Courage to Take Steps to Go Deeper

Yesterday marked the end of week 1 of summer camp and I spent closing day with campers, families, and staff at our SpringHill Indiana camp. There were a number of moving testimonies by campers and staff during the closing rally, but there was one in particular I want to share with you.

Ariel is a returning SpringHill camper and this year she was a part of our Inpursuit middle school camp. According to her area director Sara, Ariel came to camp with anticipation, because she believed that God was going to do something tremendous in her life. In the past she had committed her life to Christ but felt that somehow God was going to take her deeper this summer.

So this week, before her counselor and her cabin group, then before an amphitheater full of campers, staff, and families, she announced that she was going to go deeper in her relationship with Christ by reading the entire Bible through in a year. This young woman, who, like all junior highers, has a thousand things competing for her time and trying to steal her life away, has decided to go “against the current” and to do something that will forever positively transform her life – read all of God’s Word.

So, as I listened to Ariel tell us of her commitment, all I could do was sit back and thank God for her courage, and for the good work of her counselors and her area director Sara in challenging Ariel to a new level of faith.

And like Ariel, after hearing so many incredible stories yesterday, I’m full of anticipation at what Christ is going to do in the lives of our campers and staff this summer.