While all pages of this journey of life are technically the same length, some just feel longer than others.  In an attempt to avoid being at work seven days a week, Fridays usually find me working both ends of the day and often through the middle as well.  I was greeted by a pleasant surprise as I headed out the door a little before six this morning . . . there was no fresh snow on the ground, the temperature had risen to 16 from the 4 degrees it was when I went to bed, and there was no frost to scrape off my windshield.  Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot to brighten a day.  🙂  While there was no snow to clear from the sidewalks, yesterday’s snow meant that the floors inside needed extra attention this morning so I was doing good to have the building ready by eight today.  

Once the building was ready for the day, I began to reflect on the conversations that took place a couple of weeks ago at the Christian Camp Leaders’ Conference about devotional material for summer camp staff.  While my 31-day devotionals went over well with the camp leaders, it seemed like there was a need or desire for something a little different.  As I was spending time praying and considering this, a flicker showed up outside my window to help himself to some seeds from the sumac heads.  He seemed to take only what he needed and when he had his fill he moved on.  Out of that came the idea to sort through the weekly prayer guides I have written over the past few years and see if I could come up with an assortment to serve as outlines for daily devotions with a working title for the series being, “Devotions for Those Who Serve”.  I quickly came up with 13 different prayer guides that I could easily use the daily prayer points from as the foundations for some devotional thoughts and questions without it becoming cumbersome or too lengthy for a daily staff devotion time.  

From there, the thoughts began to lay out in book format that could become a daily devotional guide for 13 weeks with a new topic every week and a new point of that week’s topic each day.  Then I remembered the flicker taking just what was needed and realized that very few, if any, camps had summer staff on site for 13 weeks any more.  What if I took each week’s topic and made a series of short 16 – 20 page booklets that included the devotional thoughts and questions I planned for the book as well as some space for journaling?  By creating a separate booklet for each topic, camps, or anyone else for that matter, could choose just what was needed in both time span and topical content.  This would also allow the series to grow at a more moderate pace by simply adding another booklet to the collection as God gives resources and direction.  As I began to consider that possibility, the thought hit me — who said it had to be one or the other?  Perhaps both formats have merit for different purposes.  Anyhow, it is one of those ideas that has been planted in my mind and is a part of today’s page.  What God wants to do with it, if anything, is yet to be seen.  So I continue to pray and listen with a confidence that God will provide clear direction as He already knows if this idea has any usefulness for His kingdom.

In the midst of all of that process in my mind, a group of guys met at the church and we went out for lunch together for an enjoyable time of fellowship.  It was a welcome break from the day and I pray an encouragement to all who participated.  Once the building cleared out for the day, it was time to start getting it ready for the weekend.  Cleaning in the quietness and preparing the building for our Sunday worship gathering is a great opportunity to spend time in prayer and listening.  Usually in the middle of the cleaning tasks I take a break to let the floor scrubber recharge.  This gives me time to sit for a while or, in tonight’s case, do some writing.

While today’s page isn’t fully lived yet, I’ll wrap up the writing of it so I can finish my work and head for home.  I’ll leave with a photo of the flicker who taught me today that having what is needed really is enough.