What I Learned at Summer Camp

I have been home for less than a week. Summer is coming to an end, and school is right around the corner (cue the tears). On May 18th, I drove out to Lampe, MO to hang out and walk alongside middle school kids for the summer. My days at Kamp consisted of driving boats, singing lots of songs, spending hours on the tennis courts, and sharing the gospel – it was the dream. This is my 11th summer at Kamp, but only my 2nd summer on staff, and I can say with full confidence that Christ’s faithfulness can be seen and experienced from every corner and crevice of Kanakuk K-west, and it is awesome.

When I think of my time out in Lampe, as a kamper and as a staffer, I can’t help but think of the way Christ has used kamp to refine me. It is at Kamp that Christ grabs me by the shoulders, shakes me, and says “I am enough. I am enough today. I am enough tomorrow. I am going to guide you in paths of righteousness. I am going to walk alongside you in the valleys. Let me be first in your life.” This summer was no different – Christ grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. I have been refined, and I am more in love with Christ now than I was on May 18th.

I haven’t had much time to process these past three months, or figure out in full all the Lord taught me in Lampe, MO this summer, but I am confident of three things:

Christ is enough – Christ has been enough and He will always be enough. This summer I truly began to believe that Christ is indeed enough, and when that became the longing of my heart, it became easier to put Christ first in my life. If I believe that Christ is all I need, then I must also believe that there should be nothing on this earth that I desire besides Christ.

“Whom have I in Heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”Psalm 73:25-26

I need to be faithful in the little – This summer I was tasked with so many different things. Whether others would know that I had completed a task, or whether it was something that required my own integrity in finishing, I learned a lot about being faithful in little. In order to even desire faithfulness in the little things, I learned that I first had to desire Christ. When I was desiring Christ above all else – again, believing that He is enough – it was then that I desired to be faithful in the little. To finish a task, follow up on a conversation, or obey a rule that was put in place when I may not receive praise for any accomplishment, was how I was able to walk in faithfulness this summer. Just like Luke 16:10 says, faithfulness in the little things translates into faithfulness in the big things. To be faithful with little is to be made more like Christ.

Luke 16:10

I must engage with people – Everyday this summer I got to choose to either be solely present with people or live purposefully and be engaged with those around me. People miss moments with other people. Genuinely, I believe it is an issue with pride and a lack of awareness – people are so consumed with themselves that they do not even care to acknowledge or engage with those around them, including myself. We fail to love others well when we choose to disengage.This summer I learned what it is like to engage with kids. It is a choice you get to make in the moment. Each moment I chose to engage with a kid was far better than any moment I chose complacency and solely presence.

1 John 4:7-8