The last two weeks of June reminded us of how loving our Savior is. It is amazing enough that “while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). But on top of that, God
gives us hundreds—no—millions of blessings. He has given us food, safety,
health, family, friends, and a country that allows us to worship God without
fear. On top of that, he has given (to the members of Fide especially)
opportunities to serve him and others, special talents to use in his service,
and success in those opportunities. We have immeasurably more than we deserve.
Imagine
you are standing under the majestic Niagara Falls. You hold out your hands
under the water—trying to cup as much of it as possible—but it fills your hands
and runs over. You can try as hard as you can, and you just won’t be able to
fit all of that water in your hands. That’s what it’s like to try to understand
our Savior’s love. The little that we can grasp is amazing, but his love
overflows to us more that we can understand, imagine, or even hope for.
That love and grace of God has been
evident these past two weeks as we served at Living Word in Waukesha and at St.
Paul’s First Lutheran in LaCrosse. God gave us more opportunities to teach
children about this overflowing love God has for them as we helped run our
first soccer camp of the year. We’d like to think that we’re in pretty good
shape, but there wasn’t a day of soccer camp that we finished without needing a
tall glass of water and a powernap. At the camp, we each served as the head
coaches for the three age divisions. We had a lot of fun running drills and
games, getting kicked in the shins, and teaching the kids about their Savior.
Twice a day, all of the campers would meet together at the edge of the
field—once for the new soccer skill for the day, and once for the devotion. I
think the kids learned during both sessions, but the latter was far more
important. One quick story:
I had the privilege of coaching the
oldest group of campers. They were, for the most part, very cooperative. They
really enjoyed playing soccer and were willing to learn from an amateur like
me. There were a handful of the campers, however, that were…well…a handful. As
tempers flared and children melted down, I too got a little frustrated. But
these setbacks (as I originally saw them) were a great chance to teach the kids
about repentance and forgiveness. Most importantly, I could tell them that
Jesus had forgiven them for their fits of anger and unkindness, but we also got
to talk about how we treat other people and how Jesus wants us to treat others.
I think they had heard the “talk” about forgiveness before, but we explored the
new concept (to some of them, at least) of forgiving and forgetting as well. After all, what good is it if you tell someone
that you forgive them, but in your heart, you are still holding on to your
anger and frustration? Are we modeling Christ-like forgiveness if we say “I
forgive you,” but we don’t also forget it?
At the
last day of camp, our group huddled up for the last time. I asked the campers
how they thought the day went and they all told me it was great. I wasn’t too
surprised by this. They weren’t quick to complain. When I asked them what they
like about the day, however, I was pleasantly surprised.
Coach Caleb: “Well what did you like about today?”
Camper #1: “We
didn’t have any fights today and we all got along.”
Camper #2, 3: “Yeah,
that was great.”
The maturity and growth I saw from these 9 and 10 year olds
was astounding! They had not only learned this idea of repentance and
forgiveness, but were already applying it! What a blessing to see God working
in their hearts!
In
Lacrosse, we got a chance to set aside the cleats and shin guards in exchange
for a little more time teaching music. The VBS was a blast! The kids really
enjoying stomping, clapping, and do-si-do-ing to some of the bluegrass songs. On the last day of VBS, we took
the kids up to Grandad bluff so they could look out over God’s creation. They
were pretty amazed at what they saw when we arrived at the top.
A big
thanks goes out to the Niemis for hosting us—thanks for playing
cards/scattergories/boggle with us! We
finished off the week with a concert and a worship service in Racine, followed
by another concert the next day in Winona, MN.
Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our summer
ministry. Stayed tuned for more updates.
God bless!
Caleb Schmiege
