last weekend i got to go home! that may sound strange to those of you that know me. i live at my home, in my hometown...so going home shouldn't be all that exciting right? well, this was a different kind of home. the one that just feels right. the place that is hidden so deeply in you that it is safe. it is where you belong....spring hill is the place that changed my life. it is the place where God chose to speak so clearly to me. it is the place that God gave me a calling for this life. it is the place i saw Him work in such incredible ways. it changed me inside and out.
i returned there last weekend with a group of 15 5/6th graders. we had an awesome time and i was so excited when we turned off the interstate. i got this giddy feeling in my stomach. it is like i could audibly hear God say, "welcome home, child!"
the camp had changed dramatically since i was last there - over 10 years ago!! i couldn't believe all the buildings that had been built and the upgrades to the various things. there were familiar faces and several new ones. God was still present in many ways.
during the weekend we walked a lot of the camp. i walked past the teepee's and stopped for a moment. i could hear the little hoowanooka girls from my very first week on camp. they were super excited to be there and i was scared to death. i hated the outdoors and here i was sleeping in a crazy teepee with an outhouse down hill. but that week changed my life forever. it introduced me to who would become one of the best friends i have ever had. it made me totally dependant on God, and it made me actually decide dirt was good!
we crossed a bridge and i remembered leading 2 little girls to Christ right there on that bridge. i passed the climbing wall and remembered holding on to a girl for over 40 minutes while she battled her fears. i walked by the caboose and remembered a very scared girl that i cried over when i returned her to her parents. i stopped at the ampitheater and could hear the kids singing and sharing about their week. i went swimming and remembered how much i hated group showers. i ate in the dining hall and remember how good the food was, but how much fun we would have singing in there. we had a campfire and i remembered how awesome it was to sing with those kids and share Christ with them.
i had a brief moment all alone one morning. i stepped outside and i looked around. it felt so right. so right to be there at that moment.
God knows i needed that trip as much as the kids did. i needed to know that in the midst of where i'm at right now God is still here. He reaffirmed my calling and He engergized me to return home.
the grounds have defintely changed, but the mission has not. i was truly home and it felt good.......
Comments
I loved it!
Just kidding.
I hated group showers in junior high and high school. My junior high and high schools were actually in the same building. The junior high gym had to share the girls locker room with the high school girls gym.
It sure made me feel awkward when I was 12 years old and undeveloped and showering next to 17 year old girls with women's bodies. And then it was awkward the other way around when I was the developed 17 year old and would see the 12 year old girls staring in awe at our bodies in the showers.
Candace