Well, I just finished my second full summer at Pine Cove. Well, almost full summer. I had almost a week off thanks to the flu, and I’m not working Week 11 thanks to a family cruise to Alaska. Yeah, be jealous.
Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to share some of what I learned this summer, largely for my own edification.
All summer, but specifically last week, I learned a ton about service. I honestly wasn’t expecting to learn very much about serving others. I mean, Work Crew has always been my favorite part of camp. I’ve always enjoyed being helpful to others, and doing what I can to make their lives a little easier, but I never really realized what it was to serve others without ANY recognition or hope of some benefit (including goodwill). During Week 10, I was counselor to seventh grade boys, so naturally we talked a lot about girls. During the course of the week, we were challenged to serve the girls – particularly at meals. At the same time, our Bible study was challenging us not to do our acts of righteousness before men and not to seek the approval of others. It was a really interesting razor’s edge to walk. I mean, it’s so easy to serve girls or open doors when you think they might notice and think kindly of you. It’s easy to serve in secret when someone COULD find out. But to really serve others, just because THEY ARE PEOPLE and not because of the PEOPLE THEY ARE? That’s really difficult.
I learned a little bit what it looks like to pursue a woman. First of all, let me clarify a few things. 1) I am not in a relationship. 2) I don’t think camp is an appropriate time/place to start a relationship. However, I did learn a lot, I think. Going to Baylor, I hear the word “pursue,” a lot. All the freaking time honestly. I hear these ridiculous stories of guys calling girls’ dads to ask them if they can “pursue” their daughters, or asking girls if they can “pursue” them. Most the time, pursue seems to take the form of “let’s flirt and hang out so much that the girl finally asks ‘are we dating’ and then I’ll say ‘yes.’” But through things like serving the girls, dances, talks with wiser individuals than myself, and interactions with the fairer sex this summer, I’ve learned that pursuit looks a lot more like intentionality than flirting, and that is something I can take with me after camp.
Which brings me to the third thing I learned. Intentionality. That has become a sort of spiritual buzz word recently, which unfortunately weakens the impact of such a great concept. Ultimately, intentionality – to me – begins with the realization that life is short. When you really realize that, you figure out quickly that every moment is precious. So I want to be intentional. With my relationships, certainly, but also with my time. This coming semester, I’m going to have three-day weekends every week. How glorious would it be to get all my homework done Thursday night, and have all Friday and Saturday to do whatever, and have Sunday be a Sabbath? As in a real “wake up, eat breakfast, go to church, get lunch with friends, come home and do nothing but read and nap, make a nice dinner and go to bed early” Sabbath. Not cramming for tests, not ignoring homework, not allowing relationships to drift apart. In short, being a good steward of what God has given me.
I also learned patience. In short, you can’t have patience without love, which is probably why I suck at it so bad.
Definitely the hardest thing I had to learn this summer was humility. Honestly, I never thought I struggled that bad with pride. Which is the first sign that you really do. This summer, I began to realize the depths of my own arrogance. The sad thing is, most people don’t know how prideful I am, which just makes me a really good liar. I mean, there’s pride that blabbers with the mouth, and then there’s pride that judges on the inside. I’m definitely the latter. I began to notice this summer how often I consider myself better than people, and how sick that is. Furthermore, God really began to expose how much I crave recognition and approval. It was interesting to see God begin to teach me without completely breaking me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really have a problem with brokenness. I mean, I do, because it sucks, but I get it and it’s awesome. But at the same time, maybe it means I’m maturing a little bit, that he doesn’t have to destroy me to teach me? That maybe I’m a little more open to him? I don’t know, maybe that’s just arrogance speaking.
Anyway, it’s like 12:30 am, right after camp, and I’m exhausted (I’ve already passed out once in the past 48 hours…), so I’m gonna leave it at that. The summer was hard, interesting, frustrating, wonderful, and profound. I’ll miss it deeply, but I also know that I put in a hard 12 weeks, and now I’m heading to my rest. Praise The Lamb.
