I never want to be looking so intently at the future that I fail to see the wonders in the present. I don’t want to put blinders up, to focus so much on the goal that the road under my feet is irrelevant. This road matters. This transition from high school to work to university matters; it’s not trivial and it’s certainly not pointless. God works in any and every aspect of my life and it is foolish to assume that I was created for my future alone. If I keep striving for the future, striving for only what I see on the horizon, my life will be nothing but a hand reaching for something I may never grasp.
This year of transition has also been a year of reflection and there’s something incredible about stepping back, taking a breath, and seeing God work in who I am and who I choose to be. I will always seek to do better, to dust myself off after I crash to the pavement, to keep going and moving and striving–yet there is beauty in looking back, in seeing how far I’ve come, in knowing that God has answered more prayers than I can count. Yes, God answers prayers and I will continue to speak that truth to myself.
Before this reflective year comes to a close and I head off to 8:30 am classes in the fall, there are hundreds of campers anticipating a great week of camp. Camp starts today and I am excited to see what this month will hold–the people who will walk through these old doors, the leaders who will radiate God’s joy to these campers, the quiet ways that the energy and activities at camp will impact these people for years to come. I am excited for the people who are as much this camp as the walls and trees and games. This is our place; this is God’s place. Here, surrounded by people who are broken and weak and still trusting in God’s strength, I have an amazing privilege to walk beside them, cry with them, and worship God together.
I am constantly looking ahead, seizing dreams and ideas with equal parts fear and excitement, but here I have a tangible opportunity to stop walking for once and look around me. Look around at these people who are here to grow and learn and get back up. Look around at this year and the stretching opportunities I have been given. Look around at this Jesus who invites me to engage in this blessed and uncomfortable life. Look around and truly see.
Christian and Creative 