I actually got to work here this summer!!! It was so amazing... Amazingly difficult, and yet so rewarding, and so this post will attempt to sum up the incredible things God has provided and taught me in the last 12 weeks of summer through His Word and all the many trials and opportunities at camp!On Friends and Co-Workers
Camp was full of wonderful people to work alongside...which made my job this summer so much fun. I was definitely one of the older girl counselors at camp, so I got to take on a mentor-ship type roll, especially in the areas of dating and purity (which oddly enough is where I have so much passion in leading younger girls to avoid all the junk I went through!) At camp there are so many "cho-mances" and crushes that develop due to the unique setting of being surrounded by a ton of godly men loving and serving kiddos like crazy. So with that, and the relationships going on at home AND Tom being there this summer as well, I was continually getting to share our story on the pursuit of purity and encourage them to chase the same thing. God certainly used me and Tom's story a billion times, both in areas of seeking purity and our roles as leader/helper.
On Campers
I was in the cabin for 10 weeks this summer, 7 of them with 15 year old girls. When I was 15, I was already struggling in areas of dating and purity, and certainly not surrounding myself with people who would lift me up. That summer I went to a camp with a friend, and really came to know the Lord and the relationship and obedience he calls us to. That being said, I felt like my job this summer had a huge purpose to it, and looking back I would have LOVED having an older girl warn me about unhealthy dating relationships and press me on towards obeying God's Word and seeking absolute purity.And HOLY COW sexual sin is running rampant in that age group of girls, and God used my story SO MUCH every week to minister to those girls. I was always so overwhelmed and burdened for those girls to know that God's call for them is life giving and not oppressive, and that they are forgiven and deserve so much more than any teenage boy is offering.
On Tom
Oh goodness, did I have a lot to learn this summer regarding this amazing man of God I am so very blessed to be with. It was stinkin' hard! At camp we are asked not to make our relationship known to the campers...which means we have to act purely as friends and nothing else. Which is great for physical purity, but SO HARD when the one person you want to talk to and pray with most is right there, but unable to listen until the one off time we had together that week.
Emotionally I struggled a bunch the first few weeks in questioning how on earth this was good for our relationship and what God's purpose was for us in this summer. It was so tough to get to see that man every day, but only hang out with him a few hours a week. These few hours I initially would always get my feelings hurt because Tom would always plan for us to hang out with other people. Turns out he was protecting our time together and leading us to purity and wanting God to use our relationship even on off time with the other staff members. AMAZING! Isn't it so obvious now why God has the men be the leaders of relationships?!?!! I am so blessed. Blows me away every time.
As always, God had a great purpose for us this summer, mostly in using our story to minister to the counselors and campers, but also in growing us closer in relying more on the Lord than each other. I really did value every second I could spend with Tom and it was so wonderful to see God's will for us unfold in such an exciting way. We really started praying about the future together and---goodness that is one exciting thing to do!
