Schmergen Dergen Blurgen Blu

"Finkle dinkle doo, romper bomper stomper boo."
-Abraham Lincoln.

The above quotation is the opening sentence of the Gettysburg Address translated into gibberish.

Do you speak gibberish? Of course you do! Everyone does. If you don't know how, all you have to do is make up words and say them. It's the best language ever. Try it, it's fun! I once spoke gibberish for three straight hours.

Gibberish is wonderful, but it often suffers as a means of communication due to the fact that nobody can understand what anyone is saying. Everyone has their own distinctive dialect, and very few words translate directly. Though it is fun, gibberish is one of the most useless forms of speaking.

Speaking in gibberish is kind of like living a life without love. In 1 Corinthians 13:1 it says that being able to speak in every language (that includes languages of men and angels, even gibberish) is like being a loud, annoying cymbal without love. It makes everything you say and do useless and futile, because you've missed the point of life.

God put us on earth for two reasons. Simply to love him and love people. Everything else is meaningless, but sometimes other things seem like they matter more. Check in on yourself from time to time and make sure you're not forgetting how much love matters.

I would like to close with a message from one of our most well respected professors in Gibberish Linguistics, The Swedish Chef.

Memories, oh the memories

When I was a camper at Sky Ranch, I always came on the Fourth of July week. My dad knew how to party on The Fourth, as our garage had a cardboard box that was designated as a stockpiling spot for sparklers and Roman Candles, so if I were going to pass up an opportunity to light my own fireworks in the backyard and eat pizza with my brothers, it would have to be for something significantly more awesome.

And Sky Ranch always delivered. I think the fireworks at camp are amongst the best in the world. As loyal friend of Mickey, I fear it may hurt him if he ever reads this, but I'm going to type it anyways. I liked the fireworks at Sky Ranch better than the fireworks at Disney World. Something about how close we were to them, it felt so personal and special. A unique privilege that only us Cabin 9 boys were entitled to.

My first firework show at camp was on July 4th, 2001. I was eleven years old when we laid our towels out on the grass by lake and watched was technicolor explosions in the twilight illuminated Skywaii. A girl with braces sat beside me and my brother sat behind me. I'll never forget the glory I tasted in that panoramic view of God's creation. 

I'm sure that everyone reading this has a similar recollection, a time when Sky Ranch felt like home. A moment that God gave to you to keep in your pocket forever, frozen in your mind to be revisited once and a while. These moments are elusive, sometimes they're few and far and between. Sometimes the time between them is like an endless desert. 

Well get exSKYted. Because summer's coming, and God is going to write new stories in your life through and about Sky Ranch. The happy days are here again.

Loss

Anyone ever experienced loss? I know I have. Once I lost an entire sandwich. It was tragic.

But seriously, in life we are often going to come up short. Things that matter to us are going to be taken away. And it hurts bad.

At times when we lose things we love or care about, it can feel like God is a mean kid with a magnifying glass trying to burn all of us ants down here on earth, but I think it's important to remember one thing:

"For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal."
-Job 5:18 (New Living Translation)

God never destroys for the sake of destruction. He never takes away something from you just because he felt like being a jerk. There is love in everything he does, and if he tears something down, it's to build something better.

And if you're in a time of loss, this ALWAYS helps:

Fulfillment

I've heard it said the journey is far more important than the victory. I believe that is true.

Case and point: Cookie dough.

I have never once in my life had a cookie that I thought was as good as the dough that formed it. And in all honesty, I think that the store bought cookie dough is pure weakness compared to cookie dough made from scratch. It lacks love. It lacks work. It lacks personal flavor.

Yet somehow, even the best cookies just aren't enough to satisfy my cravings. I will always want more. My mother's finest baking efforts last a short amount of time, as I must consume them due to their deliciousness. The cookies that I fantasize about just aren't enough for me. And I want more. Always.

Don't think that any kind of accomplishment or prize will make you feel whole. As people, we will always want more. Some people work their whole lives for something they wanted very bad, and when they finally get it, it all falls flat.

