PlUnGe

This picture is from Pioneer Plunge (in the winter obviously). It is a Young life camp that is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. After wrestling through and praying about being a counselor for a group from Naples going on this trip, I felt led to take the journey. We leave June 10th and return (hopefully...jk) June 17th. CAMP- you think...fun, exciting, fun pictures, new friends, mountain top experience in your faith (most of the time), closer as a group, something to do over the summer...yada yada- but my heart doesn't want that. I know it is going to be fun, a push out of my comfort zone (once again), definitely meeting new people because I know no one I am going with, and let me just say..no lie...no mirrors, no deodorant, no running water, no electricity, wood burning stove (meaning we cut down the trees and take an ax to them), in the WOODS (there are bears there-YIKES!)- but why would people make a camp like this? Why would anyone want to go on this trip? Do you really meet God face to face? These are just questions running through my head...and if you can't tell- I am crazy nervous about this trip-but even more excited about it. I was doing a devotional this morning, from The Ransomed Heart,
- If you want to get to know someone, you need to know their story. Their life is a story. It, too, has a past and a future. It, too, unfolds in a series of scenes over the course of time. In order to make you understand their story, "to give you my life, I must tell you a story..." (Virginia Woolf). I expect all of us, at one time or another, in an attempt to understand our lives or discover what we ought to do, have gone to someone else with our stories. This is not merely the province of psychotherapists and priests, but of any good friend. "Tell me what happened. Tell me your story, and I'll try to help you make some sense of it."
We humans share these lingering questions: "Who am I really? Why am I here? Where will I find life? What does Go want of me?" The answers to these questions seem to come only when we know the rest of the story....

While reading this devo- I could only think about all of the grace stories I am going to hear on this trip. After meeting with the other leader (Zach) and his wife (Blair) and hearing just a tad bit about each of the girls, my heart began to break for them. Yes, we all have a story- a wonderful story-and throughout the week everyone on this "retreat"/camp will get to share them....that make me excited!

...So if you think about it- please pray for me and the group of 15 from Naples that will be leaving June 10th- that we will experience God in a clear and authentic way- and most of all...that it would not just be a mountain top experience that will last who knows how long- but a real and exciting way to live out our faith.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, be prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7