3 months ago I started what was the absolute hardest yet most rewarding month of my life, I began the sweetest friendships that will last for a lifetime and I experienced one of the most filling, enriching times with my walk with the Lord. This past summer I left for a month to serve on work crew at a Young Life camp in Florida. Hands down the greatest month of my life. Leaving my mom and friends in Raleigh at the airport that morning was scary, especially being the homebody that I am. I clung to the Lord that whole flight there, praying that He would prepare my heart for the hard work, homesickness and friendships that I was going to encounter in the next 4 weeks. I knew the Lord had some big things coming for me, but little did I know how incredibly BIG these "things" were going to be.
The community I got to be apart of at Southwind is indescribable. The people I served side by side with everyday were without a doubt my best friends. We treated each other like we had known one another for a lifetime. We stayed up way too late, laughed an absurd amount, goofed off way too much, encouraged and loved each other with all of our heart and worshipped the Lord with all of our strength.
I got to experience Jesus in a way I have never experienced Him before. The work was tiring, without clinging to the Lord there would have been absolute no way I could've made it through that month. It was tiring but worth it. Worth it to serve precious middle schoolers who were hearing the Gospel, getting loved on harder than they had ever been loved on, and having the best time of their lives.
Every night I think about this family. I miss waking up with them all by my side. I miss worshipping with them. I miss talking about Jesus with them. I miss laughing with them, eating meals with them. Cleaning, serving and living life with them. I miss our inside jokes, I miss the night there were millions of bugs in our room, I miss the nights when the lights weren't off til 1am, the nights when the conversations never seemed to end.
Knowing I have a group of people who pray for me everyday of my life, and that I pray for everyday is indescribable. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about them. That month I learned to seek out a heart like Jesus' every single day. To love on people with a compassionate, genuine heart that is full of a desire for them to know Him.
[1 Thessalonians 2:8]
Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.
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