This just isn't my thing!

Summer Camp is now in full swing at HoneyRock.  In fact the first sessions of several programs are coming to a close this week.  My role lately has been primary centered around coordinating between all of these programs to schedule and staff ropes course activities many of which i have also been facilitating.  I have also been busy trying to complete the coursework and projects for the class that i took this spring, Adventure Challenge Education.  On one level this has made life more stressful.  On the other hand, I am studying the things that I am doing each day.  It is exciting to read about facilitation and leadership, write about it, and then go try out the things that i learned the next day with a group.  Many times this has made me a better facilitator and more aware of what how I contribute to the groups that I am working with.  So I have spent many hours helping groups and individuals grow in self-awareness, self-confidence, and in their relationship with God.  Sometimes these things happen more directly than others, but I had the unique opportunity to share the gospel with a girl on top of the zip line platform last week.  It didn't go through (neither did she jump off the platform to ride the zip line), but many seeds were planted.  This last week, I also had the wonderful blessing of having a very dear friend of mine here visiting and volunteering :).

Here is a glimpse what I do:

As you can see contrary to the title of this blog, this clearly IS my thing.  I really do enjoy working with groups and encouraging them to grow.  Yet, "This just isn't my thing" or some variation of this statement in an  increasingly popular method of dealing with or running away from challenging situations.  I have been hearing this statement out of campers mouths almost every day.  I estimate based on my experience that 1/8 of girls respond this way and 1/4 to 1/3 of boys.  This estimate is not age specific, but rather I have observed this in elementary, middle school, and high school.  The real challenge for these young persons in not doing a challenge, but being willing to even try a challenging or new experience.  These persons lack confidence, courage, and often physical ability as well.  In much of my previous experience working with youth, this type of person would typically try things and then with some encouragement pull through to complete the challenge while gaining confidence, courage, and often physical ability.  The challenge for me has been more with getting people to try, rather than encouraging them to succeed.  Often the reasons behind such a statement are usually very deep and are often related to home environments.  As for the ratio difference between girls and boys; read the book, Boy's Adrift by Dr Sax.  Guys are currently struggling to cope with the pressures of American culture more than girls while many of both genders are not equipped to deal with life.  Pray for the youth of our nation.  Encourage your friends and children to try new things, take risks, and not back down when things become uncomfortable.

The Fear/Trust paradox

Hi all!  Things are going well here at HoneyRock.  I am now in the middle of session 2 of WIN.  The SLS students (aka the summer counselors) are also taking classes now for a total of 8 different college classes happening at once here at HoneyRock.  This last weekend held a trip to Wheaton to drop off session 1 students and pick up session 2 followed by activities to get to know the new group of students.  Today Rob officially moves back to HoneyRock from his sabbatical.  We are excited to have him back.

One thing that I've learned over the last few weeks is what I am calling the Fear/Trust paradox.  I have come to believe that fear of life and trust in God are opposites while fear of God and trust in God are almost synonymous.  For the sake of discussion we will look primarily at Psalm 112.  In verse 1, "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord".  Then in verse 7 we read that, "He [a righteous man] will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."  This is similar to the more often quoted Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  When we put trust in the Lord then the worries of the world, our everyday lives, are put into focus.  The opposite is also true.  When we put our trust in ourselves or our ability to fix a problem then we continually worry about about it.  When we are really honest with ourselves, we realize that we are filled with fear.  Fear of failure, fear that someone will find out we aren't perfect, fear that someone we love will let us down, fear that God won't fulfill his promises, fear that we will be out of job, fear that our accomplishments aren't worth anything, etc.  1 John 4:18 says that, "Perfect love drives out fear".  God loves us.  Our identity is in Him, not in what we do our a position that we hold.  Because God loves us we can put our trust in him.  There is no fear when we trust in God, b/c His love is greater than our fears in life.  Thus, I believe that being a Christian means first and foremost putting our trust in God.  Often we try to cover up for our lack of trust by achieving a certain level of morality that makes us look good.  Thus, we are perceived as religious, but the reality is we are completely lacking faith and trust in God.  Rather, we are actually putting our faith and trust in ourselves.  I'm not discrediting morality, but am saying that it should be a by-product of a relationship with God that is based on trust.  Being a good person does not change God's view us and carries no weight for salvation (Romans 5:8).

These thoughts have greatly changed my perspective on life.  Maybe they will encourage your heart also.
Blessings...

Summer is here! well almost...

