As anyone who has worked with me can tell you, I am severely ADHD. Whether it’s trying to pay attention during a staff meeting at LOV or just trying to stay focused while I’m on the job, I tend to easily get sidetracked by the smallest things. To make matters worse, my ADHD acts up more as the day goes on. So my ability to stay focused is at its weakest during Summer Bible Camp hours. Having the attention span of a chipmunk while dealing with young children is a recipe for disaster.

At the same time, I feel that as every day goes by and I grow stronger in the Lord, I am able to better control myself and to actually stay committed to the task at hand. With both the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the encouragement of my friends and the people who work with me, I am able to fight off the urge to goof off and to stay focused to what I need to do (whether it’s working at LOV, being a responsible student at South, etc.). This also helps me to be more submissive to God’s will, which in turn allows Him to work through me to become more of the kind of person that He wants me to be. Regardless of what happens to me though, it is never through my own power; it is all to the glory of God.

This last week at LOV, we talked about the parable of the sower and the seeds, found in Matthew 13:3-8. In this parable, Jesus taught that a farmer was out in his fields planting seeds on various different types of terrain. Some of the seeds were planted along the path, some were planted on rocky soil, some were planted in soil covered with thorns/weeds, and finally, some were planted in good soil. As time went on, the seeds that fell on the path were eaten by birds. The seeds that fell on the rocks grew quickly but died when the sun came up and scorched them. The seeds the fell on the weedy ground were choked out. But the seeds that fell on good soil thrived and survived when times got tough. The point of Jesus’ story is that He is the farmer, the seeds are the Gospel, and the soil is how we react to hearing it.

Although this passage comes from the Gospel of Matthew, I immediately thought of a passage from Philippians as soon as I heard this. In this passage, Paul is thanking and congratulating the church at Philippi for their faith in the Lord and their obedience to His will: “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6).

These verses remind me that regardless of anything that goes on in my life, whether it’s good or bad, we must always be focused on the ultimate goal: becoming what God has called us to be. Even though we all have our own personal goals that we strive to achieve and obstacles to overcome, we must always be aware that God created us to fulfill a specific purpose, or a “higher-work” (I got the title of my blog post from the Katy Perry song “Baby, You’re A Firework” after hearing other popular songs redone with Christian lyrics at the puppet show last week).

Since I started going to LOV to help with the after-school program and now with Summer Bible Camp, I’ve felt that by helping teach the 4-6 year olds about what God wants them to be, I am slowly starting to realize what God wants me to be. Although the lessons that we teach them are relatively easy for kids at that age to understand, there is always a deeper meaning that applies to everyone. Regardless of whether you’re a little tyke and full of life or an adult who’s seen it all, we can do all things through Christ and His power.