In Search of Love

I have often thought of things that I wanted to post here in the past few months. I've neglected to do so because most of what I've been pondering or have felt I have discovered has felt very personal in nature, and I thought it would be more advantageous of me to keep it to myself and 'ponder these things in my heart' instead. Perhaps I'll find myself writing out some of these things in the days to come.

However, I've been thinking about what's going to happen in the coming months. I'll be working at a summer camp as part of the Christian Education staff. Every day, I'll be teaching children in the Jesus And Me time, as well as helping out with the other curriculum for the camp. The thoughts have been swirling around my mind about what I'm going to try to instill in these kids and what sort of action I need to take so that my every day appearance supports the lessons that I'll be teaching.

There are so many things that I want to say! So many values I want to give them! But there's no way I can cram them all into one summer. And if I teach one lesson one week, then those kids don't get the lesson for the next week, nor do the next week's kids get the previous week's lesson. Okay, that may not seem like a tragedy, but I really want to fulfill this position to the best of my abilities. Therefore, I've been looking for an overall theme from which to grab lessons. The more that I dwell on it, the more one solitary answer keeps coming back to me: Love.

Now, I must admit that I do not understand love. I utilize love and I receive love as best I can, but, like most people, I do not have the comprehension needed to fully take in the true meaning of love. For the past six months, I've been in a relationship with a great man, and we've been learning what love means. Now, we are both dynamic individuals, and therefore have found that love often includes disagreements and exists in spite of argumentation. But our affection for each other remains, and our love is merely mortal. Think of the capacity of God's Love beyond that!

So, this summer, I will be doing a study on Love. I've been working through God's characteristics and God's love for us for a while, but I want to go deeper. I want to wade through the waters of the overwhelming LOVE that God has for us. And the more I know it, the more I can enact it, and the more ably I'll be able to teach it. Or at least show it. I'm not quite sure how that works yet. But I am excited to find out!

Some potential sources I hope to use:
C. S. Lewis - The Four Loves
Francine Rivers - Redeeming Love
The four Gospels
Hosea
Genesis
C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity
Paul Young - The Shack

Let me know if you have any other suggestions. And pray for me. =)