CREATE IT

Imagine a long hallway with sunlight streaming in through floor to ceiling windows. A violin softly invites you to sit and meditate. A tranquil fountain gushes water atop a peaceful, still pond. Thirty children sit at tables meditating on God’s Scripture and painting their hearts in colorful offerings of worship. You have just stepped into “Create it!” You are at e-camp, yes.

We listen to Scripture read in a “lectio divina” style. Lectio divina (pronounced lex-ee-o dih-vee-nah) means a holy or sacred reading of Scripture. It begins with cultivating the ability to listen deeply to hear with the ear of our hearts. As we quiet down, we listen to the Word of God for the day. Today we heard 1 Chronicles 29:10-12

David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.

We listen for a word or phrase that God is speaking to us. Maybe He gives us a picture. We pray for Him to speak to us individually through His Holy Word. We begin to paint as an act of worship to offer to God our gifts and our adoration. We are Levitical priests tending to our souls – temples of the Living God!

What a privilege it is for me to get a front row seat in the holy of holies in the hearts of these precious children! I cannot imagine a more beautiful scene than children worshipping their Creator. Can you?

Do you find it hard to believe that your child can be quiet for 50 minutes and listen? Do you wonder how it is that a group of 30 children go from 100 miles per hour to zero in less than 3 minutes? Do you want to know a secret? They can do it! Know what else? It is beautiful!