CFO is not a place...is it?

by Lisa LaLonde

CFO is not a place – and yet it is a place. Just like the heart of God is not a place – but is a place. If we are created in God’s image, then it follows that we mirror much about His personality. So our attachments and memories are like His attachments and memories. When He thinks of me, does He “remember” all my moments? When the Spirit of God hovers and broods over all the places where CFO’s are held, does He carry those moments like we do?

It is a privilege to travel to many different CFOs to taste and see that the Lord is good no matter where He meets His people. I have to admit that there are some locations that are more beautiful than others, but those aren’t the memories I carry with me. What I carry with me is moments with Him, and with His people. A tiny, stuffy cabin in the woods in Canada, where the flies lined up at the door waiting for you to leave. But it was there that tears were streaming down Linda’s face as I spoke about Jesus as our Superhero. I could see that she loved Him like I do – it was a God-moment and a memory of place now. Likewise, in another stuffy room with a broken air conditioner, nine youth gathered around a makeshift cross gathered and assembled quickly from the woods – there were leftover candles we had “borrowed” from the prayer room, and someone was reading the story of the crucifixion of Jesus from one of the gospels. Even in the dim light, some of the kids were wide-eyed. We knew some had never heard the whole story before. Jesus was there, and nothing else much mattered. Or what about another tiny airless meeting room where a young teen shared that he would never be the same after that day because of the love of Jesus that he saw in us? My memory banks are full of hot, sticky, uncomfortable moments in CFO when God was unquestionably there and moving.

But by His grace, He also fills our memories with moments in beautiful places – places where we say, “He painted this scene just for me.” Morning meditation by Cedar Lake up in the California mountains. The open-air chapel in the woods at Connecticut/Gateway with Marion playing her harp to the open air and the glory of God. The prayer prep at the chapel at Finger Lakes when God changed our plans and we ended up playing and singing music He wanted to hear, not what we had selected. The Koronis meetinghouse, fondly referred to as Noah’s Ark, where I held a trembling girl as she sobbed into the wee hours of the morning, and the majesty of the room mirrored the majesty of her new freedom. Writing by the shores of Lake Winnepesauke, with loons swimming and chipmunks dashing past my toes – the breeze said, “He is here! He is speaking!” How many moments of memory at my own beloved Silver Bay, where God has met me in countless corners, both beautiful and mundane. The prayer rock. The bench on Slim Point with the wind whipping past your ears and the mountains singing around you. The fish-bowl prayer room with my teens spread out all across the floor, weeping for the love of Jesus and praying for each other. The boathouse where Glenn Clark himself used to hold morning meditations….

All these places are real to me, part of my memories of CFO. I’m making more memories all the time! But I know the real memory I have of CFO is of the moments when Jesus was there, and He drew me to Him over and over. His people are there, and there is some beautiful mystery about how He uses them. Home - always home in CFO, no matter the location. Because Jesus keeps showing up, in his people and surrounding His people. Glenn Clark himself loved to pick beautiful spots to come “farthest out.” But do you think he was ever in a stuffy room, delighted that God showed up in spite of the setting?

When the Lord thinks of me, I think He remembers all my moments and places in CFO and says, with great satisfaction, “Yes, that’s my girl. She’s coming along just fine.” I think every time we hold a CFO camp or retreat, the Lord brings along his photo album and indulges in a little trip down memory lane with us. Do you remember when God first met you at a CFO experience? It may have had something to do with a place, but it had more to do with Him. When the Spirit of God hovers and broods over all the places where CFOs are held, I believe He carries those moments like a precious photo album or a well-worn recording….and they’re all his favorites! And they make His heart cry out, as do ours, to make more memories. Let’s meet Him again and again!

© 2006 Cincogatos Productions Published in the CFO Fellowship Messenger December 2006