Some thoughts...

I was on vacation in the Eastern Sierras, a little place called Lundy Lake. It's a cute story about the place: It was an old silver mining camp in the Boom Days. It was eventually abandoned and turned into a fishing "resort" in the 1930's. My friend would go there with her family as a young girl and later when she was married with kids. When the place was to be sold by its then owners, my friend's husband bought the property as a gift to his wife. They've just celebrated 20 years of owning the resort. It's actually a pretty funky place. It's only open 6 months a year. There are tent camping spaces, spaces for mobile homes and RV's and they have some permanently parked trailers that they rent out. Pretty rustic, but nicely kept. I'm not a fisherman in the least. The only fish I ever caught was at Bluff Lake, but if I were a fisherman, this would be mecca. I got in a couple of short hikes, read and caught up on sleep. What a peaceful place.

I'll be heading to a youth worker's convention for a week in October. I'm really looking forward to that. It's an opportunity to rejuvenated the batteries as I share "war stories" with other youth workers. It's always an amazing week of seminars, workshops, general sessions and resources geared toward encouraging and empowering those responsible for guiding young people in their spiritual journeys.

Recently there was a story about Mother Teresa of Calcutta's writing where she described her fears about her faith. How she often had doubts and never wanted to talk about them to others. I'm really glad to hear that about her, because I share the same sort of doubts from time to time. However, it never stops me from walking in the way of the Lord. Even in doubt, it's important to keep walking the walk... eventually the doubt fades and faith reappears. Frankly, it gave be a sense of peace to hear that such a woman of great works and faith occasionally had her moments... it makes her more human. Returning to the youth worker's conventions year after year has always been that jolt for me. When I leave the convention, I'm ready to take on all sorts of ministries and I have the renewed energy to do so. But as the year progresses and the disappointment and realities of working with committee folks and board members who shut you down at nearly every turn, I begin to feel defeated. As the convention approaches, I begin to build a new focus and I anticipate the new opportunities that await. Ebbs and flows of life, I guess.

Anyway.... just some thoughts to share.