We are halfway through this adventure. As far as I can tell.
Summer is here. In all of its wildness. It blindsided me.
My new friends are more wondrous than I could have imagined. Our intern numbers have swelled to 21 for the summer season. It is already kind of sad to think that most of my new friends will leave in a little while.
Lost Canyon in this season sees 350-400+ campers and leaders every week. So far we’ve had typical high schoolers and middle schoolers come. Next week is YoungLives which is teen moms in the whole spectrum of motherhood. And in August we’ll have more high schoolers and a Capernaum week which is friends with a wide wide variety of disabilities who get to come and live a life of “Yes!”
Working in retail is crazy town and so good. I am responsible for the Whistle Stop which is our snack bar at Lost Canyon. Essentially, my job is to set up my summer staffers (college aged volunteers) to succeed. I teach them and restock the ice cream. It is one of the greatest satisfactions when they get to see the Lord be glorified through milkshakes and bagel bites.
God teaches me about grace and patience. About discerning and not dismissing. About stillness and seasons of learning. About being fearless. About adventure and playing.
I was home in Virginia for a wedding July 4th weekend and it was a whirlwind. In all honesty, I was crazy nervous to go back to VA. I was excited to see all of my people again, but was terrified as to what physically returning to that place would mean. Would I miss Arizona? Would my heart explode and I’d refuse to leave Virginia ever again? And most terrifying of all, would I realize that I do not have to come back? Yes, I cried when Bailey picked me up at the airport. Yes, as soon as we flew in over the JC Penny I wished my AZ people were with me. Yes, the drive up to the wedding was gorgeous. Yes, flying back into Phoenix was beautiful. Yes, I went to Mac and Bob’s AND Mill Mountain. And yes, I came back to Arizona.
As I was cruising over Texas on my way to Charlotte, I asked God to change my life that weekend. In whatever way He saw fit. Perhaps the way my life was changed was that I realized I could have two normals. Which rocked my shit in a very real way. Being back in Salem and with my friends there was totally normal. It was normal for Ben and Alyssa to get married and for everyone from William and Mary to be back together again for the night. It was normal to get extra fries and ranch at Mac and Bob’s. But then it was also normal to open the coffee shop at camp Tuesday morning and have to put away the US Foods order. It was normal to share a room with 12 girls and to play pingpong every chance possible.
There is a great, terrifying freedom in not having just one normal. I have nothing in this world to default back to when my mind spins in thinking of the future. And now anything and everything is on the table. And what a feast of adventure has been set.
Truths of Ruth 