In my latest adventure I applied to be a camp counselor at Eagle Lake Camps in Colorado. I felt I had been growing my faith for a reason and preparing for something but didn't know the clear direction. This was that very moment. Upon getting accepted my mother joked around saying this was going to change my life forever. I'm a firm believer that all of the choices you make and experiences you have are ones that change your life forever in some fashion. I hadn't known the major effect camp was going to have on my life until now.
Eagle Lake Camps is a ministry of the Navigators and is located in the heart of Pike National Forest. They are devoted to inspiring "Christ-centered love and commitment, through counselor relationships, in the midst of exciting outdoor experiences" for each and every camper. They focus on loving people and doing it well. To put it in not so technical terms: Eagle Lake is a whole lot of fun, extremely challenging at times, but an experience you have to be a part of to fully grasp.
God taught me many lessons this summer one of the biggest being that I am inadequate and that's okay. Just like Jonah fled from his calling to Nineveh I too fled for a portion of my life from the Lord. His faithfulness to continue pursing me is something I constantly dwell in. No matter how far I attempted to run even there His hand guided me (Psalm 139:9-10). I wasn't sure what each day would bring but looking back my summer was filled with young girls eager to know their Heavenly Father and looking to me to help them do so. The little nuggets of truth God placed on my heart to share in the lives of these young girls were life changing. Days were long, weeks were short, and the summer was even shorter so. When I reflect back on my time I'm so grateful for the lifelong friendships I made and the ways in which God stretched and grew me but most importantly I was blessed to be used in all my brokenness to invest in the generations to come. I am inadequate, but my God is made strong in my weakness.
BUT WAIT...there's more.
While at camp I was so glaringly called to stay, I didn't know how and in what way but I knew I needed to come back. Enter the Emerging Leader's Program. After struggling with whether to apply or not I found myself jumping in leaving it all in God's hands. Enter Emily Evers, Emerging Leader set to fundraise my way to a full-time two-year position with Eagle Lake. So here I am, back in small town La Crosse, Wisconsin adjusting to life off the mountain but encouraged and blessed for the next adventure God has called me to.
