This summer, seven girls from St. Andrew's will spend their summer working at Warren Willis Camp in a variety of positions. This is the Florida Conference camp located in Leesburg.
I think as a parent of one of these girls, I am so grateful to God that my daughter gets to use her faith this summer to help expand the Kingdom of God. Do I think Gary and I or the other parents of these girls get all the credit for raising a child who would spend a summer helping other kids in their faith journey? Not really. If the parents of these girls are like Gary and me, none of us did it alone. I am so grateful for all the nursery workers, Children’s Directors, Youth Directors, and volunteers that helped us raise our kids in the faith. Thank goodness it was not just up to us.
Everyone in the church community is called to serve, yet many do not. My thanks to everyone who takes 1 Peter 4:10 seriously. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
I think it always comes back to God’s grace. If something works, that is God’s grace. If all our efforts to raise kids in the faith do not work, well we still look to God’s grace to be with our kids. It is always grace and grace alone. I do want to say to all the girls: Kayla Wood, Laura Bober, Meredith Rideout, Emily McGinn, Grace and Ellen Oldham, Mabel Kerker, thank you! Thank you for representing St Andrew's this summer with you gifts and talents. I also want to thank their parents for intentionally raising them in the faith. Finally, I want to thank everyone who gives of their time and talents in Christian service to help raise St. Andrew's kids in the faith.