a list of things I've learned in the past month

In my monthlong absence from the Internet due to #CampLife, I have learned so much. It's crazy how much you can glean from the harvest of life when you forget yourself, your screen, your own desires, and live the way we're supposed to--without the constant pull of social media and communication. So here's a quick list of things camp has taught me since I entered its gates almost one month ago:

1. Sometimes totaling your car on your way to camp is an answered prayer. It may not feel like one, but it is. It teaches you dependence and vulnerability. It teaches you to be thankful for health and safety, rather than being distressed over losing a beloved material object like your first car.

2. Going off the grid makes you wonder why you live in a world centered around screen. You begin to realize that you fall into a slower, more peaceful, eternal mindset. It's the mindset God intended for us upon our creation, one I need to practice having outside the gates of camp.

3. Late-night spiritual questions from 10-year-olds will first leave you dumbfounded, then quickly humble you as you realize there is so much more to know about our Father than you could ever even imagine.

4. There's nothing more open, broad, chaotic, colorful, promising, and wholesome than the imagination of a child. Don't discourage it.

5. Sometimes, for the sake of eleven 10-year-olds counting on you, you do things like dance ridiculously in a crowd of almost complete strangers or go onstage dressed as a bag of chips, and you don't question it. You just do it.

6. Relying on almost complete strangers to pray for you, help you out, and befriend you is scary. But let them. Regardless of what the walls around your heart want.

7. Take kids seriously. Don't belittle them and their needs.

8. Go to bed before 11pm sometimes. If you know me, you know I NEVER go to sleep before midnight. Here at camp, 10:30 pm is my new bedtime and 7:30 am is my new wakeup call. I'm not going to lie to y'all, I feel refreshed and awake for most of the days (without even napping!) Nine hours of sleep is the BEST and we were created to dwell in the richness of Earth in our fullest state! So glorify God by going to sleep early occasionally!

9. Have someone take your phone from you for 30 minutes to an hour. Pick a book of the Bible and just read through 3-4 chapters every day. It's so doable when you have no access to your electronics--mark my words!
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10. Lastly: trust God to take you places new and scary like camp. I promise it'll work out in the end. It may not seem worth it or logical, but I promise you, it is.