Suffering and Fruitfulness from Philippians 1:19–30

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him,
but also to suffer for him...
Philippians 1:29 

Happy Saturday to all from Shadow Valley Family Camp! Devotions once again were a rich time of fellowship and meditation upon God's word. Our time together began with the presentation of the new Shadow Valley guitar. It was made by Hiram Philo out of wood harvested from the mountain.* After the presentation, Karen played the guitar while everyone sang "I Lift My Eyes Up." the official camp song.

Following the song, Mycah led devotions, using Philippians 1:19–30 as the text. As Nathan did yesterday, she keyed in on Paul's references to his suffering and how he responded to it: with prayer, rejoicing, and confidence that God would use it to bear fruit. She encouraged us to respond in the same way with confidence in God's promise to use our suffering for good, even when we can't see that happening. Mycah held everyone's attention, even that of Dave and Vasyia Walker who arrived in the wee hours of the morning.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence,
I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,
striving together as one for the faith of the gospel...Philippians 1:27 

*To learn more about how the guitar was made, go to First You Cut Down a Tree where the series of blog posts about the projects begins.