Summer has officially come HoneyRock style with the arrival of over 100 Wheaton college students!  Some are here to take 2 week classes called WIN (Wheaton in the North Woods).  There are 2 sessions of WIN for a total of 4 weeks.  Some students are here for the SLS program (Summer Leadership School).  These students will take a college class, go through staff training, and then become the Residential Camp and Advance Camp counselors.  Many others are arriving to be on staff for various positions such as maintenance, kitchen, activity area staff, etc.

The transition for me is the completion of my classes and training.  Now I am working with 2 others under Rob, the director, to plan and implement 3 programs: challenge course, WIN, and camp worship.  Through delegating responsibilities I am primarily responsible for Adventure Challenge.  Ei: scheduling and facilitating groups.  However, I also help with the others.  This week I have been primarily focused on connecting with the WIN students.  The last several weeks I have been doing ropes course training and helping with building and maintenance.  Here is a glimpse of maintenance day:

The outdoor practical training involved doing and learning to facilitate all of the high and low elements.  We also enjoyed (not really) a small snow storm in the middle of the week:

I also took a graduate class in adventure challenge education.  While I learned a lot about how to better facilitate and be attentive to the needs of adventure groups, the class ended up feeling more like life counseling.  I was able to discover many ways I can and need to grow as a leader and how to better listen to and serve the needs of those around me.  I am excited to put these things into practice with the upcoming summer of ministry.

My transition into the summer is also marked by me moving into new housing.  Fortunately, I moved into my non-heated cabin a few days AFTER the snowstorm.  However, I fully value lots of blankets since it is still pretty cold at night this time of year :).  The rest of my cabin mates are trickling in as their summer roles require them to move up to HoneyRock.  I now live right on the lake front by the canoes!

Wildlife: I've seen a family of black bear and several loons.  There are actually leaves on the trees as of this week.

Prayer: Pray that the lake fills up.  It is abnormally low due due to a rather large drought that we are experiencing (rumored at the worst in 37 years).  It is low enough that it may effect waterfront programming.  Also, pray for all of the Wheaton students and counselors that have just arrived that they would connect with God and with each other over the next month.

School?

A year ago, I would never have thought that I would be doing what I am doing now.  Grad school?  Well, not for real (at least yet).  However, I am in the process of completing my first ever graduate level course in the Theology and Practice of Outdoor Ministry.  This has probably been the best class I have ever taken for a couple reasons.  First, it is about a topic that I am become more passionate about.  Second, the class format was more of a seminar rather than lecture creating quality discussion.  In general we discussed: spiritual formation, outdoors/creation, temporary and church community, leadership, learning, and philosophy of ministry.  Our discussion of these topics was very beneficial to me as I pursue further ministry opportunities.


This week I will be traveling around to visit other camping ministries in Wisconsin to evaluate them based on the lessons learned in class.  This should be fun because a lot of the people we will be talking to we have already met through church, broomball tournaments, and the CCCA conference.


I have been doing a lot of reading lately for class and personally.  Several of these books I would recommend:
Boys Adrift- Sax; discussion of culture and its affects on young men
Embracing the Love of God- Smith; a refreshing understanding of Grace
The Making of a Leader- Clinton; the process of lifelong growth in leadership
Last Child in the Woods- Louv; evidence for engaging with Creation


It is an incredible blessing to live in a place that not only is dedicated to God, but is also beautiful.  As it starts to turn spring this place still reminds me of Narnia (CS Lewis' fantastical land).  There are lots of birds, deer, squirrels, etc running around everywhere.  I am especially fascinated by the lake.  It is always there and always different.  Spiritual metaphor?...  What a blessing to be able to go wading, canoeing, and to sit by the shore and watch the sun rise and set.

Things here at HoneyRock are full speed ahead gearing up for summer.  There is much preparation to do yet, another cabin to build, lots of volunteers and students coming, and I will be taking another graduate class that will also be a part of my training at the beginning of May

Blessings,

Matt

Spring Break

I am currently on Spring Break from my HoneyRock experience.  The last couple weeks held the experiences of attending the CCCA WI-IA conference, building cabins, and cleaning up the winter activity areas.  Thus the winter season is officially over and i'm in Grove City for a couple weeks catching up on life and working at GCC to earn some extra cash.  When i go back to Wisconsin I'll be taking 2 graduate classes in camping ministry which i will get credit for through Wheaton College.  This will involve class time, several projects, and a tour some camps in the area.  This summer i will be working with one other person to manage the challenge course area of the summer ministry.

