My story, Your story, THE story.

Once upon a time (like five or six years ago) in the middle of a cotton field on a hot summer afternoon, two early teenage girls sat on a golf cart and talked about God's plan for their lives.

The two girls talked about how they didn't know what their "story" would be or what it would look like. They wondered if they'd ever get to do anything that'd be cool for the Lord or if it would all just be ordinary, because as of that moment they felt like God hadn't done anything through them that was "cool". 

Let me just tell you that those two girls had no idea what was ahead. 

One of those little girls, the one on the left (the one that's not me.) would be faced with numerous challenges both herself and with her family. She had to learn that as hard as it is, the only constant thing in life is he Father and His love. But her story, it's not just cool, it's REALLY cool. And it shows over and over how good the Lord is. 

And the girl on the right? Me? She had no idea of the good things to come either.

 I had no idea how the Lord would use me in Florence, in Columbia, in Clarkston, Georgia. 

I remember looking at AC in that cotton field and saying, What if we just don't have a story? 

It took a bit, but I now realize that everyone has a story. And that's what my summer in Georgia was about. Looking for the stories. Listening to the stories. Loving those that were telling the stories. One of the mottoes for Friends of Refugees is literally "join the story", the sticker is right here on my laptop. 

And that's what I did. I joined the story. And now I don't think I'll ever leave the story. It would be nearly impossible. A little piece of my heart is in Georgia, right outside of Atlanta, in the little square mile of Clarkston. 

I learned a lot in the past two months.  A lot about myself, a lot about the Lord, and a lot about people. 

I learned that I'm not invincible, and the Lord is more than willing to take me down a few notches when I need to be.

I also learned that I have a lot more leadership skills than I thought I did. Every now and then the directors would give me a megaphone and let me be in charge, and it miraculously always went fine. 

A tough thing I had to learn was that even though some of the other staff members go to  Christian colleges and are very knowledgeable in theology and Christian history, it doesn't make their faith larger than mine. That was hard for me. I like to feel intelligent, and I didn't always know what they were discussing during our Bible studies this summer, and that was a learning experience. But it made me realize that just because my answers were on simpler terms, didn't mean that I had any less trust or faith in the Lord. 

Ministry wise, I really learned a lot about building relationships and how important relational ministry is to a community like Clarkston. I know that different denominations have their different ways of going about things, but to me (maybe just me, your opinion could differ) I found so much more value in building the relationships of the 100 or so families involved in our camp, being with their kids everyday, visiting their families in their homes, sharing meals with them, praying for them by name.. Just to me I found so much more value in that than in trying to share the gospel with every single person in Clarkston by, for example, knocking on apartment doors this summer. This doesn't mean that I didn't pray for opportunities to share the gospel, I just mean that is what I found that I felt more led to do. 

But it was more than just learning. It was experiencing. 

Going into an Iraqi woman's home for a meal she prepared for our staff, and eating on the floor, and drinking tea with her family. Being with kids as they saw their first ever fireworks. It was dancing to music and playing with legos and hula hooping around and around and around. It was worshipping with my fellow interns every Wednesday night, and praying earnestly over and over and over that the thunderstorms would stay away. 

That was what you all gave me this summer. You gave me an experience I will never forget. Whether you gave financially, or gave "encouragingly" by sweet messages and kind words, or if you prayed a prayer for my support.. Thank you.

You gave me the best summer I could have ever imagined. 

So today, I want to thank you for being part of the story. 

Not just my story. 

Not just these precious 125 kids' stories.

Not even just your story.

THE story. God's story.

I have no clue if I made an impact on those kids. I really truly hope I did. I did a lot of pouring into them, and they did a lot of pouring into me.

Thank you for allowing that to happen. The Lord truly does marvelous works. I am confident that seeds were planted this summer, waiting to be harvested.

What those two little girls a few years ago in the cotton field didn't realize was that for God there is no "ordinary" story. There isn't a single "uncool" story.

Every story is different. Every story is unique. 

Every.

Single.

One.

And what's even better is that as each story is individual, they all connect. They all work together. They all come together to form THE story. 

And that is something I spent a lot of time thinking about these past two months. 

I had no idea that being involved in youth group at First Presbyterian would lead me to volunteer with youth for a week at EFM, five years ago. 

I had no idea that during that one week of volunteering I would fall in love with those kids and work there for five years.

I didn't know that me going to a Christian conference with my best friend would lead me to learning about Friends of Refugees, and my future "summer hosts".

I didn't realize that working years at EFM was preparing me to work big time at a summer camp for kids.

And God put that all together. All for His glory. Isn't that amazing? 

Working with refugees was an eye-opening experience in a lot of different ways. They too have a story. Hundreds of thousands of incredible stories. For some of them, it's just stories of how they survived and came to America. But for others, it's stories about how God helped them survive and come to America. 

I just want to say that after working with Friends of Refugees, working in Clarkston, doing the camp life with these kids everyday.. Their stories are important. SO incredibly absolutely important. 

It can be easy to say, oh refugees, now they're in America, their lives are going to just 1000000x better because hello America.

Wrong.

It is hard for them in America. It is hard not to speak English and try to register your kids for public school.

It is hard to go from being a pediatrician in your own country to being a chicken factory worker (true story.) in America. 

but they are resilient. They are strong. They are so friendly and welcoming. 

And their kids are 100% the best kids in the entire world. Which we can say, because there really are kids from all over the world.

My story is important, your story is important, their stories are all important, and they still all connect, all 7 billion of them are part of the story.

You may not realize what the Lord is doing in you or with you right now. You may not know the meaning behind it, or why it happened, or what exactly is going on. But take comfort in the fact that it is a part of you, a part of your story, and therefore a part of God's story. 

"For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it to be empty, he formed it to be inhabited): I am the Lord, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:18

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

In May I talked about how my goal for the summer was to shine, shine, shine. Shine for Jesus, as we're called to in Matthew. 

It still is my goal. Like always. Don't know if that will ever change. Maybe it's your goal too. If it is, I just wanna say keep going. The world needs a lot more lamps burning, shining the light of Jesus. 

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16

So that's my summer y'all. I'd love to answer any specific questions you have about camp/what I did/how it went. Please ask me, I can talk all day long about Clarkston and Friends of Refugees and those amazing kids and what the Lord did this summer. 

My story today includes me celebrating my 19th birthday, so I'm gonna go see some friends and enjoy the day. 

The Lord.. He is so good. He put me in Clarkston, He allowed me to learn, He let me experience. 

In this crazy and sad world, He is so good. So good.

Thanks for reading friends.