Summer of Joy!

Unbelievable!
There is no way to fully describe on paper how incredible my summer was! It was quite possibly the best summer I have ever had… although the summers of ‘01 and ‘03 both give it a run for it’s money… I think I will have a competition between the 3 odd summers, and each summer can earn points by winning sack races or stacking blocks or something…. haha, not sure where that came from… Anyway, camp at Crier Creek was one of the awesomest 5 week periods of my life – I had a total blast, made some great new friends, learned some neato stuff, got to hang out with tons of cool campers, ate wonderful gourmet food, worked my tail off, and best of all, saw God work in amazing ways in and through the lives of both campers and staff! I honestly can’t believe I got paid to be at Crier Creek… what a huge blessing! So many awesome things happened at camp that I don’t even want to try to start listing them – if you wanna hear about it, you’ll have to ask. But I would like to share some things God taught me through camp this summer.
First, he showed me that if I follow where he leads, he will take me places I never dreamed of. I felt God leading me to work at Pine Cove, but I really wanted to work in the mountains… but I decided to follow His lead, and WOW!! – Crier Creek was, as I said before, unbelievable!! I am sure I would have had fun at another camp, and that I would have seen God do many great things there, too, but after this summer, I am truly confident that Pine Cove was exactly where he wanted me. And I grew a whole lot working in the sound job, where I actually had to make an effort to interact with people because my task did not naturally create those situations. I took a leap of faith, and whaddyaknow – God came through clutch!
I also took a huge lesson away from James 1:2-4, where he basically says to take joy in trials and sufferings because they produce perseverance. I definitely experienced this verse over and over again this summer when things didn’t work out quite right, or something unexpected came up, or I had to work harder at something than I would have hoped. The one specific point that I think I grew the most this summer was not at all expected. We were at a lake house for a staff retreat one weekend, and we were playing around on jet skis acting crazy, but being pretty safe (most of us…). I was bringing the jet ski in and I was gonna park it on the boat ramp… but I somehow missed the chute on the ramp, and the jet ski started to tip. I geniusly stuck my foot out to catch it, forgetting that it weighed about 10 of me – *smash* – the jet ski freakin banged my shin so hard I was sure it was broken. So no more jet skis or wakeboarding for me. I then got a bunch of fire ant bites on my feet and ankles, and later, my phone got wet and died. That night we had worship outside by the lake and I was feeling sorry for myself. I was laying down on the grass and I started thinking, “I bet freakin fire ants are gonna come and eat my face to shreds. It would figure the way this day is going. Why, God? I came here for fun and rest, not frustration and pain! Don’t you get it, God? I’ve been working hard for you at camp nonstop for two weeks. All I want is a little fun free time. Is that too much to ask?!” Hahaha! If you ever want to get smacked speechless by God, try pretending like you know what’s best and He doesn’t. For the first time in a long while, I wrestled with God. And guess who won? I felt him wrestling back – “Yeah, getting bit by fire ants is really painful compared to dying on a cross, isn’t it?” Ouch. Threw me down. “Didn’t you say you loved me, and would trust me and follow me even in suffering?” Jumped on my back. Owwww! In Job 38-40, God totally blows Job away after questioning him. “Who is thisthat darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” He did the same to me. But guess what? Right after breaking me down like I haven’t been broken in a loooong time, he picked me right back up and gave me a huge bear hug and reminded me how unbelievable his love is for me! There I was, angry at God because my day wasn’t this perfect ice cream sundae with sprinkles and whipped cream and hot fudge and a cherry right on top. And yet God didn’t want to smite me where I stood. He only wanted me to come back completely and fully satisfied in Him. Which is exactly what happened, and it turned out to be one of the best nights of the entire summer, and gave me strength to press on through adversity and continually remember that it’s not about me. It’s all about Him. And I can have unsurpassable joy in living that statement out. Just try it. God worked in so many other incredible ways this summer, and I am just absolutely grateful for where He called me. For the awesome people I worked with, the awesome campers, the awesome uplifiting atmosphere, the awesome encouragement I received every day, the awesome fun I got to have, and the awesome ultimate purpose of glorifying God that I got to share in at Crier Creek, I am so thankful and praise Him for every minute, whether hard, fun, frustrating, tiring, hilarious, inspiring, or relatively normal. I have been reading C.S. Lewis like crazy lately, and there is a great quote on this that I can’t exactly remember, but I’ll try. “Whether we are happy or sad or mad, whether we are joyous or disappointed with the current circumstances in our life, eternity will show all of the events of our lives to come together for supreme joy. Eternity will prove our times of great pain to be just as joyful as the times when we feel that joy.” Whatever happens the rest of my life, wherever I go, whatever I do, whoever I am with, I want to always work for this purpose of glorifying Him above all, regardless of my mood or the circumstances. His joy and love in my life is a greater reward than anything else I could ever imagine or desire. Working at Crier Creek has truly impacted my life in an awesome way, and I hope that shines through in all I do. Praise to the big guy in the sky for the awesome summer he gave me!! I would love to tell you even more about it, so ask me and I will! Check back soon for stories from the deep wilderness of the Arkansas Ozarks… Peace, amigos!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4