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Even though it's only a little over a month into school, people are already talking about what they're doing this summer. And they're talking about it a lot. The conversations usually go one of two ways: people are either studying abroad (London, Buenos Aires, and Paris are a few popular destinations) or recruiting for internships with major corporations (think Hallmark, JP Morgan Chase). Inevitably, the question always turns to me. People ask what I'm doing this summer, and I excitedly tell them that I'm hoping to work at camp all summer. And I usually get the same response.

Oh, that's...nice. 

A lot of people don't understand why I would work at camp all summer when I could experience the vibrant culture of South America, or attend the London School of Economics, or interview with big-name corporations to build up my resume. And all of those things are great, but I know just where God wants me this summer, and that's in Tyler, Texas.

Home.

The place where I only get my cell phone for 24 hours out of the week. The place where I work in the kitchen for ten hours a day and get a break when I head to the pool to lifeguard. The place where I'm reminded that my job is not about me and my comforts.

The place where I've seen God move in powerful and mighty ways. The place where I'm encouraged and lifted up by a tight knit community of believers. The place where God taught me so many things last summer, even when I came in with a calloused, unbelieving heart. 

Last summer, I had the blessing of serving as a cook/lifeguard at the Pine Cove Bluffs Family Camp, although I didn't always see it that way. At the beginning of the summer, every staffer from all of Pine Cove's 11 camps packed into UT Tyler's Cowan Center, and CEO Mario "High Five" Zandstra talked to us about the mission statement of Pine Cove. 

Pine Cove exists to be used by God to transform the lives of people for His purposes and His glory!

He pointed out that Pine Cove is not just for campers. God uses Pine Cove to impact the lives of staffers too. I took him at his word, but didn’t really consider what this meant for my life.

As I went into this summer, I was ashamed to tell people that I was hired as a cook and not a counselor, and I told people I knew God would do big things, but I didn’t believe it.

I believed that I had failed God and He was disappointed in me, and that’s why I was a cook. I believed that I wasn’t good enough to be a counselor. I believed these things about myself, and I believed that everyone else thought them too. But this summer, God walked alongside me and gently reminded me (again) of how valuable and beloved I am in His sight. He continued to be faithful to me, even when I was faithless.

So why am I working at camp this summer? Because I’ve seen how God truly does use Pine Cove to transform the lives of people for His purposes and His glory. And why should you apply to work at camp this summer? Because when you come to a place where you don’t think you can wash another dish, or sit through another lifeguarding shift, or serve one more meal, that’s where you begin to realize that you really couldn’t do it all along. And that’s where you begin to learn just how powerful and gracious our God is.

I could carry on for pages talking about what God showed me this summer, but here's a condensed list that I wrote out the day after camp ended.

What I learned at camp this summer:

·        If you want to change, ask God. He’s in the business of changing lives.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

·        God can take even rotten motives and use them for His good and ours, to His glory.
“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

·        Humility allows me to best love other people because I see their wants and desires as equal to, or as more important than, my own.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Mark 12:31

·        In the body of Christ, every part has times when it wants to be a different part or have a different job to do.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31

·        God works all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose, whether that be job positions or broken bones.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28