Entering into the summer I was anxious. I had just taken on a new job six hours away from home and had no clue what I was getting myself into. Having gone to camp in high school, I knew a few details about how my summer might have looked like but was still afraid about being on staff. Luckily, the Lord equipped me to perform my job well and gave me a whole new family of friends to enjoy life with. By answering my calling to God, He was faithful to me this summer.
Throughout June and July, I spent my time as a video producer for FUGE Camps documenting students serving on ministry sites with their church groups. Media has always been a passion of mine, so being able to use my skills in a professional environment while glorifying the Lord made my summer much more special. I can't say that the days weren't exhausting. I lost more sleep in the past few months than I have in my entire life. But the long days of shooting and editing videos just to see the campers' reactions made all my efforts so worth it.
When people ask how I got my job, I often laugh and think about how naive I was before the summer. I applied to work camp the last day applications closed and accepted the offer the exact day I had to make a decision. I didn't want to work at a summer camp, but the Lord wrecked my plans and took me on a different path. While I believed I would have been working a prestigious internship at a big company this summer, spending my time making videos for churches all over the country couldn't have been a better opportunity preparing me for my future.
If there are two things I love more than food and family, it would have to be serving the Lord and making others smile. And that's exactly what I was able to do. By answering my true calling to God, I had to give up my selfish desires of sleeping in everyday or going on vacation with my family. Instead, I woke up at 6 AM to a staff meeting and didn't finish editing footage until about 2 AM. But being able to go out and film students spending time in fellowship with one another at bible study, on ministry site, and at worship, made my sacrifices worthwhile.
Not only did this summer bring me a whole new understanding of my faith, but it also gave me a true passion for working in the media field. I have always loved to write, take pictures, and take video, but this summer gave me a whole new outlook on how I want to spend my future. As a communications major at my university, I know I want my future career deal with helping businesses with their media presence. The Lord has gifted me with a great passion for serving others with my skills in technology and journalism, and I cannot be more happy to glorify his kingdom with what He has blessed me with.
These next few months are going to be a challenge. With classes, work, a new internship, and extracurriculars, I am going to be busy. But I hope I can remember that my plans are temporary and not set in stone. Everything I learned this summer from the Lord I can apply to my daily life including how important it is to make God my main priority. I can try to have everything planned out, but nothing is ever going to turn out exactly the way I want. The Lord has bigger plans, and I have answered my true calling to Him.
