Best Summer Ever
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A Door Through TimeMy essay titled "A Door Through Time: Reflections on Robert LaBarre Goodwin's Cabin Door" has been awarded the 2015 Geballe Prize for Creative Prose and was published in the Stanford Arts Review.
You can read it here. |
What a summer! We wrestled on the Wibit, we sang in the Lodge, we sailed, we stubbed toes, and we did it together. Together with good friends; people who take us to the Nurse, who laugh at our bad jokes, who share their stories and who listen to ours. We were known, and we were loved.
In short, being at camp was the best present ever. I love good presents. I remember the basketball hoop my parents gave me when I was 6. I grew up in California, and every day I would walk home from school with my friends and we’d shoot hoops until dinnertime. When I was 10, my family moved to Vancouver, but my hoop didn’t fit in the moving truck. I arrived in Vancouver with no hoop and no friends. I was mad at my Mom and Dad. “Why did we have to move here? I loved our old life! Why didn’t you just let me stay?” Joe White, the speaker at Breakaway, told us that Jesus is the True Vine, and we are the branches. We only bear fruit when we abide in Jesus’ love. He also told us that God prunes back good, fruit-bearing twigs in our lives. California was a very fruitful twig in my life. Losing it was hard. All I wanted was to move back. Well, I’m getting my wish. God is taking me back to California for school. I don’t know if I’ll live in Vancouver again. I don’t know when I’ll return to camp. It’s a weird feeling: 10 years ago, I mourned leaving California, but now, 10 years later, part of me mourns returning. There are lots of reasons why: I’ll miss my best friend, Jordan, one of the lifeguards here; I’ll miss camp, going crazy on the Wibit, and my friends here; I’ll miss my church; I’ll miss looking across English Bay at the Cascade Mountains; I’ll miss my friends from high school, especially Thierry, Laura, Hayley, Reghan, and Mark. I’ll miss my life here a lot. The summer is ending for all of us. Camp was full of fruit, and it’s tough to leave. Maybe you’re upset about that. “Why did camp have to end? I love camp! Why can’t camp exist year-round?” Sometimes Jesus takes something really good away to make room for something even better. What I didn’t realize when I left California is that even though I didn’t have my hoop anymore, I had my parents. Good gifts come from good givers. And our new life in Vancouver turned out to be their best gift yet. I lost a basketball hoop, but in its stead I gained things of far greater value. Imagine if I’d given up, packed up my bags, and moved back to California to play with my basketball hoop – I would have never come to camp! Moving was hard, but sometimes hard is good. This summer has been the best gift ever – so far. And the biggest gift he’s given us is himself. We played with Him on the Wibit, we sang to Him in the Lodge. He was with us when we sailed and stubbed our toes. He was with us. “Abide with Me,” the song I’ve sung every night this summer, is not just a plea – it’s a declaration. Camp is rich because God lives here. And guess what? He lives with us everywhere! He will live with me in California. He’ll live with you on your soccer fields, in your schools, your homes and your youth groups. It might not be as easy as life at camp, but He’ll be living with you all the same. You just lost a great gift. Who knows what His next gift to us will be? You have just finished a super summer at camp. What’s next? Do you believe it could be even better? Keep abiding in Jesus, and Jesus will keep abiding in you. We may lose a twig here or there, but in their place great boughs will grow, heavy with fruit. |
Struggling with Sabbath
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struggling_with_sabbath_-_vcfp_newsletter.docx | |
File Size: | 133 kb |
File Type: | docx |