LLFC Blog

Laity Lodge Family Camp and Laity Lodge Youth Camp have chosen Jules Thomas and Chelsea Jensen as the 2010/2011 interns in the Laity Fellowship Program!

Jules Thomas grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana (she loves everything Cajun), and Houston, Texas. She attended LLYC as a counselor and then as work crew boss. Jules graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Kinesiology. She has been an active leader at McCallum High School Young Life in Austin. Jules says that being a counselor at LLYC has greatly helped her efforts and ministry through Young Life by enabling her to become more confident in her abilities to guide and walk alongside girls in high school. She says that her time spent working with both the Youth Camp and the Family Camp has filled her with such joy. Jules knows that the Fellowship Program will challenge her spiritually, mentally, and physically, but hopes it will connect things she has learned in and out of the classroom and through organizations such as Young Life into the next stages of her life.

Chelsea Jensen grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, and has been coming to LLYC ever since she was ten years old as a Tri-Love camper at Singing Hills. Chelsea graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Anthropology. As a member of the Texas A&M Women’s Chorus, she performed various selections of music at campuses, churches, and auditoriums around the state. They even traveled to three European countries on an international tour and sang in Hungarian, Slovakian, and Czech. (Chelsea will be a great addition to the Laity Chorale!) She has a strong personal and spiritual connection to the H. E. Butt Foundation property because she came to Christ when she was 12 years old while attending a junior high church retreat at Linnet’s Wings. The Frio Canyon and camp facilities feel like a spiritual home to her, and Chelsea expects the Fellowship Program will be an incredible place for her to grow and help others be uplifted and realize their talents as well.

Jules and Chelsea are both serving on the LLYC staff this summer. Chelsea is working alongside Laura Newman as Girls’ Assistant Co-Director at Singing Hills. Jules is serving at Echo Valley this summer as the Kitchen Director. Please welcome them to the Foundations for Laity Renewal.

I surrender! I surrender! Have you ever said these words before? I know I have. I want to surrender every time my kids keep asking question after question, when my spouse hands me yet another to-do list, when my work does not seem to stop, and the list goes on. Our instinct tells us to fight or flight; our culture tells us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and start again. We need to surrender. But surrender to whom? We can surrender to others or to our desires. It is time to surrender to the God who is God of our children, our spouse, our work, and us as well.

The teaching theme for Laity Lodge Family Camp in August is “Surrender.” We will spend some time learning what it means to surrender our busy lives to God and build a relationship with God. We will not just learn how to surrender; we will begin to practice this relationship throughout the week.

Jim and Carol Anderson from Acts of Renewal will be with us during the week to help us on this journey. They have some incredible insights into family for us to experience. You can go to their website at www.actsofrenewal.com to get a taste of their great talent.

Don’t think that we are surrendering the fun. We have a fantastic week of crazy activities planned for the whole family. Our fun theme for the week is “As Seen on TV.” We will be bringing some TV shows to reality (some of them are even reality TV shows). It will be a blast.

We will be offering a variety of wonderful activities throughout the week such as:

Water Slides
Rappelling
Alpine Tower
Zip Lines
Mountain Biking
Hiking
Horseback Riding
Fishing
Sitting by the River
Sleeping

We will also be doing some great group activities like:

Rodeo
Blue Hole
Amazing Race
Family Project
Parents’ Night Out at Laity Lodge
Families Got Talent

It is going to be a fantastic week of Family Camp. Come join us and experience a time of family renewal as we surrender ourselves to God.

Laity Lodge Family Camp had two fantastic May camps, hosting 55 families and over 220 campers. Two Methodist church groups joined us, as well as individual families from all over the state. During the camps, we focused on surrendering our relationships to God, remembering how much God loves us, and sharing that love with others in our family. It was a time for laughter, play, worship, and connection.

Melody Pickle, who participated in the April 30-May 2 camp, said it best in her blog post Lincoln Log Church. She writes, “This is church at Laity Lodge Family Camp. A church filled with families (including the children of all ages and abilities) absorbing God together . . . Laity Lodge Family Camp allowed room for worship, for noise, for play, for being in the presence of the children and the King.”

 We have had two fantastic camps in February and March. Our February Valentine’s retreat consisted of 17 families from SAMMMinistries, Good Samaritan Center, Family Services, and One by One Ministries.  We had a crazy start to the weekend because the buses did not arrive until almost 10 p.m. after leaving at 5:30 from San Antonio. We had dinner and smores by the camp fire on Friday night.  Saturday was an amazing day filled with devotions for parents and activities for everyone. The evening started with a special Valentine’s dinner for parents and a wonderful dinner and movie for the kids. This was followed by Roundup and the First Family Camp Olympic Games.  We had the luge, bobsled, ski jump, and even ice dancing. Families had a great time together. The families left on the bus after the closing worship and the incredible brunch feeling loved by God and each other.

