A Summer Update and Some Random Stuff | A Writer’s Reflections

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camp, life, ministry, purpose, summer

After a long and busy summer working at camp as a media intern, I’m back home with some very good intentions of keeping my blog updated more regularly. It’s not that I didn’t have anything to write about during the past couple of months (quite the contrary), but I simply didn’t have the time or, honestly, the motivation, to write out a blog post. Whenever I did get a break from my job, I would spend it resting or reading or just doing something that was as far away from being “work” as possible. (Writing doesn’t usually feel like work to me, but in the midst of the busyness of the summer, it did.)

But anyway, lots of things happened and God gave me a wonderful summer that included many new, amazing friends and plenty of life lessons sprinkled throughout.

I’ll definitely be talking about many of those lessons in the near future, but for now I wanted to just let you all know that I’m still alive, back home, and for now I’m trying to figure out what’s next for me in life.

You know, just as a little random thought here, it’s hard when you’ve been living at a place of ministry for almost three months and your life has been so constantly full of activity and virtually planned out for you down to the hour . . . and then, just like that, it’s over, and you go home. Then . . . you feel sort of aimless, deflated, and wondering what in the world your life was all about before you went to that place.

I know that three months is pretty short, and there are probably many of you out there who have dealt with leaving a place after many months and years and you feel my predicament magnified many times. But bear with me, because it’s still a hard situation, regardless of the length of time you’ve been there.

I guess that’s why, as a Christian, your life can’t be all about one aspect of ministry, or one group of people, or one particular place. Because those things will eventually go away, and life will change. And if you are so consumed by those things to the point that they become your whole life, then when you lose those things or people, your life will suddenly be devoid of meaning and the ensuing emptiness will consume you. Being a Christian is not only about ministry or people. It’s about a person, one Person. And if He the most important part of everything you do and everywhere you go, then you’ll always be fulfilled and satisfied, even through difficult loss and change. Life will always have meaning.

That’s my little spiel for today. Hope all you readers are doing great and that you’ll hang in here with me while I try to get my blog going again!

Photo Credit: Yours Truly, using the camp’s amazing Canon Rebel T5i that I really really wish I could have brought home with me and I parted from with many tears (ok, not really tears, but I was very sad to leave it behind)

Oh, but if you are searching for a simple way to alleviate my sadness and make my day extra happy, and if you haven’t subscribed to my blog yet, you can totally go ahead and subscribe, and feel good for the rest of your day knowing that you just did your part in lifting me a little bit higher out of that pit of depression I sunk into when I said goodbye to one of my deepest and closest friends. Just saying. *sniff*

Week 3–Summer Reflections

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camp, kids, Random Reflections, reflections, summer

I had planned to post this on Monday, but completely got sidetracked by the busyness of the new camp coming in, so here it is now.

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Just a couple of thoughts from this past week. Things have been really busy with it being the first week of camp, but God is still doing a lot of great things and helping me grow me more and more.

Kids are so fun and hilarious. I love being around these kids that come to camp. They are so carefree and silly and entertaining and real. Yes, they are excessively silly and crazy at times, and they are like the absolute worst guessers of your age, but they are also so honest and open. There is nothing hazy or sketchy about them, for the most part. Once you start getting up into the teen years, then you start running into more complex and confusing characters. But don’t get me wrong, there were some older teen girl campers who, though they took a little more time and patience to get to know, ended up being just the sweetest, awesomest group of girls ever. Who also loved being “photographied” while they did a bunch of cute and silly poses.

You probably won’t ever feel completely ready for what you have to do, but you do it anyway. A big part of camp is doing stuff that is out of your comfort zone. I didn’t expect to have to do a lot of the stuff I’m doing this summer, and some of it definitely takes me out of my comfort zone. This is where I have to remember that this is where God has me for now, and where He has called me and what He has called me to do, He will give me the strength and ability to accomplish. I am not here because I am awesome–I am here because of what God will make me into during this time (phrase borrowed from one of our counselor training sessions).

I like this quote from John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

We had at least two campers who professed salvation this week, plus other decisions, so that made everything worth it.

Thanks again for reading, and please let me know any thoughts you might have in the comments below!

Week Two — Summer Reflections

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camera, camp, horse, horsemanship, photographer, summer

Our two weeks of staff training are over and our first horsemanship campers have come in this week. So technically we all are now seasoned and experienced camp staff, right? Umm, not really. At least I don’t feel totally prepared. And I’m sure the three counselors who are counseling this week don’t feel ready, either. But we’re going into it, ready or not. And really, it doesn’t matter so much if we don’t feel ready. It’s not us who will be impacting the campers’ lives–it’s God working through us. We need to go into ministry with a humble trust in God to use us as His instruments and have faith that the Holy Spirit will be doing all the work, not us. We just need to have willing and open hearts, submitted fully to God, and He will do amazing things.

God is always only good. This is the theme of the staff girls’ singing special. The words are so good and a great reminder that God has the best in mind for each of us, even if we don’t see it at the time. “Though my eyes can’t see, help my heart believe you are always only good.”

God is so awesome in how He works out His plan for people. Last Friday night all the counselors and some other staff got together for a fun night and part of the night was testimony time for us to give testimonies about how we came to work at camp this summer. There were so many amazing stories about how God worked it out for everyone to come, even when it looked impossible, and how God made His will so clear through different ways.

