Looking Back.

Things I Learned At Camp 2009

01. No matter what other people say to you/about you/against you/in praise of you--God's Truth is the only thing worth clinging to. You cannot base your opinions of yourself on other people's opinion of you. (I know that this sounds like such an elementary lesson, but it's one that I had to learn and re-learn this summer alone, and I'm sure that this will be a lesson I keep on learning in life.)

02. God's strength really is the only true source of strength. No matter how often I think that I can do things on my own accord, God is the only reason I lasted 9 weeks and not just 1. The enemy comes with the intentions of destroying. God has the intentions of fortifying and renewing. It is an idea I will never be able to fully grasp, but I am very thankful for it all.

03. I love children. You'd think that after 8 solid weeks of working with children I'd be burned out or completely 'over it'. But the exact opposite of that is the case. My passion for children is NEW. Not that I didn't have it before, but it's NEW. It's like right-out-of-the-package new. I can't help but be excited about the opportunities that the future will bring to work with children.

04. I'm ready for a new season in my life. I no longer feel compelled to revert back to any opportunity to be a 'kid' again. I'm moving out of my parent's home. I am moving out of my home state. I'm not going back to a private college. Instead, I'm embarking on a journey of undeniable excitement. I have had a lot of experience with, what most cynical and no-cynical people alike would call the "Christian Bubble". In short, I've been in a lot of phases of my life in situations where 95% of the people around me are Christians. Not that I have a single bad thing to say about Christian fellowship and unity, but I do regret not having branched out more, with more intentionality and with more desire to affect those around me for the Kingdom.

05. I feel like I lack passion. I have seen passion that is contagious, and also blinding. I don't want to be so consumed by things that I fail to see other needs around me. But I want loving others to be my passion, so that every action I carry out deeply touches others. I want to be driven. I want to be far more than which I have settled.