It was a beautiful summer day at Hume Lake Christian Camp. High school student Connor Williamson was having fun on the beach with his friends like so many others have done over the years. Connor was at camp with West Hills Community Church in Morgan Hill where was an active member and played drums in the worship band. Connor looked at the inviting water of the lake, ran down the beach, and dove in. What he didn’t know was what was just below the shimmering surface of the water. Connor hit a large rock injuring his spine and began to drown. Miraculously there was an ER doctor and nurse on the beach to rescue him and stabilize him for airlift to the hospital. We got a call from our good friends asking us to pray for this young man.
As I thought about Connor’s fateful dive, I thought about how his body followed his head. His body went where his eyes were looking. That’s how it is with all of us. Bob Goff, in his book Everyone Always says, “Where we turn our heads is where we’ll land with our lives. It happens all the time with careers or relationships or possessions. It doesn’t matter whether it’s comparison or distraction or escape that turns our heads – what we look at will be the difference between a great dive and a big disaster.” So we need to be careful what we look at and where our minds dwell.
Last Sunday we started our new preaching series “Cries of the heart: Psalms for Summer.” This week we’ll look at Psalm 1 that calls out some of the things that we can dwell on instead of a deep and satisfying relationship with God. It’s easy to let our heads turn toward the shimmering waters of wrong relationships. We’ve all been pulled toward what’s cool, what’s popular, and what’s satisfying in the moment. Who hasn’t wanted to be part of the “in” crowd, accepted and affirmed by those around us? I hope you are diving deeply into these songs of praise to God regardless of whether your life is in “order”, “disorder”, or coming back to “new order” as Darren told us last week.
After four months in two different hospitals, Connor came back home and began the process of recovering. Last week Connor and his family celebrated 11 years of life, despite all the odds. Connor remains paralyzed from the neck down and is dependent on a ventilator, but he continues to trust God. You can read much more of Connor’s courageous and inspiring story at www.connorwatch.org.
In Christ,
Kurt Jones
P.S. Please remember to pray for the 60 members of our Mexico team. They are on the road all day Saturday. Ask the Lord to help them keep their eyes on the road and on Jesus! 🙂