Student Life Camp!!!

I'm back from camp! I went with a really bad cough, but I begged my mom and she let me go anyway. ^_^ Staying up till 4 a.m. coughing (and having to wake up at 6:30 -_-) was tough, but I braved it out and learned so much I can't put it into words! Seeing from past blog posts even, I see how my feelings always fluctuated, and I didn't rest in truth; God's truth. That's what I learned to do at camp. One of the many things.

Highlights:

I didn't get a sinus infection until I was at camp, so I got my own big bed! That was great, but I think I got like 5 kids sick. Woops.

I slept in a room with the pastors wife and one of her daughters. They talk SO MUCH!! o_o They talk a lot about other people, which was a little awkward, but I went along with it. I mean, what else could I do? I was shocked at how much they remembered and discussed. Not gossip, just a lot of things people said and if it was weird or not. It was a little disconcerting...

The speaker was Ed Newton, and he was FANTASTIC!! He was so on fire for God, he dressed like a teenager, and he had a really cool southern accent. He sounded like a surfer dude- it never got old. xD

The music was wonderful!! David Walker sang. So many powerful Jesus moments, and God filled my whole body with himself!! I remember thinking once, "Woah. I just got a taste of heaven." And it was sweet, fellas. ^_^

Seeing all of these people praying together and crying was so moving and wonderful. I cried with them, laughed, clapped, sang, with strangers, and with friends... But we were all brothers and sisters in Christ, so it wasn't really strange. I prayed over random strangers. It was really weird, but really cool. I never felt that way before. Not sure what to think of all of the craziness yet, but I decided to jump in and I felt it was worth it for me.

I didn't pray over any of my friends, which I was petrified to do. I was terrified of praying over strangers as well, but God gave me the strength to do that.

One girl was in a corner crying, so I just went up to her and hugged her and prayed God would remove any boundaries holding her back from Him. She didn't hug me back and kind of cowered, but I prayed anyway. I will continue to pray for her- I think her name was Rebecca. It would've been awkward if Jesus wasn't involved. Well, honestly, it still was awkward, but she needed a lot of prayer.

There was an hour of free time each day with various activities. I was proud of myself for going to another Bible study, which was one of the options. I went alone, because everyone else was playing volleyball. So yes, a very proud Jesus moment. ^_^ I asked the speaker a lot of questions, and in the end he gave me his note sheet to take home, which was PACKED with information on how to study the Bible properly. I see old Bible verses with new eyes now. ^_^

The games were fun. They were very tiring though, so for free time one day I napped. But they were still okay.

There were sooo many Bible studies, and they were so cool. :D There were about 5 a day with our youth group, and each were like an hour. It was intensely amazing. @_@

I impressed an eighteen year old with my answers during the Bible study. He didn't even seem that involved in the lesson, but he liked how I spoke. So that was another proud Jesus moment. x) God gave me many of those.

There were some kids there asking each other out and stuff, flirting, some kissing, etc... It wasn't so bad, but one kid asked my sister out (I still don't get the phrase, "Do you want to go out?" Out where?!?! -_- Sheesh, some people...) Yeah, I got a little flippy inside then. >_> But Tiffany said no- she didn't want a long distance thing, so that was mature of her. ^_^ *coughandhewasn'tcuteandhewasalittlecrazybutyeah,stillanicekidcough* Woops again xD

I talked about my faith to some people. Some weren't responsive, which was awkward, but God was pleased I hope. Others were responsive, which was great. Too bad I didn't give them anyway to keep in touch with me! >:( Oh well...

I don't want to type everything up, but this is the basic idea of what went on at camp. I felt Him so close, my heart literally ached for Him. It was beautiful and so real. The biggest thing I learned FINALLY, was that I make mistakes and that's cool. I learned how to respond to them, and to realize it's still worth it to try and be like Jesus. I learned to ALWAYS go back to the cross, even though the cross is not something I appreciate. I was scared to realize what He REALLY did for me, and when I did, things changed. It was so moving.

You know how there are things you know, but don't really apply to your daily life? Yeah, well God allowed it to finally be etched in my soul. x)

My faith is so supercharged, but I made sure to ask God to place the camp time permanently on my heart, which was crucial. New habits are being formed to make sure the camp experience will never die. I'm so glad He's doing that. :)

I'll respond to emails soon!!

1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.