LOVE'S SWEET SORROW

this weekend was york ccf (english)'s very first winter retreat. and i gotta say that God is too good to us. :> starting with perfect weather and safe rides, He showered endless blessings on us. three years ago, when we were simply a handful of bumbling first and second year students with a call, we never would have dreamed that within these three years, God would build us up to a point where we could hold our own retreat with 22 people. let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

naturally, a retreat is never complete without a few lessons. this time, insight struck me in a most unexpected way. on saturday, a few girls and i went out for a walk and we ended up lying on our backs in the snow, staring at the sky and humming Amazing Grace. suddenly, one of the guys came up behind us and dumped some snow on our faces. it wasn't much but when a few of the other guys heard about it, they decided to give this guy a snow job. so, in typical guy fashion, the tackling, dragging and general shoving of snow began. when it was all over, the "target" had a bloody nose and another guy had lost both of his glasses lenses. i was horrified at what i had triggered and i tried to help by getting kleenex and scouring the grounds for the lost lenses. in the end, the nose was ok, one of the lenses was found, but the other lens was lost indefinitely.

my friend had lost his lens for me. in defending me, he had to cope with not being able to see comfortably or clearly for the rest of the retreat and beyond. i was the cause for his loss. but on the other hand, he'd done it willingly. suddenly, i realized that what Jesus did for me was the same kind of thing but on a much larger scale. i was the cause for His death. but because of His love for me, He gave up His life willingly.

there were other lessons learned this weekend, but of all of them, i think this one will be deeply imprinted on my heart for the rest of my life.
thank you. and thank You. i do not deserve this love.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
...he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!
~Philippians 2:4,8~