Abigail loves the water...I mean she LOVES it! Whether it’s bathtime with daddy or getting in the pool, she just can’t get enough. Lately she’s even been going to Wrigley’s bowl and hitting her hand in it just to make the water splash. Needless to say, a baby on the move is hard to keep up with. Her favorite thing in the pool is to float in her “baby floatie” thingy for lack of better terms. She can’t get out of it so sometimes I’ll just let it go and watch her drift. I never let her get too far of course, but she knows when I’m not right there. She can go from laughing and splashing to uncertainty and fussing in seconds and all it takes for me to get her happy again is just to get close. As much as she loves the water, she doesn’t like to drift away too far from daddy (or mommy) even though she is perfectly safe in her floatie. The “problem” is she doesn’t know how secure she is just yet. In her world, she still needs us. It’s also amazing to see her natural instinct in the water. She kicks her legs constantly and splashes her arms in a motion to stay afloat (even though she’s in a floatie). She doesn’t mind going under, but she still hasn’t figured out to close her mouth to keep from swallowing too much water when we do. But she’s learning by doing...and doing with us and not on her own. It is absolutely incredible how much a baby can take in and catch on just by experiencing something as simple as getting in the pool. It’s even more incredible how much she can teach me by something as simple as getting in the pool. The semester is under way and your classes already seem too long, too early, and too boring by now...especially compared to what you just experienced over the summer. I mean you LOVE camp! Whether it’s Outdoors vs Drama, Bear Competition, or dancing at the Barn, you just can’t get enough. Your favorite and least favorite thing about camp is that it moves on its own. The schedule and program are set up for you to just exist with your campers through the day. When the going gets tough you try to pull it off on your own (natural instinct) only to realize you can’t do it without God. In fact, you have nothing left to give when you truly think about it in the context of camp...you have to get closer to Him to get through the week. Then He shows up and you experience miracles and you understand that He was there all along (you’re in His floatie). Saturday shows up, you say bye through the tears, and then you start all over again on Sunday in a different pool. And you learned a lot by doing...doing with each other, doing with God, and doing/failing on your own. So the stories go at the end of each week. But now you’re trying to get back into the routine of the school year and camp is a glimmer in your eye and slowly fading from your memory. We challenged you to keep the stories going, to keep telling them, to find a way to take camp back with you...but you keep leaving your mouth open when you go under and you’re swallowing too much already. Your classes are already too demanding. Your organizations need too much attention. Your roommates are different people than you remember (it couldn’t be you that changed could it?). You’re doing everything you can to just stay afloat and you don’t even realize you’ve only “drifted” a few feet away. The plans you made to stay in touch with each other and with your campers, the goals you set to do something in ministry back at school, the Bible Study you were going to start, the commitment to stay connected through DCC on your campus, and the awe of what you experienced just a few weeks ago are now just one more thing on your plate. The JOYS of camp are slowing drifting into a “good summer.” The good news is you’re not the first or last group to experience this. In fact, there’s a good chance it happens every summer at every camp. It also happened to the Disciples in the passage (John 21) we taught from all summer. THEY WENT FISHING! And even though they had started to lose focus JESUS SHOWED UP and you know the rest of the story. Remember that only 1 of them realized who it was on the shore that morning and He told the rest of them so they could go ashore together. Or what about in Luke 8 when they were scared of the storm on the sea...JESUS SHOWED UP! Then in Matthew 14 they were afraid of a ghost walking on the sea...JESUS SHOWED UP and allowed Peter to walk on the sea as well...until he lost focus again. Then after He was crucified and they were all scattered and scared...JESUS SHOWED UP! So I want to encourage you in this way: No matter how busy you get JESUS SHOWED UP. Even if you forget about camp JESUS SHOWED UP. As you drift away JESUS SHOWED UP! Stay in touch and JESUS SHOWED UP. Start that Bible Study and JESUS SHOWED UP. Find yourself joyful and JESUS SHOWED UP. Tell someone a story and JESUS SHOWED UP. Call your campers and JESUS SHOWED UP. No matter what you do, how busy you get, how many calls you avoid, no matter how many hours you waste (or use) on Facebook, no matter how much class swamps you, no matter how frustrated your roommates make you...summer camp still happened and JESUS SHOWED UP! Don’t allow yourself to drift so far away that you forget that because hopefully in your world you still need Him. We’re going to be there to point back to what He is doing, but only because JESUS SHOWED UP.