What I Learned Being A College Student At Youth Camp

It was 10 a.m., but I had been awake since about the same time the sun came up. I stepped onto the charter bus stealing the front seat as the hair in my bun fell slightly out of place, and the snacks in my bag seemed to slow down my pace. The air conditioning was failing, the WIFI was down and the outlet to charge our phones was broke.

It wasn’t perfect, but we went anyway.

I rode three hours with AirPods in, working on summer projects. The passengers behind me consisted of 62 students ready for five days of summer camp, and I was a chaperone. A wave of heat greeted us as we stepped off the bus and dropped our luggage in front of the log cabins we were staying in.

It was Florida’s way of saying, “Welcome to Camp Anderson!”

There were about 11 people to a cabin with six bunk beds and one bathroom. It wasn’t a luxury resort with big showers and king-sized beds, but it was a place to sleep at night.

The cabins weren’t perfect, but we went anyway.

The outdoor pavilion doubled as a worship center and a dining hall where kids ran around playing table tennis and tabletop shuffleboard. Music blared from the speakers while kids ate dinner at the picnic tables. Meanwhile, other kids attempted to balance plates of food while riding bikes- not the best idea.

There were no laminated name tags with a schedule printed on the back, nor a gourmet buffet line (though I wished that were the case LOL). There wasn’t an inside worship center that kept huge bugs from landing in your hair during the service, and there was no air conditioning to keep the sweat from dripping down your back. It was just you and several hundred other people in nature.

The amenities weren’t perfect, but we went anyway.

Camp Anderson wasn’t our youth group’s first choice to attend for summer camp. It actually wasn’t an option to begin with. The youth group originally planned to send students to a camp called Fuge, where we have gone for so many summers now that the students have the schedule remembered, the worship songs memorized and the games down to a science.

However, Fuge canceled camps for the summer due to the Coronavirus. The church still wanted to give students a week of fun while also keeping parents from pulling their hair out (or what’s left of it). So, we made last-minute plans to travel three hours to a camp where no one in the group had ever been. Fingers crossed for the best.

The plan wasn’t perfect, but we went anyway.

We often think we need to have an elaborate plan or a smooth agenda in order for something to be called “good.” We expect things to be perfectly packaged and tied together with a nice bow on top. We expect things to be familiar and comfortable.

We’re used to two-person dorm rooms, structured routine, indoor assemblies with air conditioning and the same comforts we have year after year. When things don’t go according to our timeline or the expectations we have set, we deem it unworthy, unacceptable and unable to be used.

God gives us what He knows we need not what we think we want.

Dorm rooms for two people turned into log cabins for 11 people that allowed for intentional conversations and better friendships. It wasn’t perfect, but the memories in those log cabins hold better stories than being in separate rooms ever would have. The structured routine turned into a flexible schedule that allowed for new experiences and adventurous fun. It wasn’t perfect, but it did give the much-needed opportunity to spend time with people we haven’t been able to be with after months of being locked inside. Camp Anderson allowed for deeper relationships, stronger community, and memories that will last forever.

Not everything has to be what we expect for it to be good.

This is true in our relationship with God, too.

We can’t expect ourselves to be the best and do the best all the time. There are going to be days where you’re late, where you say the wrong words or you use the wrong tone. There are going to be days where you wish you would’ve held your tongue back (but you didn’t), and you wish you would’ve used a little more discernment (but you didn’t).

We’re going to mess up and make mistakes. Things aren’t always going to look the way we expect them to, and that’s okay!

God can take us on our worst days and still use us for His best ways.

We aren’t perfect. Jesus died for the messy, hopeless, unperfect you- not the unrealistic expectations you hold yourself to. He knows your past, He knows your future, He knows what you’re going through right now. He still chooses to love you, so much so that He would die for you!!!

He died knowing the worst things about you because you are loved and worthy and accepted.

You’re never going to have it all together, and you’re not expected to. We just need to be willing to say, “yes,” to Jesus – mess and all.

You’re not perfect but come to Him anyway. He knows what you need.

The hidden gifts He gives us don’t always come wrapped pretty and tied together with a bow the way we might expect them. It might look like no A/C surrounded by hundreds of students at a camp in the middle of nowhere. But if that’s where God’s placed you, I promise you’ll want to accept it- even if things don’t look the way you thought it should.

Jesus uses imperfectly perfect people to do His work.

We aren’t perfect, but God uses us anyway. Let Him.