As we promised in the brochure, campers at Brightwood Station this summer will be given a cool Offroad Safari Tour during their stay at Cascades! Brightwood Campers can get excited for the ride of their life in this 2 and a half ton army truck as it snakes through “uncharted lands”…who knows, you may even spot some wildlife along the way!
Get more info, or register for Brightwood (here).
“Come, let us return to the LORD;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD…”
Hosea 6:1-3a
These few short verses at the beginning of the sixth chapter of Hosea are so rich with meaning. I am not going to pretend that I have anywhere near a comprehensive understanding of what all is being said within them, but no doubt, they are worth exploring and learning from! As sinners we wander from God (Isaiah 53:6) and here comes the call to return to the Lord. Our lives are torn and rampaged – they fall short of the “perfect life” that we have envisioned for ourselves. We fail, we lose friends, we don’t get the job, we lack – He has torn us – but in so doing His promise is to heal us.
I must admit that I struggle a bit with the concept of God tearing us that He may heal us, but I do know that our Creator God is Sovereign. He is Omniscient. Outside the realm of time, God knows all, and is faithful to work for the good (Romans 8:28) that ultimately only He can fully know because He is not constrained by time as we are. He can see all things as they have been, are, and will be, and has complete knowledge and power to work things for His glory. In this there is comfort knowing that He will heal us.
Then there is the call to know, to press on to know the Lord. It is worth noting that we must press on to know the Lord. Knowledge of God does not come easily. It comes through a dedicated pursuit, and often comes after brokeness – being torn, struck down – then once we are healed and raised up, if we choose to seek God’s wisdom as it relates to our brokeness, we can learn from these experiences (Philipians 3:8). But we must press on to know Him, that is our call, that is what gives us life. For when we know God, when we truly know Him and the gift of His Son, we cannot help but walk according to His purpose, constantly returning to the Lord when we stray, but living only to know and glorify Him.
I pray that we all would spur eachother on to return to the Lord, to let Him heal, revive and raise us up, and in the midst of all this to press on to know the Lord, always.
Blessings,
Claudia
Current Prayer Requests Include:
We are in the middle of our first family camp of 2009, the Memorial Day Campout. The weather has been gorgeous and everyone seems to be having a great time at the waterfront, on trail rides, doing the Rubicon Challenge, eating s’mores, and hanging out with friends and family!
One of the renovation projects that we’ve been working on at Cascades is the remodel of Brightwood Stations’ Deep Woods Chapel. Awhile back a crew demolished the old chapel set-up and just today Alan Thomas, our Operations Manager, and Rob Mohrweis, our Associate Director, have begun work on the main staging. Our summer staff will complete the job by putting in the seating and doing some other beautification pieces during staff training week in June.
“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Hebrews 13:1-2
I am continually amazed by the way God uses His people to speak truth into the lives of others. And while I have been so immensely fortunate to be poured into by those around me, it is not enough to just soak that in – but I must remember to let God’s blessings that have so abundantly poured down on me, overflow to all those I come in contact with, and especially strangers.
Jesus wasn’t the type to only hang around with His friends – keeping all the wisdom given Him by God to Himself. Quite the contrary! While Jesus did have his closest friends in His disciples, He went and loved, without reservation, all those He met. What are we saying to a stranger if we rush by them without even acknowledging their presence? Whether we are trying to or not, their is a chance they could feel invalued. And while they may be just a stranger to you, they could in fact be an angel to someone else, and at the very least (or more rightly stated, the very most) they are God’s children, made in His image, deserving of all grace as their ransom has already been paid.
So, smile to that stranger. Show them God’s love in any and all ways you can. Who knows, you may be entertaining angels without even knowing it!
Blessings,
Claudia
Current Prayer Requests Include:
Current Prayer Requests Include:
Check out Cascades Camp’s twitter account and get the minute by minute updates on life at Cascades!
Here we see a few of the guys working on the table tops.
All of the benches completed and looking great!
Recently around 12 guys with the Men’s Ministry of Crossroads Community Covenant Church here in Yelm, came out to Cascades for a volunteer work day. In a few short hours, these gentlemen built 12 new picnic tables to be used around Liberty Ridge Campground.
Thank you to all the men of Crossroads who came out and made this project happen!
Flickr
http://flickr.com/cascadescamp
Youtube
http://youtube.com/cascadescamp
Facebook
http://facebook.com/cascadescamp
Cascades on iTunes
http://bit.ly/cascades-podcast
Twitter
http://twitter.com/cascadescamp
Copyright © Cascades Camp Blog 2009. All Rights Reserved.
A proud member of the 
family
