30 Hour Famine and Faith

For anybody wondering what a 30 Hour Famine is all about - http://www.30hourfamine.org/.


I have to admit I'm a little nervous about it. I'm not really nervous about not eating. I've gone stretches without eating before. I guess its the usual butterflies before a big event. This is also the first event that I've done of this magnitude combining with other youth groups. Dan and I combined our groups for a Super Bowl party, but that was fairly straightforward and confined. This is for a much longer period of time, has a lot of logistics, is overnight and we are doing something fairly difficult with 18 teenagers. We've had multiple planning sessions, have good materials from World Vision, and faith that we and our youth are up to the challenge.


Bottom line - Faith is what it's all about. Faith can stagnate if you don't continue to challenge yourself. And having doubts from time to time is normal. It is not a one time thing. You can't just say I'm a Christian, I have faith and now I'm done (or Dunn in my case..). It has to be replenished. One of the best ways I know how to do that is by facing challenges. Sometimes challenges are thrust upon you like an illness or a tragedy. Sometimes you've got to make a decision about whether or not to take on a challenge. My faith has grown immensely because of the challenges that I've faced that I had no choice about. Well, I had a choice about how to respond to them, but I had no say in whether my wife was bipolar or whether my mom got cancer. Those things happened regardless of what I did. And I'm not saying that my faith could heal either of them. What it did was help me to accept the reality of those diagnoses and to be present with my wife and my mom regardless of where their paths lead. I have faith that whatever happens, God is with them and with me and that no matter how much circumstances may suck that everything will be alright.

So off I go to test my faith and to walk with 20 others who are willing to do the same. Keep us in your prayers. (individual faith is awesome, but the combined faith of many is even more powerful)