Hey guys! Did you enjoy last weeks post? Well, you're in for a treat today! Today, you get to hear from my buddy, Anna Rose! She is the one who introduced me to Delight! If you would like to donate to Days Of Delight, please see the previous post!!
and now I'm gonna turn it over to Anna!
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Abigail and I go way back… I remember her from when I was around 4, which I’m pretty sure means she was a newborn. Our Dad’s share occupations (pastor) and we share middle names and birthdays, I’m pretty sure our friendship was meant to be.
Well, Abigail and I were talking about what I should write about for my guest post and she asked if I would write about my summer and I told her that I would give it my best shot. Please don’t expect this to be a work of art, it’s just the ramblings of a girl who had an incredible summer!
As I sit here by my fireplace and think, I hear many things. I hear the popping and crackling of the fire and Anne of Green Gables playing softly in the background. I then close my eyes and relax and start to think. My mind drifts off to camp and what I’m going to write about.
Pretty soon, I don’t hear the fire or the movie, I hear the laughed of children, I hear little ones called “Teacher!” I remember the hugs from children when you’ve helped them conquer their biggest fear, the climbing wall. I remember long talks on the dock about Jesus, life, and all the complications that come with trying to be a light in a dark place. I remember holding children as they cried, and I remember mine and others tears when we found out a teenager we had been praying for had just gotten saved. This summer, many lives were change. And after this summer, my life will never be the same.
It was the best summer of my life, and when I think of it, I often still get tears in my eyes and wish I could go back. I was surrounded by my friends and my Iowa family and it was literally a dream come true.
This summer start long before June, July and August. This summer really started in January, as strange and odd as thatsounds. Actually, that is when practice started, to be technical about it. You see, I was on my college’s summer ministry team. We were called The Contenders and it was our job to work at Iowa Regular Baptist Camp for 11 weeks. There were six of us - three boys and three girls. We were full time staff, but we were also a team within that staff.
Our job description included anything and everything. We got to counsel, we scrubbed mold off the bottom of toilets, we did skits, we talked with people, we de-shingled roofs,we sent people down the zip line, belayed people on the climbing wall, we helped build knew cabins, we built relationships, we made friends, and the list goes on and on.
It was our job, during family camps, to teach classes that were very similar to VBS. I had the extreme privilege of teaching the 2+ 3 year olds. I was their teacher, friend, and sometimes playmate in the morning and evenings. Sometimes I had to put on the Mom Role and bandage their knees, kiss their owies and love them when they were sad.(Sorry for the blurry iPhone picture.)
Through all of these things, God taught me several different life lessons, some of which I will attempt to put into words for you. Some of them are serious and some of them are… something else, but I figured I would share what came to mind.
1. Love others no matter what.
I had so many different children this summer who stretched and grew me in this area. There were those children who were sweet, and shared and were easy to love. But there were children who screamed the entire first 3 days, who insisted on doing everything but what I had asked them. That, is when love counts the most, is during the hard times when it’s not easy.
2. Pursue Christ above everything and everyone.
You may be thinking “Well that is obvious, Anna!” and yes, it is. But it is also very hard to put into action. I wrote in my journal “It's so easy to get my eyes off of Christ, especially when I'm tired. I want to sleep, I want to be by myself and I want my way. Jesus gently reminded me several times this last week how important it is to love people, to listen to people, to encourage people and to pursue Him above everything else. Love is an action word. ‘Love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just talk about doing. To put it simply: Love Does.’ – Bob Goff “
3. When God calls you to do something, he will give you the strength.
“You called me out upon the waters” {oceans}
I don’t remember which week it was, but I remember that I was tired and homesick. I knew when I started the summer that not seeing my family or going home would be hard, but I didn’t really think that it would be that hard. Then I remembered that this is something I KNOW God called me to do. I had no doubt in my mind of that fact. Also, God has called me to pursue HIM above all else and He is worth all the homesickness and all the heartache and all the everything. God is good no matter what and his way is perfect.
4. Sleep is optional.
I’m a college student, and you may think that I’m out of my mind. Some of my favorite memories include things that cut into my sleep time. My favorite thing to do instead of sleep (other than spending time with people) was going out into the middle of the activities field and watching a meteor shower and taking pictures of the Milky Way. Those are things I will never forget. Besides, as pinterest would say, “Nobody remembers the nights when they got plenty of sleep.”
5. Don’t let bare feet stop you from having adventures.
All of the full- time staff went on a camping trip one weekend and guess who forgot her shoes! I was used to not wearing shoes around camp, while I was walking on the grass. I’m so thankful that even though I didn’t have shoes, I climbed and hiked all over Backbone State Park. Through the woods, and the creeks, and the nettles – and it was one of my favorite memories of the summer.
And that… that was a very unorganized, very eclectic way of telling you about my summer.
Xoxo,
Anna Rose
