Dehydration

I had the honor of going to camp with our elementary school aged kids in June. I love camp... and so, even though it was ridiculous for me to go up on a mountain while I was already busy trying to balance planning VBS and my college studies and all of well... life, I jumped at the opportunity to head out with a few dozen kids, some awesome volunteers, and my dear sweet friend and co-worker, Julie.


In my life, I have had the blessing of going to several types of camps- school, church, scout... each of them is unique in their own way, but there are some things that always seem to happen:

• for sure, at least one of the boy's cabins smells so badly of dirt, unwashed children, broken wind, dirty socks, and sweat that the door has to be left open (because the threat of a bear walking in is preferable to living with the stench)
• early morning, the adults will inevitably line up like zombified toy soldiers, waiting with bated breath for the coffee maker to turn out its first batch.
• we will for certain find a child with some sort of contraband- a cellphone, ipod, pocketknife, or a bunch of medications that weren't checked in with the nurse
• and beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the kids will come to us, wanting to go home because they feel "sick"...

When the children come to us saying they are sick- we first make sure they're not just homesick (this is usually cured by just refocusing on how much fun they are having at camp), we make sure they've been to the potty recently (sometimes they get so busy they forget to take care of some bizness), and we get them to drink a lot, lot, lot of water. 

Now, once we've ruled out the first two things, it's a pretty sure bet that the child is dehydrated. They never, ever think that's the case. They will argue with us that they have been drinking water the whole time, that they must have eaten something, caught a bug, have the flu, or that they need to go home.  It's really hard to convince a child that their bellyache or fatigue is dehydration.


Eventually, though, we'll talk them into taking a few sips of Gatorade.  Almost like magic, the color will return to his/her face, they will perk up, and they will tell us they feel much, much better.  After about 20 minutes the child will be better than new, and ready to get up and head out to all the fun activities that are planned for them.


This last time it occurred to me that I am often like the stubborn camp kid who will not admit that she is parched.  What? I'll ask- I have been reading the Bible everyday! I can't possibly be spiritually dehydrated! It must be something else, someone else must be to blame!  But the truth is, if I'm feeling emotionally drained, physically exhausted, spiritually yukky, it's hardly ever what I think it is.  It must be my circumstances! It's probably that other people are making me sick! I must need a (fill in the blank here--- piece of chocolate, a new diet, a new purse, a new home, a vacation....whatever) and THEN I will feel better!


But what I don't want to admit is that I am running dry.  The thing about camp (in our area, anyway) is that it is almost always in the mountains... in a much higher altitude.  When you're up high like that and you're much more active than usual, thirst comes faster.  And the amount of H2O that used to sustain you just isn't enough... in fact, you have to drink several times the normal amount of water you normally drink.


You see, when we are up on God's elevation we need to realize that a simple glance at the scriptures and a halfhearted prayer are not going to be enough to sustain us.  When we are serving God, ministering to others, going through difficulties, raising up families, making life changes, we need more than just a few seconds with God everyday.  We need several times our normal amount of time with God.


For me, that means I am going to have to start going to bed earlier so I can wake up more easily.  I need to not check Facebook before I check in with God.  I need to start keeping scripture cards in my purse again, I need to stop making phone calls in the car and go back to listening to sermons while I commute. I need to just drink in the Living Water because frankly, my friends, I am not only at a different elevation, but I am in a seriously rough season.  The climate is dry and scorching.  I am tired and weary and feeling "sick" because I am dehydrating. My thirst is not going to be quenched from any other source but by the Word of God.  

I love how God shows up in everyday life, don't you?

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

John 4:13-14 nlt