Right before Christmas, Dad discovered some papers in Mom's dresser drawer. He didn't read them, but happened to see the phrase, "if you are reading this, I am now in heaven...". He quickly rolled them up and put them under the Christmas tree for us to read. So as you can imagine, Christmas morning was pretty tough, but that letter, those last words from mom, will forever ring in my heart as I strive to be more faithful and hopeful in this brief life we live. Within that letter, Mom had wrote that she wanted Dad and I go on a mission trip together. She knew how much they had enjoyed cooking at Mountain Top Baptist Assembly in Wyoming several years before, that I loved serving both here in the states and internationally, and that last year dad and I had talked about going to Wyoming together. We both decided to not go last year as she had just been re-diagnosed, and it bothered her that we gave that up to stay with her; but I'm so thankful we did, as we had one last trip together. So after reading the letter, and hearing the different mission opportunities, dad and I both knew and felt the nudge to visit Wyoming this summer.
The alarm clock went off at 3am on July 30th. We set out for a new adventure, with the first stop being Sheetz(of course) to pick up some coffee. Our team of 12(one of those being a camper) met at the church, prayed and hit the road to our day of plane hopping. Traveling from Charlotte to Salt Lake City, and from Salt Lake to Casper. Once reaching Casper we rented a car and drove 3 hours to Cody, Wyoming. The drive was beautiful! I didn't know what to expect with the scenery. Every state has it's own unique beauty...some mountains or beaches, some desert-land and others forests. As I looked up at the mountains, then across the flat-lands, I was speechless as I reminded myself that the One who created that is who created me. And that Creator deserves so much more praise and worship than I offer Him. Our first two days in Cody were spent in Yellowstone National Park, a rodeo, eating and walking downtown Cody. We saw Old Faithful, Lake Yellowstone, geysers and paint-pots, Bison and antelope. It was quite an adventure before we even made it to the camp where we would serve.
We checked out of the hotel early Saturday morning and decided to take a more scenic route back to Casper, including a breathtaking drive through Bighorn National Forest. As we traveled through the winding roads, we saw deer and several moose. Five hours later we arrived at our hotel for the night(where we met up with the other couple that would be on our team), and were more than ready to eat some dinner.
Sunday morning we headed into town to go to church, followed by a little grocery shopping and lunch at Walmart, where we met up with the Camp Director. The 30 minute drive up Mount Casper was full of scenic overlooks and beautiful views. Now we start our week of work. Now is when we have the opportunity to meet these young campers and do our best to cook for them. I was getting more excited! Dinner Sunday night was at 6:30, we started cooking and uniting even more as a team. We all quickly found different areas we enjoyed working and where we felt we had a gift.
We cooked three meals a day for 81 campers and around 25-30 counselors/leaders. It kept us busy. Up at 5 and to bed around 9:30 or 10. I won't say it was easy or we didn't get tired, because that wouldn't be true.....but it was truly a blessing. That first night that the campers came in to get their food, I was completely overwhelmed. I found my eyes filling up with tears and having to look away before I cried on their food. These children, they are so important in this life. They are the ones who will keep the Christlike service going. These young innocent children are who need to hear about God and His love to pass it on. They are future politicians, preachers, teachers, parents and missionaries. They all have a purpose, and no matter our age, it is our job to love, serve, and guide them to know Him deeper. As a cook, we didn't really have the opportunity to talk to the children much or share our stories with them; but we were able to provide some nutrition to keep them strong and serve them with a smile and loving heart.
We were told that some of these children came from single-parent homes and some had a parent in jail. Some were adopted and others just came from a tough family life. These children were precious and I just wanted to grab each one of them and hug them, and let them know how important they were. Each day was breakfast, lunch and dinner with cleanup. We worked fairly efficiently and had all the meals done on time. But the fun part was serving them! Thursday night is the campers last night, so after clean-up, a few of us decided to go up to the campfire and hear their stories of what they loved most about camp. I was so thankful we decided to go up because I was able to hear the impact that Child Evangelism Fellowship and this camp had on these children and counselors. Many of the children had been coming to the camp for 6 or 7 years, some were first time counselors or campers and others were invited by friends. One little boy was a friend of someone (was his first time at the camp), and accepted Christ while there. To hear him tell all his friends about his big decision just filled my heart. God uses different opportunities to bless us. This one child invited a friend, and look what happened. Another young girl came to renew her relationship with Christ. Seeds get planted, sometimes there are watered....but we should never underestimate God's power and provision for our lives!
While in Wyoming, I had time to also reflect on my relationship with Christ. Being there showed me God's faithfulness in my life even when lacking that person who I would run to for advice. I have been reading this book called "The Hardest Peace" by Kara Tippetts. I followed her blog as she wrote of mundane faithfulness during her battle with cancer. I have been praying and praying for God to be here with me, daily, in the good and bad, and to please show me the plan for my life. I have struggled with not feeling like I have anything going for me, that I don't fit in with others my age. I was reminded on this trip that God does have a plan for me, and that maybe, just maybe, it's not meant to be revealed in full, but daily....step by step to allow me to have faith.
"But because I believe God's plans for me are better than what I could plan for myself, rather than run away from the path he has set before me, I want to run toward it. I don't want to try to change God's mind-his thoughts are perfect. I want to think his thoughts. I don't want to change God's timing-his timing is perfect. I want the grace to accept his timing. I want to embrace his plan and see how he is glorified through it. I want to submit."
-Nancy Guthrie, Holding on to Hope
You see, going to Wyoming was not my ideal trip. I don't cook. I'm not someone you see slaving away in the kitchen...but God knew Wyoming was where I was to be. His timing was perfect. Going this year was what dad and I needed. Time together, time to reminisce yet start to rebuild our lives with what the future holds for us. It's easy for me to sit here now and say I'm trusting God's plan, when I'm thinking of that plan to go to Wyoming, which is already here and gone. But trusting God to get me through this next week, isn't as easy. Traveling home on the plane I began to feel extremely lonely. Lonely because I realized, who is going to greet me at home, anxiously awaiting to hear all about my trip? Who is going to run up and give me a hug and say they missed me? Who can I share my endless supply of photos with? Then it hit again.....back to reality. Back to trying to find myself again in the "new normal". I was reading and stumbled across this..."In the absence of comforts and friends, is Jesus enough?" Wow! Without my phone, internet, warm/dry house, close friends or my mom.....is Jesus enough for me? Can I say that if I were stripped of absolutely everything, would I be content with having Jesus? Because the ONLY thing in my life that will forever remain is Jesus! Things will get ruined, friends and family come and go...but He remains. He is our Comfort. He is our true Hope! He is our grace in the hard times. There's no situation that He cannot use for good. There's no coincidence in life. He was, is and always will be ENOUGH!