I Have Actually Returned

I didn't die guys.

I went to camp for the weekend (the part of camp that has no internet and blog access and I am thoroughly immersed in the wilderness for four days of sheer awesomeness).

And now I must needs reenter the world of technology to express the awesome glory of spending four days without it.

...

Yeah.

Taken by Candence Declan

There is so much to say, really. So many stories that have built up that I don't want to forget. So many things that weigh heavily on my heart, yet so much joy. There were deep conversations about the wrath of God, and then hilarious conversations about hot sauce and hobbit holes and whatever.


Laughter. There was so much laughter.


I think the true beauty of camp was the fellowship. It always is. Not only with the other staff, but with the campers. Because seriously, we are out in the forest, with a set amount of food, a set amount of water, and a set amount of tents.... community is almost forced by situation. How incredible it is that we become brothers and sisters so quickly.


And all I can hear in my soul is this desperate cry,

Run for Christ.

 

 

For truly, that is what that bond is. If we are all running for the same goal, the same joy that is set before us, we have everything in common. How cool is that?

 

 

I often find that the general connotation of Christianity is off. How many of us think that we can't run head-on for Christ because we are scared of being lonely?

 

 

During camp, we have what is called Abiding Time, where we all go off into a nook in the woods to meditate on God's word, to think, and to pray. I hiked up a little ways to where there was an opening in the trees to view the peak: pure white snow that was blazing like diamonds in the setting sun.

 

 

And God whispers in the wind, through the leaves and the remaining raindrop crystals on the flowers,
"Be still and know that I am God."

 

 

And I rocked on my heels and whispered back, "I don't know how."

 

 

But being still was something I could grasp, at least partially, so I quieted my breathing, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, stopped my hyperactive fidgeting, and then reopened my eyes.

 

 

Rose colored clouds lit the sky on fire. The peak, aglow.

 

 

My heart, thud-thud.

 

God, "Let me show you my majesty."

 

 

That's camp. Or, more specifically, that's God. Camp is but experiencing Him and sharing Him in a certain setting.

 

 

But the most incredible thing is that His majesty is here and everywhere. It seeps through cement walls and computer screens, over the ridges of skyscrapers, gracing the hot asphalt and graffiti bridges.

 

 

It's just a little harder to see because it makes more sense to close our eyes here.

 

 

But open your eyes. Run for Christ, because that view is the best of all.