what I hope you learned at camp this summer

part of my job this summer is leading staff devotionals once a week. at the beginning of the summer, I wasn't sure exactly how this would go, if people would show up, if I had anything relevant to say. so eric helped me make a brag-worthy snack spread every week, and I would rush through bedtime routine with the kids to make it up to the welcome center on time. the snacks certainly helped, and word of mouth soon had people asking me to lead the same devotional twice on thursdays so counselors could come during their breaks. this week was the last week of overnight camp and what I thought would be my last devotional. it turned out to be a doozy. here's what we talked about, after a meditation from hermann hesse and a couple minutes of silence...

To a Leaf Wilting

Every blossom wants to become fruit.
Every morning turns into evening without regret.
Nothing on earth is eternal except change, except taking leave.

The most splendid summer yearns to fade into fall.
Oh, autumn leaf, be still and yielding when the wind wants to seize you.

Do not resist, be a player in the game.
Surrender to the change in motion.
Let yourself be broken, seized, and blown to the next home.


~Hermann Hesse


five things I hope you learned at camp this summer:

1- you are totally fabulous.

maybe you reached a goal for yourself this summer. maybe you tried something new. maybe you did something you never thought you'd do, and it turned out okay. maybe you met someone who taught you big things about yourself. maybe you realized you're really good at something you'd never bothered to try before. whatever it is, I hope you know how totally fabulous you really are. that you can do big things, small things, important things, and silly things, and you can do all those things even better than you thought.

2- your life is pretty stinkin' great.

I hope this summer taught you more about your life, mostly how great it really is. you are living an incredible story, and this summer is just one part of it. I hope this summer helped you realize something amazing about your future, helped you decide what direction to go next. or maybe this summer helped you put together the pieces of your past so that your future makes more sense. or maybe you just have good stories to tell about the adventures you had or the people you met while you were here. whatever it is, I hope you know how how great your life really is.

3- god is bigger than you thought.

being in a beautiful place like quinipet surrounded by passionate, loving people should give you a pretty big idea of god's nature. I hope you saw god in those around you this summer. I hope you learned how god's love is big enough for all of us, from the devout to the doubtful and everyone in between.  I hope you saw how god is always working on the bigger picture, even when we disagree with the means god might use to get there.

4- make this place your home.  wherever you are, make it these things:

 H-happy.  frederick buechner says, "the place where god calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." god wants you to be happy.  sometimes that means making the best of where you are, and sometimes it means getting the heck out of where you are into something better. learn to know the difference. learn to find your happy.
 O-open. be open to being yourself. to whatever is next. to allowing those around you to speak their truth. open your heart, open your mind. create space where others feel safe to open up as well.
 M-meaningful. use your home-space to find out what matters most to you. tune in. whether it is perfecting your chocolate chip cookie recipe so you can feed the masses a little bit of happiness or taking off to africa to fight for women's right to health care, find the meaning in your life.  then do what matters. make sure home is where you can rest up to do good work.
 E-engergize. be sure you have a place where you can rest, recharge your batteries. space that is sacred enough to fill your metaphorical cup. space to take a break, but also space that gets you pumped up, fired up, revved up to do big things. listen to mozart, then listen to macklemore. then do what you need to do to energize yourself to take on the world.

5-say yes. to whatever it is god calls you to, to whatever adventure is dropped in your lap, to each and every chance you have to love on those around you. say yes.

(i started at 2:42 for time and political correctness's sake, but you should really watch the whole thing.)

wherever you are, what ever summer adventure you have had, I hope this all proves true for you as well.