I serve the Prince of PEACE

"... he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer." 1 Peter 3:11

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

This week I prayed for peace. I prayed that my heart and my ever-worrisome mind would stop questioning the decision I made about camp and that I would be content in my decision. And it seems like no matter how hard I tried to make myself believe that the decision I made was right, I always thought about the "what if" or the "look what this person has", etc. Plus, I keep hearing about other graduating class members who have just signed contracts for jobs, and it was stressing me out.

Then, I went to church. And it was more of a blessing than I ever, ever, ever could have imagined.

The sermon was on Matthew 26: 6-13. It's the story about the lady who poured the expensive jar of alabaster perfume over Jesus's head while he was eating. The disciples asked, "Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Jesus responded by saying, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me."

Chris, our college minister, explained that the lady understood the significance of giving away a year's worth of income (which was about how much the perfume cost) in order to worship Christ in the manner she saw fit. To the world (the disciples), she had wasted something that was of precious value, but to Christ, it was an act of worship.

This was what I wrote in the margins of my bible -- "waste your life in the eyes of the world to take the time to worship Christ." God calls us to live a life that may seem like a waste to society. He asks us to give up materialistic objects that the world deems as "success" in order to live a life that worships God.

During the sermon tonight, Chris said this.. "The world views success as the fast track to your career, marriage, kids, lots of money, a big house, a nice car, retirement, and so forth. Give that up. Give up a moment of your life to "waste" it in the eyes of the world."

And that is when I realized that I made the right decision about camp.

No, I won't be making a hospital salary at camp. I won't get engaged right after graduation like I had already planned. I won't necessarily have a secure job 5 months from now. But, that's okay.

I'm taking a break from my life this summer to bless some children at a summer camp. And I plan on receiving a blessing in return. The camp this summer is not a church camp. It's a non-religious camp, in fact. But that doesn't mean that I can't love the children with the kind of love that Christ shows me daily. I can bless, love, cherish, and shower those kids with everything I have in order to make them feel like they had a summer at camp with a nurse who blessed them tremendously. And it's something I want to do.

Several people may look at what I'm doing as a risk. Like I'm wasting my degree by not jumping straight into a hospital job. I even had an ICU nurse tell me it was a waste of time that wouldn't benefit my career.

Looking back, they sure did choose an odd choice of words, didn't they? A waste of a degree and a waste of time... sounds exactly like something I'd like to do.

Waste a time period of my life to receive a blessing from Christ? Yes, please.

I walked out of church with the realization that prayer works more than ever before. And that God hears his children when they pray. And He showers you with love and peace and joy when you need it.

Praise God that He is the Prince of Peace and a steadfast provider who knows exactly what His children need!

"Take control of everything.

My life, my hopes, my dreams.

All I am and all I'll be.

I surrender to my King."

"Living He loved me. Dying He saved me. Buried He carried my sins far away.

Rising He justified, freely forever, and one day He's coming. Oh Glorious day!"