Spirit Lead Me

“Spirit, lead me.” That was a breath prayer that got me through a couple summers when I was in college. Our university would gather a lot of different students with a lot of different majors and interests and put them on a team together to go to 8 weeks of camp to promote the Kingdom, the university, and Bible colleges in general. This picture was from my first year of doing that. Yes, my first year. Yes, I was crazy enough to do more than one year. It was such a rewarding experience, but it was very tiring. We would travel for hours to go to a camp in a different state for five days, then travel back, and go to a different camp to do all over again for about 7 or 8 weeks. It was a lot of travel, and it was a lot of effort to live on a camp schedule. There were early mornings, a lot of games and activities, camp food, and late nights. And did I  mention that all of this is with caffeinated junior high and high school students?
 
At summer church camp, there is a lot that happens: from games, to small groups, to campfire talks. There are a lot of emotions. As a leader, we get asked to play all the games and counsel the students during those talks. I talked to students about parents going through divorce, losing friendships, losing loved ones, and other deep talks. At times it felt like I was not qualified enough to give the right answers to some of the questions that were asked of me. I was only 19 years old and only had a year of ministry underneath my belt. But this breath prayer that I was advised to make helped me through it all. “Spirit, lead me.” Something so short brought so much power and comfort to me. Saying this tiny prayer helped me keep my sanity, kept me going when I was tired, and gave me the right words to say. I encourage everyone to find a little breath prayer that works for them. I still use this prayer today, because when you work with students you never know what will happen.
 
Speaking of working with students, our Sunday Night Students programming has kicked off! If you are in grades 6-12, join us at 6:15 pm – 8:15 pm on Sunday nights. We will have food, games, and discussions that are relevant to students with a faithful insight. And if you would like to volunteer with the games, discussion, set up and/or tear down, bringing/making dinner, or any combination of these, email me, Wyatt, at wlenhart@offumc.org.
 
Blessings,
Wyatt Lenhart
Student and Family Minister