The Simple Things

Okay, so last week-ish, I got the opprotunity to go to camp. Camp is awesome, it's a great time to get to know new people, see old friends, and get eaten alive by scary flying bugs. (Well, the scary one's don't actually bite, but it'd be really scary if they did...) Whenever I go to camp, I don't really expect to learn much, it's generally just a refreshment of knowledge that I already had. But this year was different. I learned a little bit from being in the classes that were offered, but God gave me so much experience in life just through the people that I chose to get to know.

To begin with, I met a 14 year old boy named Anthony. He lived next door to the camp at a "foster home" type of environment called Show Me Christian Youth Home. One day, he was sitting alone so I came up and started talking to him. The crazy thing is, he talked back. Not just a "Hi, how are you?" type of conversation, but more of a "Hey, what's God been doing in your life?" type. I wanted to ask why he was in the home, but I didn't know him well enough to just dive right in. He began to tell me his testimony, even before I asked. He told me about how he hung out with a bad group of kids. It almost made it sound like some sort of drug dealing situation. And he was the middleman. He would deliver whatever he was told to, in order to get some sort of reward. One day he finally realized that what he was doing was wrong, and decided to turn around from that sort of thing. Well, in the situation that he was in, that was a bad idea. His mom began to notice changes in his attitude, and one day his group of "friends" beat him senseless for bailing. Remember this kid was 14 at camp, so when he was beat, he was even younger. This absolutely broke my heart, but he kept chugging along with his story. He said that he got involved with the boys and girls club, and at one point was sent to a place that was like juvy, but more long term. Now, Anthony had an anger problem, so when it came time to leave the facility, he didn't want to go home. He didn't trust himself with his mom, and he wanted to go somewhere that could teach him what to do with his anger. He wanted so badly to do the right thing. So, he ended up going to Show Me. He was baptized, (even though his mother was against it) and he is living his life for the glory of God now. He is an amazing kid, that has such a testimony to show to the world. During our week of camp, he went up on stage and told the entire camp about just a part of his testimony. I was so proud of him. I remember him coming up to me the day before going on stage and just glowing. He told me, "Jenna, I am going to talk today at chapel. I am going to tell people about me." And he did, he told everyone that God is there through whatever. They didn't get as deep a look into his story as I did, but I couldn't help but feel like a proud mother (I know I'm not his mom, but I felt like a proud mother...weird, I know) watching her kiddo spread his wings. He was the first of many that I encountered that week.

Shortly after meeting Anthony, I met a girl named Kara. She was a bit younger then me, but you couldn't find two girls more different. She had bright red, frizzy hair, was super shy, and seemed to separate herself from every one around her. We started talking during our free time one day and surprisingly, she opened up just as much as Anthony. I don't remember what we started talking about that brought up the subject, but we started talking about purity. There was a class called "Taking a stand for Biblical Sexuality". It was a great class that talked about saving yourself for marriage, and how much better it is then just giving your heart away. I had a gut feeling from just talking for a few minutes that this whole physical purity thing didn't apply to her. I started telling her that even if she wasn't a "physical virgin" anymore, that anyone can be renewed in Christ to become "new virgins". That she didn't have to give up just because she's made a mistake. She then admitted that she wasn't a virgin, and that she had felt God tugging on her heart to change. She didn't know what it was that she needed to change, but she knew she needed to change something. The relationship that Kara seemed to have with her boyfriend seemed more based on (excuse my wording) sexual desires as opposed to a healthy God-fearing relationship. She kept telling me that she "loved" this boy. This boy who used her, and pretty much cheated on her. But she was admitting that maybe it was because they became intimate that she had those feelings. We were able to talk about what kind of relationship that she would want, or that she knows God would want for her. One based on love, respect, trust, and honesty. We talked for what seemed like hours, and she opened up to me way more than I would expect from a complete stranger. And I really felt God gave her to me for the exact reason of showing her that she can start new. The crazy thing about God is that He only gives you as much as you can handle. So, He knew that I was ready and able to talk to this girl and show her that the world might not be full of good guys, but that if she waits on God and grows closer to Him, He will bring the right one along.

Finally, I was able to help a good friend of mine talk through some deep hurts that she is having. I cannot say that I could relate to the pain, but just being able to let her know that she is loved, by God and by me made a difference.

I am not posting all of this in a blog to show that I am some amazing person that just always goes out of my way to help everyone. I know that without God's help, I would be useless. God does some pretty amazing stuff, and I am just lucky when I get to be a part of it. He doesn't have to use me, but He does sometimes and I am more than blessed for that. I, Jenna Reynolds, didn't do anything for these people. God, the Lord of everything, did this. I was just the vessel that God chose to use this time. And I thank God that I got the beautiful opportunity to talk to the hearts of these boys and girls. God does more than the eye can see. I didn't expect to get much out of this week besides getting a day off, but God doesn't always do what we expect, now does He?