For those of you who don’t know (which probably isn’t many of you considering I post and talk about this an annoying amount of the time) I worked at Camp Ozark this summer!! Camp Ozark is full of laughs, fun, and a lot of the coolest people in the world. I think I could write a whole book about my time at camp, but after processing and reflecting a lot, the major theme of my time there was redefinition. I just wanted to share a few of the concepts that the Lord and the people surrounding me redefined. These are ideas that we talk about a lot, but I was honestly was so far off the mark of how to legitimately put these things into practice every single day.
Serving-
I knew I was going to camp to serve the Lord and serve my future campers, but I honestly had no idea what that would actually look like. During my 5 weeks at camp, I started to notice a difference in myself. There was one day at lunch in the dining hall with only one cup of Mac n cheese left, and as much as I wanted that camp Mac n cheese, when my camper asked for her own cup, without hesitation I handed her mine. There was another day during our field day that I watched my camper drop her ice cream in the dirt and without hesitation, handed her mine (which is a big deal if you know me you know I love ice cream.) I know that these are tiny examples of serving others, and I don’t give these examples to brag about how I’m so servant hearted, but to demonstrate the way that the lord can completely flip your mindset upside down. The difference wasn't necessarily the action that I was preforming, but the motivation behind it. I wasn’t having to try to serve my campers, it was just happening. There were servant leaders modeling what it looks like to serve people well so that naturally bled over into my own life. The Lord had given them that desire to serve, and I started to see that desire reflected in my own heart and life.
Love-
For some reason, when I pictured loving on kids at camp, I always pictured giving 7 year olds piggee back rides and hugs. I had never really thought of ways to love 14 year old girls until I was in a cabin with them for 4 weeks. There were so many conversations that I walked away from realizing that I didn’t really give much advice, but I knew that my girls felt loved through the “yes I totally understand that” or the “why do you feel that way?” Or even more frequently, the “mhm” with a head nod. Learning to love 14 year olds taught me that in order to love someone well, you don’t have to do anything or say the right things. You just need to be there ready to nod your head and give a big hug when it’s needed. If I’m being honest, there are a lot of times I try really hard to love someone well, but deep down, I’m doing it so they think I’m sweet or a “good christian.” NEWSFLASH: The Lord doesn’t use our words to love people well, because in reality, our words can’t do his love justice. Nothing about loving people comes from ourselves, but it is totally and completely the Lord shining through us. Camp showed me that when you truly love like Jesus does, yourself and your reputation are the last things to cross your mind. Jesus literally put every single person that has ever lived before himself, so how much easier should it be for us to put the few people we come in contact with every day before ourselves?
Building relationships-
So we sing this song on closing day of each session at Camp Ozark and a few of the lyrics are “a friends a friend forever if the Lords the lord of them.” And yes, it’s a cheesy song that makes everyone cry, but boy does that song have some truth in it.
Working at camp is intense. We don't have our phones and we work 18 hour days, most of which are spent yelling, jumping, and walking about 10 miles every single day. When you go through all of that together for weeks on end, something special happens. Bonds are made so effortlessly. One camp friend in particular comes to mind. Courtney and I met in the freezing cold lake while we were learning how to be lifeguards together about 2 months ago, and now she’s seriously one of my favorite people in the whole world. Like best friend, future bridesmaid, driving all the hours necessary to visit kinda friend. Courtney is just one of the (way too cool for me) friends I made at camp, but as I reflected on all of these friendships, I realized that shared experiences can create lasting, deep relationships, but a shared love for the lord takes a friendship SO MUCH DEEPER than a shared experience could. Because when you love the Lord hard enough for people to see him in your life, they’re drawn to you. You don’t have to try and find the perfect friends, because when your eyes are fixed on running towards Jesus, other people just begin to appear alongside you. People that are ready to push you to keep running and pick you up when you fall down and steer you back on route when you start to get off track. Surrounding yourself with other people that love the Lord, like really love the Lord, is one of the most important, life-giving decisions you can ever make.
Intentionality-
I know that some people have mixed feelings about this word. Some people describe it as strategic, but I have always thought of it as meaningful, thoughtful actions. Camp didn’t necessarily redefine this for me, but it showed me how easily it can be implemented into our everyday lives. One of the coolest people at camp ended up being my lifeguard boss! Her name is Becca, and she is one of the most servant hearted, kind, and intentional people I know. She did this thing while we were lifeguarding...she would ask us questions. Sometimes about silly things (for example: if a guy was perfect in every way except never ever cut his toenails, would we still marry him?) But other times, her questions went straight to our hearts. She asked me about my best friends and why I loved them. She asked me to tell her something that inspired me recently. What Becca probably didn’t realize, is that I was keeping a list of these questions in my head to use in conversations with campers and my fellow counselors at camp. After I asked some of my friends these questions, I realized that I was learning so much about their passions and goals. Just from a question a few easy questions. When Becca asked me these questions, I felt so loved and valuable and like someone cared to really really know me. I think those are feelings everyone craves, and by having intentional conversations, we could feel so much closer to the people around us.
Authority-
Most mornings at camp, a lot of the staff go to the chow hall (summit if they were cool) and have some coffee, read their bibles, or chat with friends. This was one of the sweetest times during the day (maybe because I wasn’t wrangling teenage girls), but more importantly, because it was a time to rest and be poured into. While I was at camp, I was reading through 2 Corinthians. I was reading a chapter a day, and it was one of the first times I was really really reading it. Every word mattered and was encouragement to get me through the long days.
One day I came across this verse...
2 Corinthians 10:8
I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority.
Boy did that humble me. Around my 3rd week being a counselor, I felt like I had it figured out. With that, I was probably being a little too bossy towards my campers. Reading that verse made me check my heart and realize that I wasn’t a camp counselor in order to boss around the girls in my cabin and make myself feel important and in charge. I was their counselor so I could SERVE THEM and love them and build them up so that they felt like the coolest and most special people on this planet.
Camp Ozark is a special place. Yes, it’s special because of the incomparable special events and cheesecake brownies. Yes, it’s special because of tribal competition. Yes, it’s definitely special because of the people that work there. But the thing that makes Camp Ozark SO special is that the Lord moves there!! He moves in main camp with the nugs who just want to feel loved. He moves in the pines with campers that are making big, life changing decision. And I may be a little bias, but He REALLY moves in the Summit (aka the best part of camp) with campers that are just starting to figure out who they are. I’m beyond thankful that my summer was spent fully depending on the Lord, and experiencing things that completely redefined some of the ideas I thought I knew so well.
P.S. Jesus is a Caddo;) #sorrynotsorry