Our March family camp was filled with 16 families from various places. It included some staff families (volunteer and paid) from the various ministries that we are partnering with for the Goldsbury grant. It was a beautiful weekend filled with fun and laughter. They learned of God’s blessings in their lives that overcome the fear in us.  Families enjoyed all the activities including swimming in the still very cold Frio. The Olympic event was a great hit with all the families. The closing ice dancing and party was particularly awesome. The highlight was watching a dad at the closing worship circle his kids up and pray with them and then hug each one as he tells them he loves them. What a blessing that is for those children. What a blessing it is for me to be a part of what God is doing in the Canyon. Thank you, Lord!

Have you ever been fishing? My father took us fishing growing up. He got us up at five in the morning. We would get dressed, half asleep, and stumble out the door to get our fishing poles.  He would grab the bait bucket with the live bait to put on our hooks. We would head out to the fishing pier that stretched out over the Gulf waters. We were all excited to catch the big fish. Yet before we could cast our lines into the water, we had to put the bait on the hook. We would reach into the live-bait bucket and pull out a squishy and smelly live shrimp. We would then try to put the bait on the hook. Our hands would be stinky and sticky from the shrimp.

I remember one time when my mom was fishing with us. We had put the shrimp on her hook for her because she didn’t like to get all smelly. She pulled back the poll to cast out the line and when she did, her line went further up than out. At that same moment, a large seagull flew down and grabbed the shrimp from my mom’s fishing line. The seagull also grabbed the hook as well in its beak. My mom screamed and my dad grabbed her fishing pole to reel in the bird. It was the most amazing catch of the day.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells Simon that he will catch people. So how do we catch people? While Jesus called Simon to be a fisher of men, I believe God is the real fisherman, Jesus is the hook, and we are the bait! Yes, I said you are bait! Have you ever considered yourself to be stinky and sticky? I know most of us don’t want to be seen that way. We want to show everyone our good side.

However, if God is the fisherman and Jesus is the hook, God needs good smelly and sticky bait to attract others to him. If we only offer God our good side, how attractive will we be as bait? We did not catch any fish with fake shrimp. God wants to take your stinky and sticky messed up lives to be the bait so that others may see his love and forgiveness! God wants you just as you are so that his grace in Jesus may be the hook that brings his people to him.

So how can you be the bait in this world? Let me use this analogy. In the game of Go Fish, each person has a set of cards and one person asks another if they have the same type of card. If the person does have the card, they hand it to the person asking for it. If they do not, they tell him to “Go Fish”. All too often we are afraid to ask others to meet Jesus. We don’t want to be rejected. We are afraid that others will see our smelly side. Yet like the game, Go Fish, we can draw a card from the Go Fish pile. In life, God promises we can always draw on his love in his son Jesus. It is in this power we find the ability to be God’s bait, attached to Jesus the hook, to be thrown into the ocean of this world. We can only be the bait if we draw on God’s love in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit!

We draw on God’s love by coming to him in prayer, reading his interaction with his people in the Bible, and surrounding ourselves with his followers to walk with us on this fishing journey. The more time we spend with our God, the more open we are to show our messy and stinky lives with the world because we know we are loved and forgiven. God has chosen us to attract his people, not to ourselves, but to himself through the love and forgiveness of Jesus as seen in our lives.

Are you willing to be God’s bait?

I Corinthians 13

Are we all these things that Paul say’s love is in 1 Corinthians? Of course, we are not. We fall short of love everyday. So then how can we love each other? How do we love our spouse, our children, our parents, and our friends? I believe the answer is in how close our relationship is with the One who is love. God is love!

Here are three ways to help us grow closer in our relationship with God. First, spend time in the Scriptures. You see the subject of the Scriptures is God. It is a witness to God’s interaction with God’s people in different times and places. Listen to how God chooses to act in the variety of circumstances. Don’t look for the rule but instead engage in the relationship and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in your specific circumstance. Where is God leading? Ask questions and listen for the answer.

This leads me to the second way to grow closer to love. Pray! I don’t mean ramble on through your list of wants. Instead, listen to the Holy Spirit speak to you. Take time out to be quiet during the day, the week, the month, and the year. Take a retreat for a weekend or even a week. Allow yourself time with your Creator. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Listen to what God has been saying throughout your everyday life. What was so important about that interaction with the person the other day? What has God been teaching you? Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to the mind and the heart. The temptation will be for you and I to fill our time with even more voices through people, or books, or television. STOP! Listen for the One who knows you and loves you. I am not saying that what God has to say is easy for you to hear. It may be God is showing love by challenging you and pushing you forward. Yet isn’t that what we really want? Somebody to believe in us enough to move us forward when we are often to fearful too take a step forward.

