GOD KNOWS BEST!
I find it quite interesting how often I need to be reminded that God's plans are BETTER than my own. This is what I've been learning recently and it has been such a blessed journey along the way!
Almost exactly a month ago I arrived in Salem to staff the Crossroads DTS here at the YWAM base. Upon my arrival I learned that we only had one student signed up for the school and that it would be cancelled if we didn't get more students. This came as a huge surprise and made for an interesting first few days as I questioned if I was even supposed to be here in Salem.
The next few days I began to realize that God had me right where HE wanted me and that I didn't need to worry at all because HE wouldn't leave me hanging. As I waited to see if more students would sign up I sought out other areas where I could serve, just in case the school did get cancelled. Looking into other ministries seemed kind of crazy at first because it felt like I was giving up on the Crossroads school, but God reminded me that dreaming and planning wouldn't change what HE was doing.
Out of all the ministry possibilities available I was especially interested in the ropes course. As I prayed about this possibility I began to get excited with the feeling that this was where God wanted me to be and that HE wasn't making a plan "B," but was actually revealing plan "A"... the BEST plan for me!
I kinda joke now that God lured me here with staffing the Crossroads DTS because it was familiar and I felt secure in it and then revealed that he wanted me to work with the ropes course once I got here... not sure if that was really God's original plan, but it works for me ;0)
PLAN "A"... THE ROPES COURSE
At this point, I have just finished my second week working with the ropes course team and it has been AMAZING! I have achy muscles... I have blisters and bruises... and I've cut pitch out of my hair... but I will have to say that this job fits me so well! I love the opportunity I have to share my love for God and the outdoors with so many people! It's like a mission field right in my back yard :0)
The ropes course draws such a diverse array of people... in just two weeks I've had the privilege of serving a youth group preparing for a mission trip, a group of YWAM leaders, a group of college football players, a Brownie troop, and a group of teens celebrating a birthday. I find it crazy that these groups quickly become captive audiences when they are stretched outside of their comfort zone... it's like the challenge course opens the door wide open to speak God's truth and encouragement into their lives.
TRUST THE GIRL AND THE BENCH...
I'm sure I will have many stories to tell as the weeks go by, but to start off I will share about the college football players that I worked with last week. We were just finishing up with the High Climb, which is a 93 foot climb up a big sturdy tree... of course the participants are harnessed in and I happened to be belaying for one of the ropes while the football players were belaying for the other rope. As the guys shared about their experience the issue of trust came up and one of the guys stated that he chose to climb on the side with the girl who was anchored to the bench (me) instead of his three buff teammates. We all got a good laugh about this because I only weigh about 120 lbs and was trusted more than 3 guys who together were at least 500 lbs. Not only did we have a good laugh about this, it opened the door to talk about trust in their lives and how they can build trust as a football team.
To learn more about the Salem ropes course and to watch a cool video of what we do check out this link:
http://www.ywamsalem.org/#/salem-ropes/
