Today in the Kamp offices, we are celebrating a birthday, and amidst the decorating, hiding for the surprise reveal, and laughter, I was reminded of a project I did in college. It was for my Spiritual Disciplines class (I wish I had realized at the time what an incredible opportunity it was to have a class like this as a part of my curriculum). It was a group project, which, as we all know, is always a toss-up. Each group was assigned a spiritual discipline from one of our textbooks, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Our job was to focus on the assigned discipline for a couple of weeks, practice it regularly, and then come up with a creative way to present and share our findings with the class. As a college athlete at the time, I really had my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t get assigned fasting. As an avid social butterfly who was in my classically overcommitted sophomore year, I was also hoping against silence or solitude. The Lord was kind enough to answer my prayers (though He later humbled me by teaching me a couple of those disciplines the hard way – cough, cough COVID). As the professor went around the room assigning groups, ours was last. Prayer, silence, solitude, meditation, fasting, confession, worship, service… was there anything left? I was absolutely overjoyed when he turned to our group and announced something I never expected to hear: “Celebration.”
For some reason, I thought that spiritual disciplines, as a rite of passage, had to be somewhat
draining, so I was shocked by the assignment. As I began, I quickly learned that, though enjoyable, celebration was a discipline all the same. It isn’t something that happens naturally or consistently except for special occasions. I started to learn what Paul meant when he said, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
As much as celebrating is fun and happy, and people would 10/10 say they prefer it, we too often fail to practice it. Practicing celebration, as with any discipline, takes intentionality. It means seeing the joy in the small things and inviting others to rejoice with you. God was so kind to create sunshine that dazzles when it reflects on water, the feeling of sleeping in after a long week, the sound of your friend’s laughter, and dark chocolate (to name a few). He didn’t have to create any of that, and He created it “good” so we could delight in it because it points us to Him. Intentionally practicing celebration helps open our eyes to the things we so often overlook. What a good, faithful, and kind God we serve. My prayer for you is that, whether you are celebrating a birthday, 100 years of God’s faithfulness at a summer Kamp, or just a yummy Chick-fil-a sandwich on a Tuesday, you find a way to delight in the Lord today. For in delighting ourselves in the Lord, we catch a glimpse of the joy of eternity.
