroyer, wants to do anything to steal our joy. He uses these falls, rocks, and walls to throw us from our raft and cause chaos.

Isn't that where the adventure is? Not in the chaos, but when we trust God through the 'rapids' of life. The adventure is when God pulls us back in the raft, when His love for us is stronger than the currents of life, even sin! It's exhilerating to come through the hard spots of life and see God's hand guided us through! How great is our God! The adventure in the quest that is life is trusting God when we don't know what lies ahead.

Lord, I praise you for your faithfulness. Thank you for your love that is stronger than the currents of the world that swirl around me. May your hand continually guide my path, making my paths straight. Amen.

Raft Naked!

Spent the weekend camping and whitewater rafting with some of our guys in the youth ministry. While we didn't raft naked, it was one of the stickers/shirts there...pretty funny. But we had a great time. The weather was perfect, the food was great, and the fellowship with the guys was the best. Nothing better than staring at the stars at night, reliving the time on the river, talking about life and faith, and of course, enjoying that there are no girls around! LOL!

On our trip, we didn't have a guide in our boat. They were spread throughout our group. The guide would pull us all over before a rapid and give us instructions on how to get through the rapid successfully. Then they went ahead and instructed us using hand signals. I remember that the first couple rapids, my raft was compimented as we went through for doing a good job...we hit the rapids hard and had a great ride. Other times, we did all we could to follow the instructions, but we'd lose control, get spun around, and hit a big rock!

That's sometimes like life. We have people who guide us, mentor us, and invest in us, and sometimes it goes really well. Other times, we try as hard as we can...and we hit a big rock and are left swimming in the water, trying to find our way back to the raft.

God is good! I can't say that lives were changed on the weekend...but we certainly know each other better...and we know each others hearts. As we ended the weekend, we prayed for one another. It was a moving moment for me to hear these young men of God praying for one another. It is my prayer that they continue doing so! Raft On!

Let It Rain!

It's pretty hot in Delaware today. The heat index is around 107. As soon as I go outside, my clothes begin to stick to me and I start to sweat.

It makes me want a swimming pool. That would really make my wife happy although we both know we can't afford it. But it would be so refreshing to jump in the pool this evening.

As stated in earlier post, I've had a 'blah' last few weeks. Especially spiritually. I really don't know what it is. Probably apathy on my part. There is one place where I have felt refreshed though...that is worship. It energizes, envigorates, and brings life to my parched soul. In the Gospel, the Samaritan woman at the well encounters Jesus and he talks about living water that He can provide. Water that will quench our thirst...and bring us life. Why do I run from that sometimes? Why do I want to do things my way? What I really want is to jump in head first into this living water...but for some reason I forget how renewing it is and I go about the day doing things my way. Will I ever learn? We'll just have to wait and see.

An End to Blah?

So this week has been Vacation Bible School and Youth Week at Avenue. This has been the consuming factor in the LaMotte life. I believe things have gone well. VBS has had around 130 kids, and we've had 35 kids each night for Youth Week. Not bad for what we've done in the past.

Avenue is a predominately affluent, white church. We have made some inroads towards more integration at our H20 worship gathering, but not alot. But Youth Week, praise God, is different. This year we have been 40% White, 35% black, and 30% latino. The reason I make mention of it is that this is how things should look! It has been awesome getting to know the other students who we don't normally see...and hopefully that will change.

One of our students pulled me aside last night wanted prayer that God would come in their heart. Praise God! I have been feeling blase about ministry lately, this was really a boost...and not that I did anything...this was God.

So tonight we continue. May the God of all nations be at work in his people.

The Summer Blahs

I am tired. I have a case of the summer blahs. Ever since the we returned from the Mission Trip, it has been difficult to be excited about things. Don't get me wrong, the trip was great, but there is a let down when you get back. It has been a lot of work to feel up to ministry, and even spending time with God. Right now, it is more of a duty than a product of a passionate relationship between me and God.

I think it is during the summer blahs where we have to put feet on our faith. On the mission trip, God's presence was palpable. You could feel it. Now that we are back, it is a different environment, and God's presence doesn't feel as near...BUT, I know that God is still right beside me, walking with me.

Growing up as a teenager, I had some really awesome Camp and Retreat experiences, and I struggled the years where God's presence wasn't like the year before, or I didn't percieve it to be as strong. It took me awhile to learn that God is faithful and still working in my life.

I believe that is key when we follow God. There are going to be mountaintop experiences where God's presence just knocks our socks off. There are going to be other times when we desire our socks to be knocked off, but God's presence will be gentle, subtle, and quiet. But God is still there, working in the midst of our lives.

The moral for the day, God is near! In the midst of the blahs, tiredness, and glaze, God is present.