Family, Faith, and Connections

The definition of a family in modern psychological circles is any group of people which calls itself a family. What a broad definition, right? But as broad and vague as it sounds, I like it, especially right now. I'll come back to this in a second.

Have you ever had that feeling that you KNOW you're in the right place, doing the right thing? Right now I'm sitting in the Lodge up here at Pondo, with almost every other staff member sitting near me, and I'm getting that feeling. The people here are absolutely amazing. Never before in my life have I seen one group of people with more passion for Christ and so much connection to each other as these guys and girls have displayed. Seriously my first afternoon here a week ago I felt like I had known everyone here my whole life. I had connected with a couple people through Facebook, but we hadn't really talked all that much. After one night, I could tell we were all a family. And we've been calling each other family every once in a while for the past week. So by definition, we are a family. See, I told you I'd come back to it in a second.

The more I think about it, the more I can't believe how well we've all come together in only a week or two, depending on the person. It's kind of incredible what God can do, and bringing all of us here to work together is nothing short of a miracle in my book. I haven't worked here before, but I know everytime I walk into a room that the people in it are going to do great things in the hearts of junior high and high schoolers, and that this summer can only get better. There is nothing that can stop us from growing together as a family. Like every family, there are some minor problems, but hopefully they won't affect our ability to have an amazing time here together and do some great work for the Lord.

So here I am, sitting here, a fairly broad smile on my face as I look around the room seeing everyone else smiling and having fun, John Mayer blasting through the sound system, and I hope, no not hope, that word isn't strong enough. I don't think I can express how much I want for this summer to bring me closer to God, closer to my campers, and closer to my colleagues, or how much I want those connections to last. Because for me connections are the very fabric of human existence and the human experience, and connections that aren't good for the soul aren't worth having.

You Know...

I just realized that most of my posts here have been poems. I'm totally fine with that, because I love writing, and poems are quick, easy ways to put down a thought or thoughts for the college student on the go. But now that I am on summer break, the "busy college student" excuse doesn't really work.

Right now I am three weeks into my summer, and I am in my first week as a counselor at Ponderosa Pines Christian Camp. I'll be here for like eight weeks, seven of which will be spent living in a cabin with about ten junior high/ high schoolers. Fun, right? I think so. It's hard to imagine how I'm going to make it through seven weeks of teenage angst, working pretty much 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, and not do anything stupid or screw up the life of some small child. But for some reason I have this really strong feeling that I can do it.

I've never devoted so much of my time and energy to one goal like I'll have to this summer in order to effectively do my job and make a difference in someone's life, but I think a passage a friend of mine shared yesterday was very helpful. It was 2 Samuel 24:18-24. It tells the story of King David building an altar to the Lord, which required the use of a threshing floor belonging to another man. When the other man offered to give David everything he'd need for free, David refused, saying, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which cost me nothing." In that light I've realized that to make it through the next two months I'm gonna have to make sacrifices that I normally wouldn't make.

I think I'm ready to do something I've never done before. Any free time I do have will be spent alone if at all possible. I have a sketch journal, my Bible, my computer obviously, and more free space for my thoughts and feelings to flow than I'll probably know what to do with. I've already decided to draw one sketch a day, coupled with a one-page journal entry about what's going on. Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll have enough written and drawn enough to actually use for something. But I don't know, we'll see.