I'll give you a brief overview. Up to a thousand teens from around the region come for a week of powerful spiritual growth. We have incredible worship time, inspirational speakers, unique classes, and even fun and crazy entertainment each night. Each camper goes to 15 classes out of 20-25. Each one has its own lesson to be learned, and the teachers have very creative ways of sharing their thoughts with us. It's always fun to see what they've planned each year.
This past year, I went to a class that some friends had recommended. It was called Beloved.
So, you walk in, and the room is dark, only lit by a string of lights and a few candles in the front of the room. Standing next to the candles, completely serious and perfectly motionless, are two men: the teachers. And so we all sit on the floor, wondering what's happening. When everyone is inside and ready, the teachers begin this incredible acrobatic routine, over-the-top and ridiculous. We're all laughing and clapping and having a good time.
You may ask, what was the point of that? We were all asking the same question. One of the teachers soon explained. He admitted that they felt really silly doing that. And then he started talking about how God loves us, and that we should love Him; that loving God shouldn't feel ridiculous to us.
I was thinking, okay, I sort of see where they're going with this. But they just kept on talking about strong God's love is for us, and they were saying it with so much passion that I was starting to really get it. So eventually they had us all stand up, hold our our hands as if expecting a gift, and close our eyes. They told us it was time to really accept God's love.
I was standing there, eyes closed, arms out, and I can't even really explain it, but I just started crying. There was soft music playing, and through my tears I heard the words: "He loves us, oh, how he loves us..."
The two teachers were walking around, talking to every individual person in the rom, quietly enough to where only the other person could hear. I heard people starting to cry all around me, and I understood why. I was literally starting to feel God's presence in that room. I've never felt anything like it before.
Eventually, I felt a strong, warm hand grasp one of mine, and I started crying even harder. I wasn't sure what the teacher was going to say to me, but I was just filled with this overwhelming joy, and I just grabbed his hand with both of mine. I heard him laugh at my reaction, and he leaned closer to me. And I will never forget what he said to me first. No introduction, no salutation. Just:
"God is so proud of you."
And that was it. I almost didn't hear anything else he whispered to me because I just started sobbing. I honestly don't remember what else he said, but I know it was exactly what I needed to hear.
Now, you may be asking, why was that so important to you? Let me explain: I just finished my senior year in high school. Before then, before high school, before middle school, all the way back to kindergarten, I didn't really talk. I had this anxiety disorder called selective mutism, meaning that I could speak perfectly fine anywhere, but at school I went completely mute. As I grew older, though, I slowly became more confident in myself. It wasn't until sophomore or junior year where I finally was able to come out of my shell. I eventually dreamed of performing on stage. Acting, singing, dancing, whatever. I loved to do it. So, my senior year, I decided it was my time. I did it all. I got lead roles in almost all the theatre productions, I sang a duet, and at our final choir concert of the year, I finally got the courage to sing a solo.
All year my parents, family, friends, teachers, everybody was telling me how proud they were. And I knew God was proud of me, too. But actually hearing those words and knowing it was God speaking through this man, straight to me, was a completely different story.
That night, the speaker talked about how God lusts after us. He spoke of Hosea and Gomer, and how that was a parallel to how God felt about his people. I had honestly never made that connection before, but it made perfect sense. Hosea was told to marry Gomer, who was a prostitute. He did, and soon enough she left him. However, God instructed Hosea to take her back. And so, he did. And she left again. This happened again and again and again. Sound familiar?
God doesn't just love us like a sibling or even a parent. He lusts after us like a lover. His love is so strong that his heart breaks when we leave him. And he rejoices when we love him back.
Later in the week, our final speaker said that Judgment Day was more like our wedding day. It's the day were we will finally join God and be with him forever. And it just makes it seem that much more amazing and beautiful.
So always remember: God loves you!
