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Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.
2 Cor. 5:17 ESV
This past month I volunteered at the Granite Gripper Climbing Competition at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area near Fredericksburg Texas. In many ways it was a familiar experience. Setting up the booth, praying for and sharing with climbers, organizing our volunteers, helping competitors find routes; all of these were familiar activities at a place I’ve been to at least a hundred times.
This time something exciting and new happened that changed my perspective. My 11 year old son competed for the first time and won the youth category of the speed climbing competition. It was amazing to watch Joshua interact with a familiar place I dearly love and see it through his eyes with fresh enthusiasm. I watched awestruck as he climbed a section of crystalline granite on the backside of the main dome 3 times faster than I ever have.
At Ascend we often tell people we don’t have a recreation ministry, we are a re-creation ministry! Time and again I’ve seen the Lord use the timeless beauty of His creation to breath fresh life into tired and weary souls. So often in our culture we see recreation as something optional, even trivial, but I believe that God has made each of us with a deep need for continual renewal. We weren’t created to just burn the candle at both ends constantly until we burn out. We need regular Sabbath rest and to intentionally seek out restoration to be healthy and whole. Our God delights in meeting us in the wild places, and often unexpectedly takes something familiar and shows us a new a facet of His beauty and grace. Sometimes just experiencing life through the eyes of a child is exactly what we need to be reminded that our Father is continually making all things new.