Last week, I was in Arizona for a camp called Lost Canyon (just outside of Williams, AZ) with the college ministry from my church. Every summer, the high school ministry takes around 350 kids to spend a week in the Arizona mountains, and college ministry attends as Work Crew. Throughout the week, we serve the kids in the dining hall, coffee shop, and snack bar. I was working in all three, and let me tell you–it was HARD work! I worked about 10 hours each day, so I was and currently am physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. However, through all of the hard work, God taught me so much and had time to work in my life as well as the students’ lives.
I was the only female “leader” there for the college students (although I’m a peer with some of them), so I had to really take on a leader role throughout the week. I have never considered myself much of a leader, but God showed me that I am capable of holding that responsibility.
On Monday morning, we had the opportunity to wake up bright and early (er… dark and early?) to see the sunrise over the Grand Canyon. It was about an hour drive from camp, so we left at 4:30AM and arrived just in time to see the sun begin to peek over the horizon. I was taking pictures most of the time, but in the few minutes that I took to just sit and soak it all in, I was overwhelmed with God’s love for me. It’s so crazy to think that He created these beautiful landscapes all for us to enjoy and be in awe of Him.
The next day during my quiet time, I was reading Streams in the Desert and was reminded to praise God in ALL circumstances, even for the answers to prayers that haven’t been answered yet. As I was thanking God for numerous things in my life, I began to think about where I am in life currently and all that’s happened over the past year. I never would have thought that I would end up working at the church, and here I am, a year into being in ministry, and I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. I also feel SO incredibly blessed that I’ve gotten to work with Paul (UCI Campus Coordinator) and Conrad (College Pastor) this past year. Whether they know it or not, they’ve made a huge impact on my life and have helped me grow as a follower of Christ & leader. So if either of you guys are reading this, THANKS 🙂
Lost Canyon is one of my favorite places ever, so it was really hard leaving, but I’ll definitely be back next year!
xo Katie