Third, surround yourself with the fellowship of God’s people. God is present through and in his people. Find the people that reflect God’s love to you. This may be one person or a hundred. Some of us need more people than others. We may not be love itself, but we can reflect that love to others so they may see God’s love for them today. We are a mirror of God’s love in this world. The problem is if we are not in relationship with God, then what do we reflect. What can you see in the mirror if it is dark? We can only reflect the light we have received from God. The more time we spend with God, the greater light we are able to reflect. This is the way we can love others.

The temptation we face is that the mirror of God’s love becomes the object of our affection. We make another person out to be the love itself. Then when the other person falls short of patience, kindness, or anything else, we feel that love has left us. Yet the truth is none of us is the love itself.

So take some time today and each day to spend time with the One who is love. It is there that we will find the light we are able to mirror to our family and friends so they may know the love of God.

Take some time to reflect on God’s love for you as you listen to this song by Allen Levi from his album Bigger Picture —Songs in the Key of See.

Laity Lodge Family Ski Camp at Waunita Hot Springs Ranch was a tremendous success. We had 63 people from 16 families with ages ranging from 3 to 70 years old. Everyone arrived on December 28^th ready for some snow fun. Many came by car while some by plane. A few found themselves stuck in the deep snow coming over one of the passes. Luckily the folks at Waunita helped them get out and over to the lodge.

Most of the group spent 3 days skiing or snow boarding at Monarch Mountain while some did some shopping in Salida, Gunnison or Crested Butte. One family even had an adventure snowmobiling. They found out that some snowmobiles don’t do well in deep snow. Each day families would come back to Waunita and relax in their hot springs pool before enjoying an amazing dinner. We would all gather together in the evening upstairs in the barn for singing, skits, and a talk from Niles at Roundup. Each Roundup, we would tell stories from the day. The rest of the evening was spent sitting around playing games, talking and just enjoying each other. The families left on January 1^st after a fun celebration of fireworks, cider, and banana splits on New Year’s Eve.

The first annual Laity Lodge Family Ski Camp was a fantastic experience. We learned a lot as well. Yet in the end families were able to reconnect with each other and their Lord in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Thank you, God, for being with us!

The Joy of Christmas

The joy of shopping, shopping, shopping, and more shopping! The joy of putting together that gift with a million pieces and having some left over. The joy of traveling during Christmas especially when you make it but your bags are in some other city. The joy of family, all the family, together over at your house. Where do we find joy in the midst of the good and not so good this Christmas? Take a look at this video and see what I mean.

 
Where do we find joy? I think the answer can be found in Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary was on track for a wonderful life. This teenage girl was engaged to Joseph when the most amazing thing happened. The Gospel of Luke tells us that an angel appeared to Mary and said to her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” The angel continues and says to Mary “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.”

Mary then goes to visit her relative Elizabeth. When Elizabeth hears Mary’s voice, her own baby leaps for joy inside her. Elizabeth proclaims “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is this child you will bear. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary’s response to Elizabeth is one of praise to God. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”

This may sound great now, but can you imagine the reaction of Joseph and his family. You are pregnant? How did you say this happened? Mary could well have been thrown out on the street or even stoned if they believed it was adultery. She had every reason to be frightened. Yet her response did not come from the outward circumstances of fear but from the one who was with her. Mary chose to allow her soul to magnify the Lord and rejoice in God her Savior. Mary’s joy came from the Lord who was with her.

Where do we find joy like that? Joy doesn’t come from the outward circumstances of our lives. It doesn’t matter if things are great or terrible. Joy comes from the Lord who is with you! This same Jesus who was in Mary is also in us. No, we all aren’t pregnant. But we all have Jesus in us through the death and resurrection of Jesus and his gift of the Holy Spirit. That is where joy is this Christmas. Joy is in us! God is with us!

Yet there is more. This Jesus is also in those around you. Does your heart leap for joy when you feel the presence of Jesus in someone else?  Elizabeth said to Mary, “why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” We too are favored to have other Christians around us because the Lord is with them as well.

This week, as you prepare for Christmas, open your heart to see how blessed you are because of all the people in your life. Not because they have done something for you but because God is with them in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit! Let us rejoice in God our Savior!!

from Laity Lodge Family Camp

A Christmas Adaptation of 1 Corinthians 13
by Sharon Jaynes.

 If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls but do not show love to my family, I’m just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals, and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime but do not show love to my family, I’m just another cook.  If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.  If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties, and sing in the choir’s cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.  Love stops the cooking to hug the child. Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired. Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way. Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.  Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure.

Content taken directly from Celebrating a Christ-Centered Christmas by Sharon Jaynes, published by Moody Publishing, copyright 2005.

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