This past week at the ESBS we went on our annual Wilderness
Wandering Numbers Retreat to Ocean Isle Beach in NC. We go on this trip every
year during the book of Numbers to give the students a break from the rigors of
the school and an opportunity to have some quality fellowship with one another.
This year was a blast!
During our time at the beach, we had the privilege of having
Jerry Martin, former Camp Director and Executive Director of Camp Lurecrest,
come and lead devotions for us. In these devotions Jerry reminded us of what
the wilderness was supposed to be for the Israelites. It was to be a time of
fellowship with God. It was to be a time of looking back on their history and
seeing how God had revealed himself to them in their lives and the lives of their
ancestors. It wasn’t supposed to be 40 years, just a couple of weeks (that’s a
whole other story), but nevertheless it was to be time spent remembering who
God is and the part he has played in their lives.
So while we were down at the beach I started to think back
over my life and the moments where I know God stepped in and showed himself to
me. I thought about the things I thought were small decisions and saw just how
big those moments were in my life and relationship with God. One of those
moments, and one that I feel has had one of the biggest impacts on my life, was
joining the organization Youth Impact my senior year of college. Youth Impact,
or YI, was an organization that reached out to the underprivileged youth in the
Bryan/College Station community. We met once a week to play and have a small
group. While the ministry done to the students was impactful; it isn’t close to
the impact that the other leaders within that group have had on my life.
I was apart of the 3rd to 5th grade,
or Big Littles, age group and within the leaders of that age group are some of
the men that have changed my life forever. I joined Big Littles because my
buddy Matt Callender was there, but during that time I also became friends with
Chance Gray and Jeff Selby. These 3 guys along with others during that time
were instrumental in pushing me closer to Jesus. I was at a point in my life
where I was staring at the fork in the road and had to decide what my life was
really going to be about. Was I going to follow God and serve him with my life
or was I going to do life my way and live apart from Him?
Each of these guys played a huge part of pushing me towards
God. Matt and I grew up together in The Woodlands and it was encouraging to see
someone who I knew my whole life to follow Jesus without shame and I really
looked up to him for that. Chance was relentless in the way that he challenged
me with my actions, thoughts and motivations in everyday life. He really showed
me that living for Jesus was an everyday thing and not just when we went to
church or served on Thursdays. Jeff and I were prayer partners within YI and it
was Jeff that really showed me what intentional gospel centered friendship
looks like. He always wanted to get together to talk about life and what God
was doing within our lives. He really displayed for me how to be intentional
with those around me.
These 3 guys and the rest of the YI community really started
my hunger to know God more and my thirst to be apart of a community that loves,
serves and gives the glory to Jesus. I am so thankful for their friendships and
they continue to encourage me in life and my ministry here at the ESBS.
I love you guys! You are all good men who show what living
for Jesus is really like.
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| The Boys and Whitney Jones |
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| Big Littles Boys (From Left to Right: Chance, Matt, Jeff, Myself, Micah and Robert) |
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