Colorado Loving

Week 1: Colorado Christian University: Denver, Colorado

There is a never a dull moment at Worldview Academy.  From being crazy enthusiastic the moment parents and students begin arriving on Sunday, to listening to and discussing lectures with students, to playing ultimate frisbee at free time, to organizing small groups, to filling 'down time' between lectures with games and skits, to going to staff meetings and working on logistics…things are always happening.

It can be very easy to get caught up in the details of 'doing camp' that we (I) forget the purpose of camp.  I forget that my main job during each week is to love my students.

This week, God blessed me abundantly with four very different girls - each of whom I came to love.  Their quirks and personalities, in any other setting, would probably have driven them apart.  And in my own little world, there is a good possibility that I never would have reached out to them, but would have stayed in my comfortable 'bubble'.  But being thrown together into a group at Worldview breaks down barriers and builds deep friendships between unsuspecting people. 

This week, I watched as my shy, quiet girl faced challenges, growing more bold in her faith, and finally standing up in front of the entire camp to share what she learned this week.  I saw my more outspoken student direct her energy into pouring into the other girls in our small group and she expressed interest in returning to camp to staff and continue pouring into other girls.  I saw my student who entered camp as an alumni with lots of 'head knowledge' humble herself and admit that she needs to learn to apply what she knows - but with an eagerness and excitement that is often not seen.  I was amazed as my student, who was so confident among us as a small group, shed tears at the thought of evangelizing on Wednesday…but obediently went out and returned victorious and hopeful. 

How could I not love these girls?  These young women who have pursued truth this week, who have struggled through hard concepts, sat through 27 hours of lectures, faced fears, proclaimed truth, dug deep, spoke honestly and openly with me and the other girls…how could I not love them? 

God has been showing me again these past two weeks that Christianity is all about relationship.  Quiet times: getting to spend time with my Creator, building our relationship.  Going to church: building relationships with other believers and letting my relationships with them further encourage my relationship with Jesus.  Praying: talking to my Creator, sharing and listening.  My faith is built on relationship - the relationship that Christ initiated with me when He chose me before the foundation of the world.  The joy of this relationship, the love that I experience through my Creator should pour out all over my small groups. 

Tonight, as I spent my last T-time (small group time at night) with my girls, I listened to them giggle and laugh and tease each other. I couldn't help but be amazed at how much they had changed since Sunday night. I couldn't help but smile at the love that they have for each other.  I handed back the goals they had set for themselves at the beginning of the week and watched as they exclaimed, "I'd forgotten about this! And ALL of these happened!"  God was working this week.  He was teaching me to love my girls.  He was teaching my girls to love each other.  And He was doing it by loving us.  

"By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:16-18