Dear Jesus, as I call on you today I realise that I often come asking for favours.
Today I’d like just to be in your presence.
Let my heart respond to Your Love.

This was part of my morning devo from Sacred Space today.  It informed my morning of finishing up a new double zipline for Camp Luther in Northern Wisconsin, and in my afternoon buying of souvenirs for the fam  in nearby Eagle River.

What did it mean to “be in your presence” today?  Well for me, it had to do with understanding my context regardless of my location.  A discussion we’re having about Honeyrock, a camp where CQ is doing training next week, is the idea of Honeyrock being a place, or an experience that can happen in many places.  Well, the answer not withstanding, to be in God’s presence is an experience that happens” all the time, everywhere.” (from Most Amazing Grace in the World, off the Whitebread Album)

This morning, in a beautiful northwoods pine forest on a sunny 60 degree day, I knew I was not alone.  I am never alone.  In fact, I am always a part of a conversation going on between myself and my creator.  Sometimes I listen, sometimes I speak, sometimes (usually) I am unaware of what is actually going on and I ignore the voice of the one who loves me most.

Since I’ve been traveling lately, my conversations with home have been interesting, and sometimes mundane- but last night Kristin and I hit on an idea that has big implications for me and for you, and if we don’t tend to it- we’ll miss it.

I said- “I just miss being around for the normal stuff.”  We agreed that its the everyday with the people who mean most to you that defines our relationships.  Just going to ballgames, and watching band concerts and the Biggest Loser together.  Eating food we made a home, and tending to the new (somewhat) garden, and shooting hoops in the driveway- this is what I miss when I’m gone.  And…this is what I forget about when I’m home.

May we remember what it means to live in one’s presence, and to connect that idea on a supernatural level to understanding our place in the context of God’s presence.

Lord, let me live in your presence today.  Friends, let me be present when I am with you- may I be a listener- and be thankful for the existence of the best relationships.  God, may we see you and hear you today- in the northwoods, in Broken Arrow, at New Life Ranch, and in East Tulsa or in Uganda.

We are in His presence- do you listen to His words?  What does He say?  Is it in the Bible, the creation around you that you hear Him best?  Is it through People,  or a challenging circumstance?  What is the conversation like when you choose to be “in the house?”  What do you imagine it is when you are “out of it”?

Feedback!!!??  Cmon friends- shoot me some thoughts!!

Keep reading and look for our new certificate programs coming this next fall…

ck