I have some time and an ounce of courage so I should take advantage of it. These times are few and far between so let's not waste any time. What I learned at camp:

-My feelings/goals about girls and the media were confirmed and strengthened. Now, more than ever, I believe there's a need to teach about our true identity. The battle inside wages on though as I grow increasingly convinced that the problem is unsolvable. Not only the teenage girls are affected. Guys, parents, grandparents have all believed the lies. Each week we got to read profiles of our incoming campers. One mom wrote that she wanted her 8th grade girl to learn that "She doesn't have to be pretty to be popular." False. Absolutely, completely, and utterly false. You definitely have to be pretty to be popular. The problem with that statement is that a: popularity should not be the goal and b: she is pretty! The problem is not the way we look, it's the way we see.

-On one of my days off, while sitting in my car re-reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and basking in my insecurity and my avoidance of the blank page, the Holy Spirit somehow worked in me to reveal the absolute timidity in which I live my life, particularly in writing. At this point my not writing is being disobedient. I'm not sure how all that works, but I know that my fear is not a legitimate excuse to ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. I know that if/when I write people will inevitably read it and that scares the crap out of me. I also know that His power is made perfect in weakness. Writing is where I feel weakest. Yikes.

-Every Tuesday a group of the girl counselors got together for what they call "Cake-N-Steak" with the director's wife. These were some of the sweetest times at camp. She allowed us to come into her home, she made us food, she shared a little bit of what God had lain on her heart. One week she was discussing modesty, pointing out that it's more than just clothing. It's not drawing unnecessary attention to yourself in the way we dance, the way we talk, the way we act, etc. "You're not going to miss what God has for you," she told us. That is so true and so well-put.

Next time I blog I'll be sitting in my dorm room at John Brown University. (That is, if I still have a room. Hopefully I haven't been kicked out for not showing up on Wednesday.) Good-bye friends.