Yes. I am back. I have been for a couple of weeks now. I've been busy. School, work, family, boyfriend, friends...but today I have none of that and therefore have no excuse. (I mean, I still have those things, but none are demanding my immediate attention.)

This summer was different than the others...harder...longer. I was sick a lot. (Nothing like coughing all night and jumping and running all day to teach a person dependence on the Lord.) I ate the same exact schedule of camp food for 11 weeks, plus two additional weeks of varied, but still camp meals. I had to enforce rules, teach canoeing, do discipline, and learn to be a lifeguard. I averaged 6 1/2 hours of sleep a night. The list could go on and on.

But the ridiculous, frustrating, wonderful thing about camp is that the list of negatives just kind of blurs in my memories. That list is overshadowed by another list. The list of the kids who shouldn't have changed, who were so far gone at the age of 13 I thought they didn't stand a chance, but whose lives were transformed. The list of the college students who came to camp broken and lost and insecure, and who left a little bit more confident, a little bit more dependent, a little more modest, and a little more loved. The list of kids who never would have had a chance to go to a place like Pine Cove, but who got to because of the generosity of total strangers. The list of experiences and people that absolutely cannot be explained outside of the miraculous nature of Jesus.

This summer I sat with college girls as they disclosed their eating disorders, sexual sin, fear, shame and abusive pasts. They shared about lost loved ones, families, boyfriends, schools, doubts and dreams. They asked for advice on whether to break up or not and whether to speak up or not. And we prayed, cried, read and laughed together.

This summer I had two opportunities to pray with 13 year-old girls as they entered a relationship with their Father for the first time. They knew it would mean their lives would change. They knew it meant giving up control. They knew. But they couldn't deny that it was true any longer. It is True and they knew it and they wanted in.

There are hundreds more stories.
Hundreds of lessons learned.
And I am thankful.