Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Heart to Heart: Mountain Top Experience

Every summer I have the privilege of going to a week long camp with my youth group. I look forward to that time of fellowship with my closest friends but also focusing on God’s Word 24/7. At the end of summer camp the pastor always seems to have the same message- "don’t lose this mountain top experience. Don’t go home and fall back into the patterns that you had before camp. Start having a quiet time with God every day, don’t hang out with your friends who might not be the greatest influence on your life, and get involved with the youth group".  If you have been to a summer camp I am sure you have heard a message close to this one and have felt a tug on your heart to come home and focus more on God.  First off, that’s so exciting, I am glad that your passion for God is becoming stronger and I know that He is excited too! I want to encourage you not to slip into your old habits. Don’t lose hope when you tell your friends about your amazing experience and they don’t share the same enthusiasm as you or when you are exhausted and want to sleep in instead of waking up to do your quiet time.  Keep going steady because in the end, spending time with your Creator and worshiping him with your all is far better than anything else on this Earth!
 Some actions that I would suggest you take to help make this transition easier is to reserve a special time for your quiet time, find an accountability partner, and make sure you are plugged into your youth group.  I have always found that having my quiet time first thing in the morning is the best for me. There is no better way to start you day off than with reading the Bible. If you aren’t sure where to start reading in the Bible start in the New Testament; Mathew, Mark, Luke or John are all great books to begin with!  Another step to take is to find an accountability partner. Your accountability partner needs to be someone who you trust to always be 100% honest with you, someone who isn’t afraid to hurt your feelings by telling you when you are steering off the path.  The last thing I would recommend is to find opportunities to be plugged into your youth group. If that means that your goal is to actually start going to youth group that’s great! Being able to have mid-week encouragement from fellow Christians is always great for me.  When I have a bad start to the week I look forward to Wednesdays because I know that when I get to youth group I will be surrounded by people I love and who love the Lord! If you do not currently have a youth group I recommend going out and finding one.  Try asking some of your Christian friends what youth group they attend, I’m sure they would be happy to take you along!  
Having mountain top experiences is the easy part; it’s the coming down back to base camp that’s the hardest. Hopefully this advice will make the journey less rough and you will be able to keep God at the center of whatever stage of the mountain you are on!

Thessalonians 3:13 ESV- "As for you, brothers,do not grow weary in doing good." 
Galatians 6:9 ESV- "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up"
Romans 12:12 ESV-"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
Love,                                               
Caroline 

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