Playing Catch-up: The Summer

So I guess that it would be a good thing to catch everyone up with what has happened in my life. The question is where to begin. If anything, let's start with the latest ending of a chapter of my life: graduation from Princeton.

Yes, I did graduate from Princeton in June. (Believe me, I didn't think it would happen at some points during the thesis writing process.) Anywhos, after that, I chilled out at home for about a month. And much to everyone's utter astonishment... I did the same thing that I had been doing the past 3 summers, working at CTY Summer Programs. Shocking, I know.

This year was a bit different. I had a slightly different position, but nothing too major. However, I was still worried. There were issues that I had being a Christian and being at camp again. There is a culture that runs in opposition to Christianity, often overtly opposing. It's easy to be sucked into the lifestyle of camp when there is no one to keep you accountable. The summer of 2007, I had no one to keep me accountable. The only brother in Christ I had left after the first 3 week session (there are 2 sessions). Left alone, I tried to be strong, but found that I was weak. It's easy to get caught up in a life of sin when you're not answerable to anyone. So this year, I was worried that I would once again fall into temptation and sin.

I prayed specifically for brothers and sisters to be sent to camp to keep me accountable. I got my small group at Princeton praying for it. Wouldn't you know, the Lord answered my prayers. The Dean of Residential Life (my immediate boss) turned out to be a student at Reformed Theological Seminary. The first day, we had a meeting to discuss expectations for each other, since we'd be working closely together. At the end of the meeting, I couldn't help but ask if he was for real. I wanted to know if he REALLY had devoted himself to Christ. After a few moments of chuckling, we worked out that we both wanted to keep each other accountable. But the blessing didn't stop there. I would find out that 4 of the RA's (camp councilors for whom I was at least in part responsible for) were also believers. It was certainly the Lord making my cup overflow with blessing. The Lord brought 3 new sisters and 2 new brothers into my life at the time that I needed them. It was amazing. Furthermore, one of the guys was only going to be around one session, but his replacement was a Christian guy that I had badgered into coming for at least one session! Fellowship and accountability, check.

The mere fact that the Lord answered my prayer would have been a great story, but it doesn't end there. In a camp that is relatively hostile to a vibrant Christian faith, we ended up having a twice-a-week bible study. Everything we prayed for over the course of the 6 weeks we were there was answered. We asked for students to pointedly ask about our faith, the only way we were allowed to talk about it. A few hours after we prayed that, one of the girls was asked about her faith. We prayed for encouragement and energy for the weekends, which are the most exhausting times at camp. One of the weekends, I met a couple who were there to pick up their daughter. We ended up talking and figured out that we had a mutual friend who had been a part of the Christian acappella group I had been in at Princeton. They promised to get their church praying for us. It was like that time and again. The Lord really delivered in amazing ways this summer.