It's Not Good Bye

I have been in Northfield, Massachusetts since May 22. This has been the longest I have been away from home (three plus months!). 

If someone were to ask me what was my favorite thing about camp this last summer, I wouldn't be able to give a quick answer. This has been such a wonderful, hard, busy, stretching, exciting experience as I worked at camp for the past few months.

When I arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't sure what I would be doing or who I'd be working with this time around. Every time I've worked at camp, there would be new faces on staff, more opportunities to make new friends. I can recall back in 2009 when I first stepped foot in the dining hall during staff week. My stomach dropped with the realization that I didn't know any one person that I was going to be working with that summer, save one staff member. It was a scary feeling, being pushed completely out of my comfort zone. However, it wasn't long before I started to make new lifetime friends who I cherish to this day.

Since then, I have grown so much as a person and grown in my walk in Christ, being constantly challenged by God through His Word. My first two summers (2009 and 2011) I served as a counselor. I love working with kids. At this camp, I worked with a wide spectrum of ages. It was challenging but worth every late night and early morning. It was worth seeing young girls make decisions of salvation or to commit their lives to their savior Jesus Christ. I can close my eyes and smile as images of different girls I've come into contact with over the years. It was neat for me this summer to see how some of them have grown since 2009!

This summer was different in many ways. Since I didn't have anything going on after graduating from college, I came out to camp about a month early so that I could be a help to the ministry. It was a different experience that I really enjoyed as I was able to get more hands-on office experience. I was able to do a wide variety of things which prepared me for what was ahead for the camp season. During the camp season, I was the director's assistant and head of girls counseling. However, my duties were not limited to these areas which was neat to be able to be used in whatever way was needed. I even had the privilege to counsel for a week! Through this experience, I definitely learned that I could always learn to be more flexible. I also learned how much a difference it could make when I'm not fully leaning on the Lord for strength.

Halfway through the summer, I decided to stay a bit longer after the camp season ends in order to help out for a little while longer. This entailed staying a week with the director's mother as he and his wife went on vacation. I had a blast hanging out with the Gramma. She is such a sweet woman who loves the Lord. We made quite a few memories that week! After their vacation was over, we all set to work to prepare for the final summer event which was this last weekend. It went really well, and it was nice to once again serve with other staff members who came up over the weekend.

Now, I am spending my last night at camp before I return to Iowa. Good byes are never easy. I had to say quite a few of them yesterday as staff left after work was done. It was Sunday morning when I was really struck with sad feeling you get when you know you have to leave a place you love. One of the hymns we sang was "The Family of God." Not that I didn't know it before, but I was really struck by the reality that these people I have been with the last three months and the staff I served with this last summer had really become family to me.

I am really excited to go home. I've missed home greatly, but I already know once I'm home, I'm going to be missing my other "home." For the last several years of my life, between college, camp, Germany, and every other place in between, I really haven't been able to call just one place home. If home is where the heart is, my home is definitely divided amongst several places. But, I don't think that's a bad thing.

In closing, I would really just have to state this: It's not good bye, New England area. It's "I'll see you later."