On work projects...  Work projects are a great opportunity to be outdoors, fellowship with others, do things with one's hands.  Seeing as I enjoy all of these things it was a largely a positive experience.

On CCCA...  The 3CA conference was held at Lake Geneva Camp and was an opportunity to connect with others in the camping ministry in the area.  This was also a very positive experience.  I enjoyed making friends and learning more about camping ministry.  I was also challenged love for others, and was encouraged by what God is doing around the world through camping ministry.

On my personal growth... I have been challenged by living in community to grow in how I love, build trust, and encourage others.  It is a wonderful challenge to see ways that i need to grow in my walk with Christ.

As i write this, i'm sitting behind a sound board at GCC.  Yea for opportunities to work at old jobs :).

God Bless -matt

Pleasing God or Pleasing Man

The winter retreat season has finished in the sense that my coworkers and i will not be hosting any more groups, and it has been 50 degrees and sunny all week.  It is difficult to do winter activities when the snow is melting.  I'm  told that we usually get a couple big snow storms in April but at the moment it feels like spring.  It is spring in both a physical sense but also in a spiritual sense.  I have seen God do amazing things among several of the retreat groups.  Many people have experienced God's love and grace in real and amazing ways.

I also have experienced God's love and grace to the extent that it is fair to say i have never really fully known it before.  Hence the title of this blog.  Many who profess faith in Christ stop living for themselves and start living a life to please God.  This sounds good, but it doesn't work.  There is nothing i can do to please God!!!  I am already as righteous as i can be b/c of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for me.  Instead of trying to please God we need to trust God.  We need to take off the mask that says we have it all together so that we can experience the freedom of God's love and grace.  For we have, "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ... ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..." (Rm 3:22-24)  Now that we have been forgiven so much we are able to love and forgive others and by this we show the grace of God to others.

With less retreat guests the main task has been building log cabins.  It is great to work out in the sun with friends.  If you are reading this I pray that you are encouraged by what God has been doing in my life and in the lives of those around me.  Blessings...

Boys Adrift

The retreat ministry at HoneyRock is slowing down a little.  By slowing down, i mean that we have only been having guests on the weekends so we have had some time during the week to do other things.  Last week we went downhill skiing (I snowboarded) on Wednesday.  We had a couple inches of fresh powder so that made for a pretty good day.  This week I will be doing work projects around camp on Wednesday and Thursday.

This last weekend was very different compared to previous weeks where we have dealt with a lot of suburban  middle and high schoolers.  This week we had an inner city group and i was working with a full age range church group.  It was a refreshing to work with all ages at once and to find ways to encourage small children, middle schoolers, and adults who have been coming to HoneyRock for longer than i have been alive!  It was amazing to see them experience community with one another and be challenged by being out in God's creation.

By this point you are probably wondering at the title of this blog post, "Boys Adrift".  This happens to be the title of a book that i just finished reading by Dr. Sax, a MD and PhD Psychologist who has been studying the changes in American culture and how that has affected the motivation of young men to succeed in life.  Boys Adrift is a must read for parents, those involved in ministry, and those in their 20's who are wondering what has happened to them and around them.  I would place myself in 2 of those categories so the book has been very instrumental in my learning about my self and about how to frame ministry that i am involved in.
-Things i have learned about myself:  1- I am very competitive.  This may sound like a strange thing to learn at my age, but i have always thought i wasn't competitive because i didn't play competitive sports.  2- There are educational reasons why I have disliked school.  3- I like to have some control over the environment that I am in.  4- I am very visionary.
-Things i have learned about ministry:  Most boys thrive on low levels of competition whereas most girls thrive on having experiences together.  Thus it is best to frame activities for mixed groups in such a way that there are some levels of competition and opportunities to have shared experiences.  This plays out on the micro scale with a few well timed words of encouragement to the macro level of setting up an activity or even a whole retreat.  It is important to have some level of gender specific ministry so that better mentoring and more intentional programming can take place.

I feel that this week i have received several confirmations on my calling to experiential education ministry that will probably take place in the camp setting.  One of them was through reading Boys Adrift and getting excited about encouraging people from that mindset.  Also several adults that I worked with told me that thought i had found my calling and they were very encouraged by my ministry to them.  I also have seen ways that God has been working in groups and in lives around me.  It is exciting to see the ways that God has been working in my life, through my life, and in the lives of those around me.  I have a lot more to learn about camping ministry and i am excited venture further down that road.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a statue of a Hodag :)