A couple weeks ago, the youth and young adults from my home church (Metro Life Church) went up to the mountains of Jasper, Georgia (at Sharptop Cove) to hear from God and have some good ol’ summer camp fun.

The sites were amazing, the food was mouth-watering (it wasn’t your typical camp food. It was homemade deliciousness), and the words/prayers that we were covered with were life changing. Lots and lots of people were baptized, we worshipped, we zip lined, we danced, and we shared the amazing things God has done in our lives.

My top 3 “takeaways” from camp are:

Be open and vulnerable
When God asks us to pray, to speak, to share, to listen, let’s just do it. And let’s do it with a humble and open heart. Sharing what God has done in your life can be scary and it takes vulnerability. But you never know who is listening. There are people needing to hear what YOU have to say.

Embrace the unknown
Going into an environment or place we’re unfamiliar with can cause us to put up walls and become isolated. But the unknown is a great place for us to discover what God wants to show us. The daily grind has a way of masking and muffling the voice of God. When we are in a new environment, with new faces, and new scents and new sites, our eyes are opened and our ears become alert. Let’s be willing to embrace the unknown so we can hear from God more clearly.

Make a remembrance
Whenever I travel or have an experience that marks my life, I make it a point to create a remembrance of it. This year I bought an arrow necklace at the camp site’s store that has inscribed “Be Brave”. It’s a reminder that I must continue to be courageous and do the things God asks of me. Going to camp was a step of faith. And by taking that step of faith, God used me and affirmed me in ways I wasn’t expecting. I also took a load of pictures to remind me of all the fun we had up in the mountains of Jasper, Georgia.

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What experiences or trips did you have this summer?

Have you set some time apart to meet with God this summer? What are some ways you can do so before the hectic fall season starts?