Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went to an isolated place to pray.
– Mark 1:35

Do you ever feel like things are getting away from you? Just when you think you have everything under control, you realize that in reality you have nothing under control. Nothing. None of the things. When we get to that breaking point, the end of our rope, we start to think of Jesus. (Why does it always have to get there first?) Doesn’t Jesus have something to say about this? Doesn’t His transformational power have something to offer to our chaos? Please?

Jesus always blows me away with the simplicity of His actions. We often make Him out to be a complicated man, someone who changes or creates complex systems. We often subscribe to the notion that we could never model His life because it was just “too much.” Certainly if we followed Jesus and His teachings more closely, we would become overwhelmed. Few things scare us more than setting ourselves up to become overwhelmed. Especially in the days of kids, jobs, hobbies, school, responsibilities, and their balance.

As we approach Junior High Ministry’s Summer Camp season (and, if I’m being honest, as a pregnant person whose brain doesn’t work so well these days), feeling overwhelmed is the story of my life. I get so confident in my own abilities to balance life. I prepare things in advance, I bring people in the journey with me, I ascribe duties based on people’s passions and interests – and yet – I let myself down on a regular basis. Things come up that can’t be planned for. A conflict arises. Numbers don’t add up. There are few times in my life more humbling than the weeks leading up to camp.

And yet.

Considering Jesus and His life, I notice a practice he had. He would “get up and go to an isolated place to pray” before things he would have to do. His life required balance just like mine does, but he started off with prayer. Simple. Uncomplicated. Prayer.

As things move toward camp (we leave Monday!), would you join me in this charge to prayer? Before we go about our camp days, would you model Jesus with me and pray FIRST?
•    Pray for our leaders’ health, families, and connection to their students
•    Students’ health, families, and connection to their leaders
•    Camp logistics – smooth running schedules and relationships between camp staff and church staff
•    God’s transformational power to move the hearts of our students toward a deeper relationship with Him and a next step in faith

Please also keep our HSM students and leaders in prayer, who will be heading to camp next week as well, at Lost Canyon in Arizona!

Can’t wait to share stories with you when we come back.

Hilary