Here's my advice.
1.) Make knowing Jesus your prize. Then you already have fulfillment you can't lose.
2.) Enjoy the journey he takes you on, and work hard at it.
3.) When you eat cookies, don't rob them of their potential by eating them without milk. It's a waste of cookies.

But ya gotta have frieeeends

Everyone likes friends, right? Here are a few examples of legendary friends.

Friends are the people that God uses to make us who we are. They bring out the greatness in us when they care about us. And if we're good friends, we'll do the same for them.

God uses your friends to interfere with whatever it is that is stopping you from living the epic life he wrote for you. If you surround yourself with people who care about you, and you do the same for them, you'd be surprised how stinking cool your life will be.

We can understand God's love through our friends, and they can see it through us. Our actions and words are manifestations of the love he's shown us that people can see and feel.

But be careful, because bad company can corrupt good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33). Ask yourself, "Self, who are the people who are close to me? How do they treat me? How do I treat them?"

You teach people how to interact with you. Teach them love.

Story Time

Hey guys, I'm working on these two stories. Let me know which one you like better.

Story #1: There is a boy who really likes football so he watches it all the time and talks about with his friends. Sometimes he plays Madden on his 360.


Story #2: A young child dreamt of playing football every single moment of his life, but his coach wouldn't put him on the team because he was too scrawny. So he went to the gym and trained every single day, and he practiced passing with his dad after he did his homework, and he ran sprints in the parking lot across the street from his house. Then the next year at try-outs, he absolutely blew the rest of the kids out of the water and got a starting position on the A-Team.


Did anybody like Story #1 better? Think about it for a second. Go ahead, I'll wait. I'm not going anywhere.






Nobody? Didn't think so. The problem with Story #1 is that there are no challenges, no desires, and no passions. The main character doesn't even really do anything. He just fantasizes about what might be.

Now ask yourself, "Self, does my life look more like Story #1 or Story #2?" I know that most of the time, mine looks more like the first one. Boring.

Let me tell you something, God is a master storyteller and he has the most excellent, epic adventure waiting for you if you'll just let him write it. That doesn't mean there won't be challenges. What story would Peter Pan have if it weren't for Captain Hook getting in his way? Would Toy Story 3 have been very exciting without Lotso the Bear?

Don't let the life you live be meaningless. Live an amazing story. Chase destiny.

Whenever you're doing something, ask yourself, "Am I writing this story, or is God?" The more you let God do it, the more awesome it will be.

The moral of this story is: never trust a bear that smells of strawberries.

Taste Greatness

I am a total nerd nugget
It's totes true, and I'm not ashamed. I collect action figures, I break down movie scripts into their five key story beats for fun, videos exist of me quoting along with The Parent Trap, and I recite trivia about fake sports out loud to keep myself awake on long drives. I used to keep this information to myself, in fact I even kept it from myself. For years I denied myself the privilege of purchasing items that were "uncool" because I convinced myself that I didn't want them anymore. If you think I was lying to myself, you win a free milkshake next summer. Maybe.

Anyways, when I'm surrounded by people who constantly tell me the things I do are stupid, I notice that I start to believe them, and I become a little bit ashamed of myself. I don't like being me anymore. I just want to be someone else.

Do you ever feel the same? Perhaps you'll take comfort in this fun fact: All of those haters are WRONG. God made you exactly the way you are on purpose. Not to say that we're perfect and never need change, but the very essence of your being (a combination of things like your passions, your joys, your sorrows, your skills) was carefully crafted by God himself, and he hand-picked you to do whatever it is you do. Maybe it's being a football player, maybe it's being a musician, or maybe it's just giving the best hugs in the history of hugging. Nobody in the world can do exactly what you do the way God wants it done. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made you. Don't believe me? Check the facts.

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you."
-John 15:16


The fruit stuff may be a little confusing. It's not a literal fruit, but a metaphorical fruit. Think of bearing fruit as getting the job done. And the job is spreading God's love. Jesus has work for you in the world that you were custom made to do. So go do that trash and love it!