Last summer God took me through an amazing transformation
and showed me endless things. Though there were lots of trials and rocky times
that showed me this it was mostly through two people that God had placed in my
life. My summer had started out pretty rough and I was really not having a good
time, so when it was time for summer camp I could hardly wait! My general
expectations were to go, have a good time, have some good worship, and learn a
few things. But the Lord was amazing and involved in everything that happened
that week and it was even better than that! I’ve never seen him at work like he
was that week; the entire camp was just in awe.
I believe that a lot of this had to do with our speaker,
Caleb Bislow. He’s so passionate about Christ that when he walks into the room
without saying a word the love of Jesus is radiating off of him. Right now he has a ministry in Africa called
the Maasai Project, in case you’ve never heard of the Maasai they’re a hostile
tribe that before Caleb had never heard about Jesus. Throughout the camp he
told us about his calling to Africa and put it into an analogy of the 13th
floor. Let me explain, if you notice in buildings there is never a 13th
floor because it’s where no one wants to be because it’s scary and that’s where
weird stuff happens. But that’s what a lot of ministry opportunities the Lord
gives us are like. Caleb encouraged us to follow the Lord wherever he takes us
and told us “when the Lord says go, you GO!!!”
Caleb also challenged everyone to go find a rock one day and with a
permanent marker write everything that is precious to you and to carry it with
you and think about it throughout the week. On the last day he told us that
those are the things preventing us from being closer and following God. He then
told us that when were ready to let them go and follow God whole heartedly to
find a place of solitude with water and just chuck it so that it can sink and
you’ll never see it again. I’ve never been so challenged at a camp before or
been so on fire for the Lord, but after this camp I couldn’t contain my passion
for Jesus. Caleb had encouraged me to pursue my calling for missions and to
step onto the 13th floor not knowing what will happen but knowing
God is leading the way.
Camp was ending and your camp high usually doesn’t last much
longer, but the Lord is so good and introduced me to one of our counselors,
Megan, whom I came to know very well. She helped me process everything the Lord
was doing and when we got home she continued to encourage me. Eventually she
became my mentor and we meet every week, and let me just say the Lord couldn’t
have blessed me more! High school can
make it so tough to live for Christ everyday but Megan continues to encourage, challenge,
and show me Christ’s love. All summer
long and up to today the Lord continues to be precise with the people and
events in my life. This transformation was so strong that I still feel on fire
for the Lord and excited about his ministry. Through these two people in my
life I’ve learned to pray specifically to the Lord no matter how big, little,
strange, amazing, or out of the norm they may be. I now know that he wants me to ask him
exactly what is on my heart and to have undoubting trust that he will take care
of it. I watched him do amazing things
in my life and the people’s around me which made me realize how great and
faithful he is and that I need to trust him in EVERYTHING! Not just the things
that are obvious I can’t handle. For me
these seem like simple things that you’re told about by everyone else, but
until you experience them yourself you just don’t understand. It’s hard for me
to express the way I feel about last summer because it was so great, but I can
feel a transformation within myself and my passion to live for Jesus is still
burning strong because of it.
