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I did not. (insert sad face).

I was dating the Camp Director’s daughter (Pep!) … and now we’re engaged!

I couldn’t come up with a name for the life of me. Pep! knew I loved baseball and the movie Sandlot. The center-fielder’s name is Squints. It just seemed right.

I always wanted to be a storm chaser. I was obsessed with the weather; especially extreme weather conditions. Why wouldn’t you want to stare down danger right in the face?

Mt. Man, Flip, and Craze. They would raise me up on their shoulders … if you know what I mean. 🙂

Thuper Thursday. Hands down. The week would not be the same without it. Also the food is amazing and Team Comp makes me feel young again.

Cabin cleanup. If you are able to contain a group of kids and work towards a common goal, you might win the most patient counselor award.

Pharaoh Pharaoh (get down) OH BABY let my people go whoo HA. YEEAAAAAAAH.

This little light of mine.

Orange Chicken!

It’s a toss-up. Wells Fargo or Egg/Chicken/Dinosaur.

One of my campers came into the week an atheist. He was not walking with the Lord at all because his friends belittled his faith. After listening to the chapel speaker and wrestling with concepts learned in Bible Study, on the last night of camp he confessed his deep desire to love Christ and to give Christianity another shot. It was a refreshingly honest but heartfelt statement that inspired the entire cabin. God was stirring and working through his heart even though there were numerous times during the week where he just refused to accept and believe the simple message of Jesus Christ.

Bringing Chinese campers to camp and allowing them to be saved was a major one for me. The emotional baggage of life circumstances some kids brought into camp were forgotten, put aside, or redeemed by being at camp. A couple of kids even wanted to get baptized after camp!

I think a huge God-moment for me was getting to wash some of my campers’ feet during a junior high camp and praying over them at the Canoe Docks. The number of deep conversations I had with those kids about their classmates being gay, or being addicted to pornography, or dealing with family sickness made me so close to these kids in such a short amount of time.

The Lord opened my eyes to what having childlike faith really looks like. He showed me that age and life experience is not the most important factor in determining how much you love Jesus. I was stretched to care more about others than I ever had before and was extremely humbled on several occasions to lead kids through conflict and personal issues. Finally, I think the more I relied on the Lord to provide for my every need large or small, the more I was able to find joy and fulfillment in who I am and how I can use my strengths to benefit the kingdom fully.

Pray and read my bible continuously-day in and day out. He wants to hear from me because he cares. I want to work things out on my own more often than not but when I step back and let God handle it, my heart is a lot calmer and I love life a lot more.

Pour into a community. Whether that’s at work or in a church, get it done and seek it out!

Mark 10: 14-15 … It’s just a constant reminder to have childlike faith even through life’s most difficult circumstances. He has a plan. We can trust him.

Prideful schemes are not from the Lord. Whatever I do flows from the heart, from the inside out.

I made 100-150 junior boys laugh hysterically during a Thuper Thursday Props skit…totally worth it!

I sang the karaoke version of “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers without music during Family Camp and let’s just say it did not go very well. It felt like the longest 2 minutes and 30 seconds of my life.

The Counselor Men by far. The bond I had with each and every one of those men was unprecedented. They supported me through the thick and thin, the ups and downs of camp life.

I love the Walkable Bridge early in the mornings. I had some good talks with counselors and solo with the Lord.

Probably Panda. He is such an awesome leader in so many ways. He was able to have fun with the counselor dudes but also keep us in check if we were about to do anything stupid.

Live and do life with kids and with Jesus for a week. It’s not daycare … it’s active participation in what the Lord is doing in and through these kids.

One camper thought I looked like Harry Potter with my glasses on. Another kid thought the stuffed Pineapple in the care packages looked like a banana so he called a banana ALL week long. Another kid would scream randomly at the top of his lungs in other kid’s faces.

My one and only job so far was a camp counselor.

Getting your campers to go to bed!!!!

I get to play with kids, do fun activities and games, and give occasional life advice when they ask.

Literally being outside on a hot summer’s day and going swimming. Can’t beat that.

Yes yes and yes. The seeds you are planting for some kids’ lives cannot be done anywhere else. Building long-lasting eternal relationships is well worth it, if not a bigger investment, than making tons of money working a job.