GO! Is Good :)

This week, I attended a camp called GO! Camp. I had to leave two days early, which was a bummer, but the two days I was there were really incredible. I just feel like so many things happened that it's gonna be really hard to fit it all into one blog post. Or one set of words. I don't even know because this week, God did some really mind blowing things for me.

First of all:  I met Kevin K.O. Olusola. I can not explain how awesome that was. If anyone doesn't know who he is, he's the beat boxer for a band called Pentatonix. I happen to be a huge fan of theirs, and it was kind of surreal to see him beat box and play cello at the same time, since that's what he's really well known for. He's a great Christian guy, and he's genuinely nice. While he was there, he talked to all of us about being innovative and creating things because God created us to be creative beings. He told us that we're all singers, we just have different voices. Which can be taken literally or figuratively. Figuratively, this means that we all have ways to praise God, we just have different ways to do it, based on the gifts God has blessed us with. This made me feel really good, because I feel like I'm always comparing myself to other people. I try not to let myself, because I've known all along that I had a different set of gifts than other people, and that I'm good at something that other people aren't. But I'm human and sometimes I can't help but wonder why I can't be good at some things other people are good at that I'm not. For example: some people are really great with kids. I'm not. I always felt kind of weird about that, because it seems like, as a woman, it should just be wired into my DNA to be good with children. But, I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that it's just not my thing. I'm sure someday I'll be a mother, and I'll try my best to be a good one, and I'm gonna be crazy in love with my kids, but I'm just not there yet. I have a different "medium" in which I serve God. That's all. I'm really grateful for Kevin coming and talking about that. It was awesome.

Also, I happened to see K.O. and kid president beat box together. That's unforgettable. ;)

Second: I'M GOING TO BE IN A KID PRESIDENT VIDEO. You see, Kid President's brother in law in the creator/director of GO! camp. But, being in a Kid President video isn't really the coolest part (though it IS cool...). A project that Brad (director of GO!) is doing this summer with Robbie (otherwise known as Kid President) is giving ordinary people celebrity treatment. For instance, giving someone a random standing ovation for doing something completely ordinary. Or, throwing someone an awards ceremony and just giving them a bunch of awards. But, what we did was even cooler, in my opinion. We threw a lady a parade. Just this normal woman who works at the post office in Henderson, TN. Some people dressed in marching band uniforms, some wore marching bands hats. They made make shirt drums out of buckets, and somehow some people even found some horns to play. We all made posters. The police in Henderson even barricaded the streets for us, just like in a real parade. So we all marched to the post office (which is really right across the street, because Henderson is small) and then Brad went in and brought her outside. They gave her a tiara and a sash and we all screamed and cheered for her. She cried, and it was the sweetest thing. You know that's something she's never going to forget, and it's so awesome to be a part of making someone feel good like that. It was a very moving experience, and I'd love to do that for more people.

Third: We did this activity called The Need. The Need is really cool. Because we had so many people there, we got into circles of about 10 and we all got a card. We each wrote down a need and then turned it back in. They all got redistributed, and people looked through the different stacks, and took a need that they thought they could meet. I wrote down that I was trying to raise support and also that I needed to get a car. Someone initially texted me and told me that they could give me a ride to Texas in August, and I politely told them that it wasn't really what I needed, but that I appreciated their willingness. We talked for a few more minutes about what it really was that I needed. It was a good conversation, and they offered to help me find a car. Of course, I agreed, because any help is helpful.

But during this whole process, I got very discouraged, because I just realized how much I don't have ready for the fall. I still need to raise monthly support and all this other stuff, plus I had the fact that I need a car hanging over my head. I'll be honest, I've never let my emotions get this out of control. And that's really saying something. Anyone who saw me Monday night probably thinks that I'm the biggest baby. I was just sobbing and feeling really lousy. I was questioning myself, I was questioning God, I was questioning all of my decisions about what I want to do with my life. And then something really cool happened...

You see, if I could pick out a car that I really wanted, it would be a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Tuesday morning, I woke up with a really bad headache from crying so much, and just kind of still feeling lousy. Well, the person who had texted me the night before texted me and told me that she thought she had a car for me. Ok, I was hesitant, I wanted to ask a lot of questions before I agreed to anything. So, obviously my first question was...what kind of car. She told me that it was a Jeep Cherokee. Which got me excited, because it's obviously really really close to what I wanted. She said that it has 180,000 miles on it, and that her dad was selling it. He wanted $700 up front (which is really good, because the only reason I don't have a car is because my mom doesn't have a huge sum of money right up front, and $700 isn't that bad. Then he wants $200 a month after that, until we've paid it off. He wants $1,500 total for it. Which means that I can pay my car off before November. Which is, like, the most exciting thing to me. Then, she sent me a picture of the car. It's a Grand Cherokee...with a purple tint. If I had picked a car for myself, it would have been that!!! It was one of those "stand in awe of God" moments. Because, while He doesn't always rush in and save me in huge, obvious ways when I'm feeling doubtful, He did this time. It just made me feel so much better. Because, not only is one of the biggest items on my "To Get" list now taken care of, it's also the car that I want. Which there was NO guarantee of whenever I was waiting for my mom to take me car shopping. I just feel that much firmer in my conviction that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. The biggest lesson I learned from this is that God really will take care of me, it's just not ususally in the package that I'm expecting it to come in.

Fourth: We packaged food for this organization called Feed My Starving Children. We made these things called Manna Packs (how cool is that name?) because they’re all the nutrients someone needs in one day. They all dried out, but you take them and boil them for about 20 minutes, and then you have a rice dinner. Doing that was so awesome, and really humbling. Because I have 3 full meals offered to me every day. These kids get a rice pack. And they’re really, really grateful for it. Which is awesome. I just wish I had that attitude, too. So I’m gonna work on making that my attitude. I’m gonna work at being grateful for things even if they’re not something that makes me comfortable, or that’s out of what I’m spoiled with. Anyway, making these Manna Packs was really awesome. Our team made 23 boxes full (at 36 bags a piece…that makes 828 packs…which means that will feed 828 children all the nutrients they need for a day.) By the way, there were at least 20 stations working all at once, and there were 3 times that everyone went in and packed food. So we packed a lot of meals. It feels so good to do something useful with your hands, and to know that ultimately you could be helping save somenes life. Talk about a great feeling.

I was really sad that I had to leave two days early. I definitely did not want to. But, we have church camp next week, and I have a long list of things that I have to accomplish before then. So this really was the best decision for me. I just know there was more to learn and to be a part of before I left. But I’m really grateful for GO! and I would really reccmmend it to anyone who is interested in serving…or even if you’re not interesting in serving. Because it can probably make you interested. Any way, it was really awesome. I’d love to go back as staff sometime in the future. Ok, I’m gonna get going on my 17 foot long list now. That’s all.