Day 2 of Beach Week is upon our students, and they are having as much fun as they are exhausted! After an all-night bus ride and a full day’s worth of Bible studies, games, beach hangouts, energetic worship, and late night activities, your kids have finally gotten a good night’s sleep! And now they are back up and ready for an entire new day full of the same fun and excitement.
Now, you may not have heard from your student consistently during the last few days. We know that some of your kids aren’t talkers and may communicate less than average through texting or calling. However, some of our students are the opposite and will constantly be reaching out and checking in even if nothing new has developed. Either way, Beach Week may put a strain on communications. We really want our kids to focus in on what God has for them, and while our phones are useful for check-ins, they are also rampant with distractions. We encourage all our kids to not be on their phones and instead, connected with their team times, bible studies, messages and beach time. Please note that they will have access to their phones during the day if you need to get a hold of them, but our goal is that your kids would be present in the moment.
We know how important communication is with mom and dad can be. At Beach Week, we are encouraging our students to look at what communication with our Heavenly Father looks like. We would love it if you and your students were in constant communication with God. Updates with highs and lows, urgent needs, or random thoughts, we believe God wants to actively participate with us in dialogue. Whether spoken word or inner dialogue, God wants us to talk with Him.
Scripture is filled with great men and women of faith crying out to God in prayer for deliverance. God hears and helps! Much like you as a parent would respond to your kids cry out of discomfort or pain, God too leaps into action when we reach out in prayer. I have always loved Jesus’ analogy to prayer and what God is like in Matthew Chapter 7, 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”.
Much like we may want our kids to ask us and participate with us, God wants us to ask and participate with Him. Our job as parents is to model and demonstrate this for our families. Begin incorporating prayers into mealtimes, before heading off to work or school as a way to encourage daily and regular communication with God. It may be clunky and awkward at first if you have been out of practice, that’s ok! The goal with any communication is consistency and honesty.
One of the wild things about praying to God, is beginning to hear Him speak. Most people see prayer as a way of lodging complaints or voicing concerns or giving praise, which is ABSOLUTLELY true! But the more time you spend in prayer and quietness, the more we can hear God. This isn’t typically with an audible voice but rather a nudging or an inclination deep within our own person. This may seem foreign and odd, but the more we make space for God in our daily prayer lives, the more He will fill it. We are praying for you parents! It is not an easy task raising teenagers. We believe God will encourage you and give you wisdom and strength.
Take a look at some pictures from Camp so far: wc.org/bw24teamphotos
