Saturday, July 10, 2010
Hello everyone!! Thanks for keeping up with how I'm doing! I hope you're doing well!
It's extremely weird how different this week was from last week! The entire atmosphere was really different. I wish I knew how many campers accepted Christ, but we weren't told. I heard of at least three, but I'm sure there were more, as well as a lot of other types of decisions. But even if only one life was changed because of what God has us doing here, it would be worth it. But even if we don't know how God is working, or can't see it, that sure doesn't mean He isn't doing incredible things! One thing I've learned about God is that He is a Purposeful God. Every single student (and sponsor) were here together this past week for a reason. God won't waste those things, but instead He'll use them to change hearts and lives, and for His glory.
This week, the orange team was "God the Builders". Before you ask what that has to do with the color orange, just think construction vest. Now can you picture it? Okay, good :) We battled it out in the B.L.A.S.T. games against the "Goldfish" (gold), the "Blue Beluga Whales" (blue), and "Lime Disease" (lime green), whose mascot was a giant green tick. Extremely creative, but gross all the same. :)
So every week, our afternoon jobs (for us as collegiate staff) rotate. Last week, I was out at the tower, this week Nathan and I were out at the lake helping kids with paddle boats and canoes. While it might not be the mosty exciting job (unless of course you have three different canoe tips in the span of about 45 minutes :) ), I really enjoyed the relaxed pace of it. God definitely blessed us with some incredible temperatures this week! There was a lot of cloud-cover, and the humidity wasn't bad at all! What a blessing that was, all in itself! That may sound simple, but going on little sleep is hard enough on our bodies without the help of immense heat.
While I was out there on Thursday afternoon, some girls from my family group came and wanted to get into a canoe. One of them originally wasn't going to get in with her friends, so she was sitting in the grass on the hill watching as her friends got their life-jackets on. It was really cool that God presented the opportunity to sit down with her for a few minutes and ask what God had been teaching her during the week. She said that she really liked some of the things that the camp pastor (Chad Poe) had said about our comfort. He had preached about whether or not out comfort was more important than God's calling for us. I could instantly relate to what she was sharing with me. This crazy task that God has called me to this summer gets really hard at times, but just like my girl had been challenged by that, I began to be, too. And I can honestly say that it's only by my Savior's strength I can do what He has for me to do. He once told me, "I will never give you a task to do without the means to do it." I know that by His Grace, He'll help me continue to do His work while I'm here. God is so Good.
For those of you who don't know, we have what's called the "encouraging room" here. When the pastor gives an invitation for response at the end of worship, the encouraging room is for us as staff and sponsors to talk with students, and it's also where a good majority of the decisions are made. It wasn't in God's plan for me to go back with anyone during week 1, but on Thursday night, one of the girls from my family group came back. she came looking specifically for me (COOL!!!), and we went back to the encouraging room together. I was so encouraged by this young girl's heart for the Lord! She has only been a believer for a year; she accepted Christ the previous year at Super Summer. She's only just finished the 8th grade, and she's the only one in her family that knows Jesus. She just needed someone who would listen and who could encourage her. I am blessed to have been that person! She shared about some of the struggles that she has about living out her faith, and asked advice about some things (one of which included a boy because she wanted to be careful to make good, Godly decisions about it). God used her to touch my heart greatly, and I was challenged by her as well. There were things that she's good at that I'm still in need of working on. But when we were finished talking and after I had given her a hug, she brought such joy to my heart when she looked me in the eyes and gave an incredibly sincere "thank you". I told her that she was "SO welcome", and that's what I was indeed there for. We're facebook friends already, so now I can keep in contact with her, ask her how things are going, and encourage her on in the faith. God is so incredibly Good.
After reading and discussing the first chapter of Ephesians last Sunday night, we were each challenged to take a phrase or sentence to focus on this week. After getting a small glimpse last week of how God works everything together and wanting to learn more about it, I chose to focus on His attribute of being the "Great Orchestrator". I saw more evidence of that this week, as I was able to talk to one of my girls at the lake, and because God put the other girl in my family group so that when she came forward, He could use us both in each other's lives. God is so incredibly, and wonderfully Good!
So that's just an update on how this past week has gone. Look for another post tomorrow, it'll have some specific ways that you can be praying. Thank you so so so much for your prayers! They help more than you (or I) know!! Keep lovin' on God--He's the only One who can fill us, and the only One who can love us perfectly. :)
TONS of love!!
<3 Carly <3
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