"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
~Mark 10:45~
This post marks the end of my first week at Camp Victory! What a week it has been. Lifeguard training ended Thursday. I am now officially a certified lifeguard (for the third time haha). On Friday, the rest of the counselor staff arrived. It was great to meet the rest of my team. I really enjoyed meeting everyone. To top it off, Jenna and Anthony arrived. It fills my heart with joy to have them here with me this summer. Most of the time that I have traveled, it has been by myself, or in the company of unbelievers. That has always been the thorn in my international traveling experiences. I tend to shrivel up on the inside without frequent, Christ-centered fellowship. Knowing that I'll still be able to to talk to someone about CV when I get back to Tampa is such a nice feeling. Someone who understands all the inside jokes and crazy memories that only make sense if you were there.
Yesterday and today were spent in counselor orientation. One of the big topics that has really been emphasized is servant leadership. I've been so impressed with and convicted by the servant's heart that the people here display. Everyone pitches in to help, without complaining and no one thinks they are too good to clean toilets. It's very humbling to realize just how selfish I still am.
There are certain advantages to being a single adult. More freedom for ministry and more personal discretion with your time. However, an unfortunate side effect is a tendency to become unintentionally very self-focused. I spend about 90% of my time doing things that directly benefit myself; I go to school so I can get the degree that I want, I work to pay my bills, I only cook and clean for myself typically etc. Granted, some of this is just a product of the season of life I am in. I don't have a family to take care of and if the Lord has called me to serve Him as a nurse, that requires a degree, which in turn requires a lot of commitment and time. However, CV is serving as a great reminder that the world does not in fact, revolve around me and my plans for the future (how surprising...haha)
Needless to say, I am hoping that this summer I will grow a lot in this area. In the providence of God my church has been studying the book of Philippians in our college and women's ministries the past few months. By the Grace of God I hope to apply this passage to my time here at camp:
"Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."
~Philippians 2:3-8~
All in all, I feel so blessed to be able to a part of this ministry. It is so encouraging to be in a place where The Lord's name is proclaimed constantly. It is so clear to me that everything that we do is to point people to Christ. It's so refreshing to be in this environment after so many years at USF. I really hope that the Lord allows me to serve Him in full time ministry one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment