One time at summer camp....

It has been a eons and eons since the last post. Life got busy. There is much to write about, but I'll just tackle one thing at a time. We'll start with the beginning of the summer.

I worked camp for the first time in my life, this summer. I was a part of the Centrifuge staff at Jenness Park, in Cold Springs, CA. My job was leading Bible study every day for 5 weeks, to 9th-10th (3 wks) and 11th-12th (2 wks). It was an amazing experience. Every week, God used something in our Bible study to challenge me. We spent the summer studying Moses and his journey of faith and tried to apply the lessons we learned to our own lives. Aside from leading Bible study, I led volleyball and backpacking track times.

One might think that taking 25-30 students on an overnight backpacking trip every week would cause me to dread Thursday nights. However, this couldn't be more wrong. I couldn't wait for Thursday nights to arrive. By far, my favorite night of the whole week and it always ended up being one of theirs (after I told them they couldn't get out of it!). There were definitely some groups that had me a little concerned....but something happens on the trail - you bond. It was always neat to see.

One of my favorite moments came after almost an hour of hiking. For the first bit, we were hiking pretty much straight up the mountain. So, as you can imagine, there was lots of complaining! And that could be underestimating it. It was in this first segment that I often wondered to myself why I signed up for this. But when we changed trails, we came to a look-out....where you could see everything. It was then that I knew why I did this. Their expressions and attitudes changed instantly. They were in awe of God's creation. It never ceased to make me smile. And it happened every week.

Another favorite was our share time around the fire. The group would have bonded even more while setting up camp and cooking dinner....so this time became a chance to share life stories and all God was doing. I was blessed. One night, actually the last trip of the summer, something very cool happened. After we all shared, I encouraged them to take advantage of where they were for the night....in the middle of God's awesome creation and just allow God to speak. I told them that I wanted them to see God as Creator. While in the jungle, I spent so much time looking at the stars. I always stood in awe of the fact that He placed these balls of gas exactly where He wanted them. I shared this with the group and told them to look up and be reminded that God cares for us so much more and He is faithful to finish the work He has started in us. At this exact moment, the biggest and brightest shooting star flew across the sky. Not one of us missed it. In that moment, they got it. They won't forget that night. I won't either.

Week 5 Backpacking Crew