You are Loved

Looking back at this past summer at SpringHill, I can believe the number of things that I came to realize during those eight weeks.  Looking back at what I wrote here, on this blog, during the summer there are several things that stick out to me.

On July 6 I wrote about something that I had experienced during that day.  I had come to realize that God was working on me.  I was beginning to let go of a few things and allow God to turn me into the person that he wants me to be.

What I now realize was that, during that week, I was learning to love myself in the state that I am in as God loves me in this state.  Realizing that God loves you in such a unique way, and beginning to see yourself the way God sees you makes a huge difference in your life.

On July 25 I wrote: 

I have no idea who my kids will be, or what they will be like these next two weeks, but I do know that whatever happens, it will be an amazing experience that I will never forget.  I am also certain that God waited until now to make me a crew chief for a reason.  Whatever the reason, I'm sure that I will learn so much.

During those two weeks I began to understand God's love for us through falling in love with the campers I worked with.  I loved them as a parent would, even when they got on my nerves or tested me.  Looking back on my time as a counselor I can now tell that God was teaching me more about love during the experience of being a counselor.  During that time, I got a small taste of what it means to love a group of kids the way a parent does.  I realized just how much I can personally love a group of kids that I looked at as my own.

Throughout quite a bit of the summer, this is what my left wrist looked like:

Since the summer ended, I took the bracelet off, turned it around, and put it back on.  Through my time at SpringHill, I looked at that bracelet and was reminded that God loves more than I can ever understand.  Now when I look down at the bracelet, I remember that, but I also remember the campers that I came into contact with this summer, and I remember that I need to pass the love that I have experienced and am experiencing on to others.

There is one last thing that I wrote during the summer that I shared in an earlier post here, but wanted to share again.  On July 26 I wrote something in my journal that still sticks out to me.  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.

What I now realize is that when I wrote this in my journal, I was thinking about the time that I was going to spend as a crew chief.  I hadn't realized that these were things that I could do throughout the rest of my life, even after camp is over and I am working a job or two and living on my own.

The amazing thing is that I have already found myself doing some of the things on that list from my journal in my job at The Rock here in Midland.

I may not know if I'll be going back to work at a summer camp again, but I know that wherever I end up in the next several years, I want to continue writing about what life throws at me here.  It's fun to look back at previous posts and remember what I was feeling, experiencing, and thinking about at that time.  From what I've heard from one good friend of mine, this past summer I seemed to write things that stuck out to her mother when she read my latest post(s).

Maybe this is one of several ways God planned for me to reach out and touch other peoples lives.