Winter Camp and New Beginnings

The biggest, funnest, most mind-blowingly awesome event of the year in FOCUS has occurred:  Winter Camp!

250 students from all of our campuses gathered at a campground in Bridgeport to have fellowship, worship, and to hear from God together.  It was pretty much the highlight of my life (or at least the highlight of January).  Here's a rundown of some of the cool things we did:
-Worship!
-Powerful sermons by Eddie Howard
-Eating lots of food
-Playing games together, especially the FOCUS favorite: Koob
-Warm ups (think elementary school P.E.) led by the interns
-Communion with our specific campus
-Special session on how to talk to people about Jesus

And if that doesn't sound like a spectacular weekend, there's more:  Everyone got to hear me talk about the internship.  The senior staff picked me and Matt to share about our intern experience so far.  Why they chose me?  I think they just like to see me cry.  (Just kidding!)  No, really, I did cry for most of my talk, but I wanted to share with you all what I had to say.  Here's what I wrote down:

FOCUS and the awesome people I've met here have given me so much.  In my college years, I was constantly challenged, held accountable, and encouraged to grow in my faith.  Through FOCUS, I've found lifelong friends, mentors for whom I have sooo much respect, and a totally awesome husband.  FOCUS has taught me the importance of community and discipleship and really, truly seeking God.

I decided to do the internship because I wanted to give something back to this community that has given me so much, as if I had anything of value to give.  But I realize now God wasn't (and still isn't) finished teaching me about himself through all of you.  So even though I thought I would be giving back, I feel like I have received so much more than I've been given.

What has been the most difficult part of the internship for me?  The toughest challenge I've faced this year has been connecting to all of you up at UNT.  I started in August knowing only a handful of students, and I feel like there have been a lot of barriers - I'm not a student anymore, I went to a different school, I'm married, I don't live in Denton.  It's really been a struggle to feel like I belong, but all of you have been so welcoming, and you've really helped ease me through that transition.

Finally, I get to talk about what's really been the best part of the internship for me.  Far and away, my favorite part has been all of you.  I am so grateful for the chance to learn about God with and through the girls in my Core, the student leaders at UNT, the other interns, and all of the staff.  I am so tremendously blessed to get to work with the best people in the world.  You are God's people, and he uses you to bless my life every day.

And I really mean all of that.  I am so blessed by this awesome community that I get to serve.