sequestered – kept separated and secluded (freedictionary.com)
The idea of being sequestered was central to how I spent this past Saturday.
Our daughter is off at a Christian camp, but she is not a camper this time, she is a C. I. T. (counselor in training).
I knew it would be good when she will filling out all of the paperwork necessary for her application into the C. I. T. program. There was the standard application forms to fill in, along with medical forms, activity checklist, three written references, a statement of faith questionnaire, as well as a telephone interview.
She got the nod that she was accepted, followed by a weekend of service to the camp in early June, from which she returned with more paperwork to fill out, as well as assignments and devotionals to complete before she returned at the end of June, for two weeks of study and learning, followed by an exam, then a week of assisting in the cabins. If all goes well she will return in August for a week of having her very own cabin of kids to oversee (with assistance).
All last week I received notes requesting that I come to visit her at the camp. With each note I had felt as though I could see her grow, much like an adolescent growing taller during a growth spurt. But this growth was not in height, it was growth and development in her understanding and knowledge of the Bible.
Upon seeing her and hearing of her first week at camp, I realized that, although this sort of growth was possible in any time and place, it was especially significant when it was part of a time of seclusion, separation, sequestering. She had times of learning, times of prayer, times of worship, times of study, incorporated as priorities in her daily schedule. She did not have to ‘squeeze’ these important practices into her days, they were part of the framework, part of the foundation of her daily schedule so that it would be accomplished.
I am eager to see how this learning opens her eyes to all that God has for her, to all that He has planned for her life.
May we all have, and take, the opportunity to be sequestered, if just for a day, to be transformed.
“Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2
Either you, or someone in your life has just finished, just started, about to start or is in the midst of exam season.
For some the risk of the exam is minimal (other than the physical and emotional stress received simply from having to write it).
itsawonderfilledlife 