Final Hours at Camp

I've been home for just over one week, and am finally adjusted to being around the real world again.  I'm still trying to figure out the whole job situation, but have already had a few interviews.  Hopefully one of these interviews will lead to a job of some sort.

I was thinking back to my final hours on camp, and the things that I experienced there during that time.  I wanted to share some of those experiences now.

Those of us that stayed on Friday night and through Saturday morning enjoyed dinner at burger island.  It was fun to just hang out and not have to worry about anything other than enjoying each others company.  I still remember standing with one of the TST Ads named Madison.  Both of us were a bit worn out and considering going back to the cabins that we would be staying in that night.  Neither of us really felt like going to the water slide that night with a bunch of people.  I still remember walking back to our cabins together, and feeling right at home not having to say a single word.

That night, after having had some down time, a bunch of the TST staff went to the fireplace under the New Frontiers dinning hall to make s'mores and do breaking bread.  For a long time, we all just hung out there sharing the things we appreciated about each other.  I hadn't realized that my joy had touched so much of the TST staffs lives.  It was good to know that, even though I didn't get to spend much time with the kids most of the summer, that the TST crew chiefs (aka counselors) appreciated.

On Saturday morning before leaving camp, I took another step in my own faith.  As a child I was baptized, and in middle school I went through confirmation.  Through both of those things, I didn't consider what either of those milestones was something I wanted to do because I believed in God.  I did it because I thought it's what my parents would want.  In the past eight months, plus the two months at SpringHill last summer, I came to a place where I wanted to be re-baptized as a way of symbolizing the way that I have become new in Christ since my arrival at SpringHill in June 2014.

Here's a couple photos from my baptism:

Journals at Camp

I've done a good job of writing in my journal here at camp.  As I looked back at my journal and read what I had written just this summer, I realized just how much I've begun to understand this summer.  I wanted to share some of what I wrote in my journal.

On July 20 I wrote:

Am I good enough to lead  these twelve girls in a small group on my own?  Yes.  God put me in this position for a reason.  These girls need to hear something God will say through ME.  I may be planting a seed.  I may be watering a plant.  I may be the harvester.  THIS is where god needs me.

You don't have to have it all together.  It's okay to be a mess and show it.  Let God work in you.

On July 25 I wrote:

Sometimes God sends someone who is still learning and growing to teach others.  In teaching others, these people grow and show God to others through their pain, growth, joy, and understanding of Him.  In challenging those who are still learning, we become more than we could ever expect or hope to become.

On July 26 I wrote;

God wants me to be...

Caring
Compassionate
Loving
Present
Listening
Loving
Trusting
Giving
Joyful in all I do

...during these next two weeks.

On July 30 I wrote something that I heard God saying to me:

"I seek the work of your hands."

It's so hard not to love camp when you have so many moments of feeling loved by campers and staff, getting to love on campers and staff, and hearing about how various campers came to accept God during their time here.