And the Summer begins :)

Off to the races! This last week was our first camp of the summer. Alabama South District holds their camp in Panama City, right on the beach. Torture right? It was a great week! Lots of time at the beach, fun in the pool, and spent time with some really cool students. It will be a hard camp to compete with!

It’s crazy how fast time flies when your busy from 8 am till about 1am for 5 days straight, but it was a blast. We unexpectedly got to go to Bradenton at the last minute and spend time with the Guthrie’s and sing at their home church on Sunday. It was an awesome service and it was nice to spend a few lazy days at their house eating good food, laughing around the table, watching movies, making home-made ice-cream and going to the beach. It really was a great week!

Camp for Alabama South had a theme that was all about choices. It seemed a little slow at first, and we were wondering if the kids were going to get into it. As we worshiped each night the enthusiasm was growing and you could just sense the sweet spirit that filled the Chapel.

I know that I have mentioned Jeremiah 29:11 multiple times in my previous blogs, but it never hurts to be reminded of this promise. The preacher used the Message version to share this verse with the students this week, which just happens to be my favorite version of it. I know we go to camp to bless others, but I truly believe that God blessed me this week.

Thinking back this past week, there was a service that we had, with a few songs that were sung that mean a lot to me and took me back to places in my life like I was right there. That is one of my favorite things about music. It is so powerful.

One night as we were up there leading worship, The lord brought me back to a place in my mind of where I was at 4 years ago. I had just gotten out of a really hard relationship, and was trying to work through a lot of things in my life. I was broken in a million pieces and felt like there was no way God could put my crazy life back together, nor could he ever use someone like me. At a camp in Florida 4 years ago, I had one of the sweetest experiences of my life at an altar. I was a broken, searching, lost, confused, angry, 17 year old girl searching for something real, and as I went forward to an altar I was overwhelmed with the presence of God and felt him reassure me that HIS grace was sufficient for my life, and that he could make something out of my life if I was willing to let him. This was a life changing moment for me.

Back to this week, as I was on stage worshipping this memory was brought back to me like it was yesterday. I couldn’t help but think that there was someone sitting in those seats in front of me that was feeling like I did, and how much I just wanted to reach out and say- He can fix it. Whatever it is. Whatever you bring to the table, he can handle it. Nothing is too big for him. He loves you.

I felt more blessed this night at camp than I have in a long time. Not necessarily because of anything going on around me, but simply because I often forget how much God has done for me. He has been so good to me and I do not deserve to live the life I do right now, but He has taken me and made something of my life even though I never thought he could. I just kept praying to myself that he would be as real to those students as he was to me. I remained prayerful this week knowing and trusting that God was going to do big things. It’s amazing what God does when we are obedient and willing.

I was reminded of another verse that I like a lot, and I chose to meditate on it’s truth this week and I will share it with you. In the Message it goes something like this…

“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life, and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God has done for you is the best thing you can do for him.” (Romans 12:1-2)

I am thankful for the chance to travel with such a great group of friends, to experience new places and the joy of traveling, and also the blessing of being able to invest in student’s lives and be a part of leading them into worship. It really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. I am trying to soak in every moment of this summer. Looking forward to what’s to come!