Encouragement

Every time I come home I always go to my closet and pull out all my old stuff from elementary all the way through college. I love looking through it all and remembering those times. My room is a mess right now because I have all my memorabilia spread all over the floor.

Tonight I decided to go through my box with all my old Pine Cove stuff in it. Pine Cove was a Christian family camp I worked at for 3 summers in college. It was a really stretching and good experience for me. I learned alot about myself and God during those summers. Those summers were very intense spiritually, emotionally and physically. There were times when I hated it and times when I loved it. Each summer was a completely different experience for me, but the one thing that was reinforced in me each summer was that I needed to die to myself.

Going through all my Pine Cove stuff reminded me of that. I desperately need to die to myself and lay my wants and desires at the feet of Jesus. There are a few things I just keep holding onto that are really hard to let go of. I know I need to give them to him and trust that He will work it all out for my good.

I was also greatly encouraged by going through all that stuff. Most of my old Pine Cove stuff is letters and notes of encouragement from my campers or fellow counselors. Almost every day at camp I would get a note from somebody encouraging me with a kind word or a Bible verse. It became so commonplace that I took it for granted. I saved all of them. There are so many that I couldn't even read them all. I would have been up all night if I had tried to read them all. To read those notes 4 or 5 years later was soooo good. It reminded me how much I appreciate encouragement. It also reminded me how little I encourage others. That is something I want to work on.

I don't really keep up with anyone that I worked with at Pine Cove. I see updates on facebook from time to time so I know what some of them are up to now. Many of them are married. If any of my fellow pine cove counselors are reading this I wish you all well! Thanks for all the encouragement during camp. I'd love to hear from any of you anytime! :)