Staying Connected to Your Faith this Summer
Communication and Connection
Can you believe we have only 7 weeks until the summer? This blog is part of our “Couch to Camp” countdown for staff, where each week we share a theme, resources, and tips to set you up for success this summer!
This week’s theme? Communication and connection. The following is a blog post written by Staff Recruitment and Development Director, Jeff Killebrew.
Couch to Camp Countdown
Staying Connected to Your Faith this Summer
By Jeff Killebrew
Camp is an amazing place to spend your summers. Being outside. Mentoring young people. Building life-long relationships and getting paid for all of it! But the days can feel very long, and you might find it hard to set aside time to cultivate your relationship with God. Camp is a great place for spiritual development, but it does take some personal discipline.
Not too long ago, we had a blog related to communicating with and staying connected to friends and family during the summer. I’d like to take a parallel approach to your spiritual growth, using the four points mentioned in the previous blog post as inspiration for staying connected to God.
- 1.) Be Intentional
As with any relationship, being intentional is one of the best ways to foster a positive connection. The same is true with your relationship to God. Whether you already feel close to the Lord, have some connection to Him in your past or feel drawn to Him now, being intentional in your pursuit of time with Him is going to be one of the best ways to grow that relationship this summer.
Time is hard to come by, but creating for yourself a little routine will go a long way in staying connected to Christ. Maybe it’s coming to Morning Spark during the week. Maybe it’s 5-10 minutes before Morning Watch that you set aside to pray or read the Word. Maybe it’s a quiet walk in the woods when you have an hour to yourself – using that time to listen and enjoy God’s creation. It can even be a quick prayer for someone or something in the moment - adopt a I Thes 5:17 “pray without ceasing” sort of intentional approach. What a difference that can make!
- 2.) Stay Consistent
Creating a new habit is challenging work, but staying consistent is the way to go. Now, don’t beat yourself up if you miss a bit of your spiritual growth routine! If your heart is to be consistent and your motivation is to grow in your relationship with the Lord, take comfort in knowing He’s right there with you. We’re reminded in Deuteronomy 31:8 that the Lord never leaves us or forsakes us. He sees us, and He meets us where we are. Pursue Him, and you’ll find He’s been right there pursuing you all along!
- 3.) Set Healthy Expectations
Nothing kills forward progress like unmet expectations! You may have heard it said that goals need to be specific, measurable and achievable. Perhaps approaching spiritual growth as a goal or a discipline doesn’t feel good, because it feels rigid or less genuine. But making time at camp for this priority will take commitment on your part, and having healthy expectations going into the summer will likely prove to be very useful.
To boldly state that you intend to spend an hour each day reading or praying or listening to faith-oriented podcasts might be admirable, but there’s a really good chance you’ll fall short of that expectation. You know you’ll have roughly an hour off each day. You know you’ll have a little time after “lights out” at the end of each day. You know you’ll have a day off and a night off (or the combination of both) each week. Set healthy expectations for yourself, bite-sized moments that are achievable, and then you’re more likely to be encouraged when you do spend time with the Lord as the days and weeks go by.
- 4.) Write It Down
The last point in the blog I referenced had to do with writing actual letters to people. I’m going to pivot on that idea and suggest you seriously consider keeping a journal this summer. Every staff member receives a daily journal with tons of information and resources when you arrive for staff orientation, so you don’t even have to buy/bring one! I’m not particularly good at keeping a daily journal myself, but I’ve always been grateful for the seasons of my life when I did journal.
You can journal on all sorts of things, of course, but a steady flow of thoughts on God, His Word, personal challenges, victories, and prayer requests are an incredibly beautiful gift to yourself in the moment and for future reflection. Writing down your thoughts and emotions brings them out of your heart and head into a real space, helping you reflect on them and grow as a result of them…in a way that’s not momentary and/or fleeting. Consider it!
So many things could be said about ways to stay connected to God during your summer at camp. We have access to devotionals designed specifically for camp counselors. We offer optional daily and weekly Bible studies that we hope are a source of encouragement. We are available to listen to and pray with you, and would be very pleased to do so. You will also have fellow counselors to lean on for encouragement and accountability - Proverbs 27:17!
Regardless of where you are now in your own faith journey, please know we want your experience at camp to be one of spiritual growth, as you see and explore the goodness of God!