just love;

So, this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much, but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
- Phillipians 1, MSG

Three things that jump at me when I read this passage;

Our love is supposed to flourish.
I had no idea what this word meant when I read it, so I looked it up in the dictionary. The most common definition listed is growth, or thriving. It means that we are supposed to love with the goal of reaching the highest point of love that we can possibly reach. I picture love kind of like a vine, climbing up a wall, always growing in height, but spreading width-wise too.
There's another definition for the word flourish that caught my attention. It's only listed once, and its very few words. It says, flourish: to sound a trumpet call or fanfare. Interesting, eh? Imagine if our love could be as bold as a trumpet call. Imagine love being that loud. And maybe that's not exactly what Paul is getting at, but when I see that definition that is what I want. I want there to be a trumpet-like boldness to the way that I love. That I would love without reservations, without conditions, without asking questions, and that it would grow more and more each day.

Love needs to be sincere.
It can't be fluff. It can't be meaningless. It involves using my heart, and my mind. Love needs to be intentional. It needs to be thought through. It goes beyond initial feelings. And I think for me that applies big time when it comes to people who are hard to love. Sometimes, people push my buttons. Sometimes I just don't feel like loving them. But love needs to be intentional. Paul says it needs to be intelligent. Maybe I won't feel the 'setimental gush' around every person that I encounter, but that doesn't mean I can't love them. I need to sincerely and genuinely love others, because Jesus loves me. And I certainly am hard to love, I'm sure.

Love needs to set an example.
It needs to paint Jesus in a good light. Others need to see the difference in the way I live, and want that difference. Notice that this passage says nothing about using our words. It doesn't say, 'love, and tell everyone about Jesus.' It says nothing about 'evangelizing.' It says to make Jesus attractive to all. How? By loving. By living by example. By living the way He did. It reminds me of that famous quote 'preach the Gospel at all times - and if necessary, use words.'
How? Love.


This passage really stands out to me. I feel like it gives us such a great 'how to' on what Jesus means when He says 'love one another,' and I love that. I love that He doesn't ask something of us and not help us out. He doesn't leave it for us to figure out by ourselves. He walks us through it. He sets the example. He helps us.
Sometimes we really complicate being Christians, don't we? And in doing that, I think we often totally miss the mark of what being a follower of Christ really means. What does it actually mean to follow Jesus? To live like Jesus?
I think it starts with love.
Plain and simply, just love.

oh, whisper to me now that it was for real;

Well, it's been nearly two weeks since I returned from Adventure Camp, and it feels like its been a lifetime.

This is hard, because as I sit here for like, the millionth time, I still can't figure out what to say. And I need to say something. I feel like I owe it to this summer to try to put into words what an incredible experience it was. But I can't just say anything. I have to do it justice. I have to capture every scent, every sight, every smell, every moment, every second.

I know that's unrealistic. And I know that if I try that, I will type until my fingers fall off.

So let me just tell you that this summer was easily the best of my life. In the short two months that I was up north, God revealed to me things that I never knew about myself and about Him. He stretched me, He urged me to try new things, and He showed me that He is with me no matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing.

This summer, I learned what it means to be dependant. You're probably scratching your head and wondering how on earth that's a good thing. I didn't learn to depend on other people - I learned to depend on God. I learned that it's okay to ask Him for help. I learned that it's okay when I can't do something on my own. I learned that when my body grows tired, and weary, God stays strong. And I learned that if I am willing, God will replace my strength with His. He will work in me and through me.

Above all else, I learned what a privelege, what an opportunity, it is to love. Week after week, God placed groups of His children under my care and He asked only that I loved them. Loving those kids was such a blessing. Being their mom for the week, talking to them, laughing with them, rubbing their backs during sleepless nights, eating meals with them, praying with them, investing in them. I met the most amazing kids, with the most beautiful smiles and the most wonderful energy, and I got to build solid, trusting relationships with them. And, I got to watch God work in their lives. I got to share my relationship with Christ with them, and I got to help plant seeds in their minds and their hearts, trusting that God would nurture and grow those seeds. I saw kids commit their lives to Jesus, I prayed with them as they did it. When I think back on these experiences, I am blown away that God chose to use me the ways He did - that He picked me to work in these precious children's lives this summer.

I miss it. Everyday.
I miss the kids. I miss their laughter, and the sound of their small voices praying. I miss giving them piggy-back rides, and I miss holding their tiny hands in mine. I miss their tight little hugs, and I miss listening to them talk and talk about the cares of their young lives. I miss being a part of their lives.
I miss the stars, I miss the sunsets, I miss the lake, and the stillness of being surrounded by God's handiwork. I miss the sound of rain falling on the roof of my chalet. I miss the wildlife - the deer, the chipmunks, the raccoons.
I miss the incredible community of people I was blessed to work with. I miss being able to step outside and be greeted by a hug, or a smile, or an encouraging word. I miss feeling like a part of something incredible, a valued piece of a body working towards one common goal.
I miss being Daffi.

All in all, the summer was incredible. It exceeded all of my wildest dreams, every expectation, every notion that I had of what camp might be. God taught me, and pushed me, and changed me.
Not only was it the best summer of my life, but it was the best experience of my life. And even though I miss it unbelievably, I can't let that eclipse how incredibly grateful I am for those two months. I am so thankful for camp, I am so thankful for every moment of this past summer.

Being back in the real world is hard. And thinking about everything this summer held makes me feel like it would be so much easier to just be in that camp bubble again, to spend my whole life there. But I know that God taught me the things He did for a reason, and I know He's going to use those lessons and experiences in the coming year. It's exciting, and admittedly very scary, but He walked me through every transition at camp, and He will walk me through every transition here.

So, with that being said, I'm welcoming in the new year, I'm pushing past the tough adjustments, I'm trusting God to carry me through.
And I'm taking Adventure Camp with me.