The Unfading Beauty of a Gentle and Quiet Spirit

I am currently traveling on my way to Sky Lodge Camp in Wisconsin, and I figured what better thing to do with my six hours than catch up on a bit of blogging. The past two weeks I have been working at Bair Lake Bible Camp in Jones, and I have already learned a few things.

First of all, I am unbelievably impressed with the conflict management skills the people working on Senior Staff have exhibited. Yes, we get frustrated and things do not always go smoothly, but we always talk things out and get them resolved quickly. Which is an extremely rare thing in this world. It is a great learning experience for me as a future counselor to see what good communication skills look like.

Another thing I value about our staff is that all of the woman possess a lot of integrity. They don’t cause drama, they don’t flirt with every guy they see, they treat each other with the same respect and dignity they command. They are truly what a beautiful woman looks like. I am so excited to get to know them, and to learn from them.

I also appreciate the way the men treat us women. They really do treat us as sisters in Christ. They respect us and look out for us without regarding us as helpless females. I don’t think I have ever been treated so well by men of my age in my life. Keep it up, gentlemen!

Along the same lines I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be a woman of God lately. Seeing the examples of the senior and full time staff women has been really encouraging. I have always loved the stories of the great women of Bible. I must have read Esther and Ruth like a bazillion times since I learned to read. So I have some head knowledge about what it means to be a woman of God, but now I am discovering the practical application of all that.


One of my favorite passages as of late is 1 Peter 3:1-6. which says:
Wives, in the same way be submissive to you husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment , such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

We are daughters of the Almighty King, we have been rescued by the blood of the Prince of Prince, we are a reflection of God’s glory. Should we not act in a manner befitting our position? Physical beauty means nothing in the grand scheme of things. It is our inner selves that matter. It is a woman who gives to the needy, who loves the unlovable, who embodies dignity and respect that will leave a legacy, be remembered, and be regarded as beautiful in God’s eyes.

I desire so much to be that woman. I want to live a life of unmarred purity. The day I finally meet the lover of my soul, I want him to say to me, “well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to be able to show people God’s unrelenting love in my every action. That they may be won over when they see the purity and reverence of my life.

Therefore, let us do just that, ladies. Let us face our future confident in who we are, not giving way to fear. May we exemplify the lives of the holy women of the past. May we pursue righteousness. Finally, may we leave a legacy that will reach for generations.

Love, Crumpet

So I was in a tree today supposedly reading a book (I was really being distracted by thinking), when I saw a spider (which was not a true spider because it only had one body segment, it also wasn’t a daddy long leg as Rosie and I determined when we saw the spider not-spider earlier, but we’ll just call it a spider). And this spider reminded me of a thought that I started working through in my head a few weeks ago. So while I was not reading, I worked on it a little bit more, and I am super excited about it.

Speaking of Distractions...


Here is what I started with. This is a journal entry from awhile ago:

Sitting at my own little table in the café of a grocery store, I am strangely content. The soft murmur of voices, the cheesy sax playing over the radio, and the sound of carts wheeling by carrying their various burdens, is somehow comforting. I feel alone yet connected at the same time. I feel independent yet I also feel the responsibility to my brothers and sisters spending their Saturday afternoon grocery shopping.

A little boy excitedly relates a story to his father a few tables away and I cannot help but smile. The past few days I have been spending my time talking on my laptop, watching the latest shows on tv, playing the latest video games on my brothers’ game console, and eating as much as I want. But never once was I truly happy with all that. Not like am now simply reveling in the beauty of human connection. God, how infinite are the complexities and simplicities of your nature! I see them so beautifully reflected here. I cannot wait to discover them in full one day.

So, I was thinking about the connections that humans have with one another, and I think a good picture to use would be a spider web. Each person is a vertex and interactions are the threads. Some threads are stronger than others. The one you have with your best friend is much thicker than one you might have with the girl at the checkout counter in the grocery store. However, you are still connected with the girl at the grocery store. If only for a few precious minutes, you are connected to her.

Now, when something lands on the web, every vertex can feel the vibration. It is something that shakes everyone and can be felt through every connection (which is how the spider can tell there’s a fly there, but that has nothing to do with anything so let’s just continue). Of course, weaker connections may not feel as strongly, and they may break under the pressure. However, they are still affected and that can change everything.

The first thing that I like about this thought is just a sense of belongingness that I feel which is so beautiful to me it brings tears to my eyes. I don’t know how it is for everyone else, but knowing that I am really a part of something is unbelievably wonderful.

The second thing that comes to mind is, what if we think of the gospel as a fly that lands on the web (ha ha that is really funny for some reason). But this fly is like the biggest and most important fly in the history of the universe. Shouldn’t that vibration be carried to every single vertex no matter how far away it is? If this really is the most important thing in our lives, should not we as Christian carry that vibration to every connection? Yes, some will be strained, some will break, but they WILL be affected. And isn’t that worth it? Isn’t that worth stepping out of your comfort zone once in awhile and striking up a conversation with that checkout girl, and telling her the wonderful news?

So, in light of this, I say let us build up our threads and let us carry this vibration to the ends of the earth. Let us not be “…ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

Love, Crumpet

p.s. so after reading this again I realized that if the gospel is a fly than it gets eaten by a spider. Oh well, its not a perfect analogy.