Build Your Kingdom Here

Somehow, in between all the moments spent reading Isaiah 43, and screaming during Bible rally, and walking to the meal cabin; somehow, between the moments that I sat perched behind the front desk, and the moments I sat at my picnic bench, reading and writing letters; between all the times I practiced music for worship, and during the times of joy and desperation when I cried out to the Lord my God; yes, even in the moments I spent on many fruitful and abundant trips to Dunkin Donuts, somehow, the summer still managed to slip away.

In ten days I will watch the last of the summer sun fade from the horizon as I drive off campus in my car and into the rest of my life. It is bittersweet ~ I am both painfully sentimental and intensely relieved for all of this to be over. Maybe that is because I only have three weeks in between the time camp ends and when my year at the Bible Institute begins.

After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. ~ Dumbledore

I am not dying, but somehow I feel like the above quote applies. Especially since I finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a few days ago. I am on the cusp of my next great adventure, and even though I still have ten days and three weeks separating me from my first year of Bible college, that doesn't mean I have to wait til then to truly live. The next great adventure comes in every moment spent seeking God and His truth. Even in the mundane, I am alive, and I am free.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~ John 10:10

Bring it on.

To You I Lift Up My Soul

Sometimes I mess up royally. I'm just going to rest in God's truth, because He restores my soul.

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ~ Hebrews 10:22

There is nothing in me that is good. Although I'd like to think my words heal, they sometimes damage and destroy. And sometimes, maybe even most of the time, I am a very selfish person. Thankfully, Christ can still use and purify me, saving me even from myself. I'd like to think someone else needed to hear this today, too.

23

I'm only about 23 days away from finishing my summer at camp, where I've been working for scholarship behind the front desk in a dashing pair of khaki pants. There are things I'm going to miss, and things I'm certainly not going to. For now, here is a list of things I have to look forward to during the last three and a half *stunning* weeks of summer camp:

- Wearing my wonderfully red and tasseled poncho during one of the crazy camp "raves" (read: a whole lot of dancing, with crazy Christians and glow sticks...GLOW STICKS)
- Attending the end of summer banquet, possibly with a certain boy, if he asks me
- Growing in the Lord in this secure spiritual environment for three more weeks
- Two words: BIG BOPPER (essentially the most delightful ice cream dessert you could ever ask for)
- Writing more letters, yo
- I know there was a whole lot more things I wrote down last night when I was journaling but the rest will just have to wait til later.....peace out

Woah-Oh, We're Halfway There

While I have the time, I thought I'd tell you a little about the wonders of front desk life. It is a hard, rigorous job that requires intense training and strenuous hours, and lots of mental energy. Haha, not really. It can be stressful at times but at others we just crawl onto the semi-vacuumed floor behind the counter and get trapped in mail boxes. #jubilantjoy

Really, I've been loving my job. God is doing such wonderful things in my heart and life, and I have grown so remarkably close with my roomies. This has only been through His answer to prayer. And boy, has He been answering.

Christ has changed my heart and spirit this summer. I am more peaceful, joyful, confident, strong and unified than ever, and that is simply because I am abiding in Him and His Word. I learned this morning that His Word brings life. If He spoke all of creation into existence, how much more will His written Word change my heart?

This summer is officially halfway over, and I'm actually disappointed about that. This place is now my home. My life is never going to be the same after this summer. God has done great things.

Also, I feel kind of totally like a Boss because now I can answer phones with no problem and also work behind the front desk with ease. It couldn't be more magical if Wes Anderson wrote the script of my life.

Things to Appreciate: This

If I was a Polaroid, this is the Polaroid picture I would be. One of Andrew Garfield, cheerful and glee about something in the forest. Note the laughter. The good mirth. The wondrous cheer. How can anyone take his joy away? HOW 

And look!

What's that!

Another Polaroid?!

I will eventually post something of meaning, I promise. Until then.

#BoredAtTheFrontDesk

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Things I Saw From the Front Desk

Children having a tissue war;
People playing corn hole;
The lights flickering on and off

A girl who was peeved;
A kid that licked the windows profusely;
Someone asking for more towels, even when there were no more towels to give

Front desk life has been grand.
And I have so much to say that it would probably take no less than 10,000 infinities to tell you all that's been happening (although some infinities are shorter than other infinities, mind you), but these random insights will have to suffice for now. I long to sit and write lengthy blog posts again but I haven't the ability.

Peace out, my good people.
Psalms 37:5-6