Apparently I have a very suspicious face and can never be trusted while playing Resistance (or Mafia).  I don’t know what makes everyone think that, but maybe it’s because I look too sweet and innocent that I can’t possibly really be that innocent.

Running sound for a service is both scary and cool. It’s a big responsibility to be in charge of the sound and lights and all that stuff, and that makes me nervous. If I make a mistake, everyone will know it. But at the same time, I feel pretty powerful–it’s sort of a cool thought that I am the one making all the mics and TVs work. If I do my job right, that is.

New cameras are awesome. For a photographer, there are few things more exciting than getting to try out new equipment and cameras. This summer I am privileged to be able to use a brand new Canon Rebel T5i with an 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm telephoto lens, and a 50mm prime lens (haven’t tried the last one yet). It makes my job here all the more fun when I have cool stuff to use.

Forging true and long-lasting friendships is hard, but worth it. Making new friends has never been easy for me, so when I’m meeting a lot of new people and starting to form relationships, I’m very hesitant to embrace a friendship fully. But when I do find that someone that I click with and who is worth the extra energy and time, I treasure that friendship a lot.

That’s all for this post, but new memories are constantly in the making here at camp. One of our horsemanship campers made a profession of salvation today, which is really exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what else God will do during the rest of this week.

Week One — Summer Reflections

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camp, Christian, ministry, purpose, reflections, relationships, summer

I’ve been at camp for one week now, and there are countless little things running around in my head. I’m going to try to gather my thoughts a little bit and reflect on what has happened and what I’ve learned so far.

Don’t always believe first impressions. Whenever you meet a group of new people, there are always first impressions. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of taking a first impression of someone and letting that determine the future of your relationship with that person in either a negative or positive way. Volunteering at camp, I might meet someone and think something like, “Oh, they are totally my type–I’m going to get along great with them,” or maybe, “Hmm, I just don’t click with this person at all.” And many times I’m surprised that halfway through the summer, I’ve actually become super good friends with the person I wasn’t too sure about, or I actually wasn’t as similar as I thought I was to that other girl. So, keep an open mind about everyone you meet. Don’t assume that a first impression will always stay the same once you get to know someone.

Communication is vital. For a team to be a team, each member has to be willing to communicate clearly and often to one another. But not only do they have to share information, but they must also follow that information and apply it to their actions, or else they’ll just end up with misunderstandings and less-effective ministry.

Stay focused on what’s really important in life. Life is too short to spend it on self-gratification, entertainment, or a successful career. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

The people working in the background are just as important as the people on the front lines. At camp, the people on the front lines, like the counselors, program staff, and speakers, are the ones that seem to be doing all the work and usually get most of the credit for a successful ministry and positive results. But they realize that they are only doing half of the work, and that without the faithfulness and diligence of everyone behind the scenes, such as the kitchen crew, hospitality staff, and maintenance guys, it would be impossible for anything to get accomplished.

All members of the team need to work together toward a common goal rather than forming smaller groups or cliques and focusing on their buddies or themselves. We have to remember why we are here in the first place, and not let our focus get off track. It’s important to build relationships with the purpose of working toward the main reason that God has us in the place we are.

One is worth more than all. One soul saved from eternal death is worth more than the whole world.

Everyone is different, but everyone is equally valuable and needed.  Part of our staff training was taking a short personality test and being given one of four personality types based on our answers, which were put on a graph. The four choices were Expressive, Amiable, Analytical, or Driver. I wound up with Analytical/Amiable (not at all surprising), but the other members of our staff were a fairly even mix of all four (except for Driver, which only three of the group got). But it proved to show that every person is different in some way. Even people within the same group were never in the exact position on the graph. Everyone is different, yet equally valuable and necessary to complete the team.

You can’t have a unified team without trust. People who don’t trust each other are going to have problems with unity. Power comes through unity. For God to do great things in our lives, we have to be willing to trust the people that we work with, but that means that we also have to be worthy of each other’s trust.

Your boldness in speaking out the gospel is directly related to your level of brokenness and whether or not you are filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is dependent on your relationship with the word of Christ and whether you are fully surrendered to His work in every area of your life (Ephesians 5:18-21 and Colossians 3:16).

On another exciting note, I also received my CPR/First Aid certification last weekend! So if you suddenly collapse or have trouble breathing or cut your arm while I’m around, I will (hopefully) be ready and prepared to assist you out of your life-threatening condition.

God has done a lot of cool and interesting things throughout these first two weeks of staff training, and I’m looking forward to what He will do as the summer continues.

Summer Plans

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camp, Christian, photographer, summer, summer plans

Hey everyone!

This is a quick post to let you all know that I am leaving today to go work as a photographer at a Christian camp for the summer. I am super excited about this opportunity! God has definitely orchestrated this and worked it all together so that I could go.

However, this means that I will probably not have nearly as much time as I would like to write on my blog, but I will try my best to keep up with it. My plan is to post something once a week related to things I have been doing and learning while at camp.

If you’ve ever been to camp as a camper or a staff member, then you know that life is never dull there. The stories, life lessons, new friendships, changed lives, are never lacking. I volunteered at the same camp last summer as a kitchen worker, and believe me, a life has never been so transformed by a daily mound of dirty dishes! No matter what you do, what role you play, God’s always there, working in every detail of your daily circumstances and teaching you unforgettable truths.

I know my life was changed for the better after I came home last summer, and I know God has something great in store for me this summer as well. I can’t wait to see it.

“But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

~ 1 Corinthians 2:9