I Fell in Love at Summer Camp

Sorry in advance for being a sap :)  


      I fell in love at summer camp. I never expected to find someone at all, let alone so wonderful, but I did. I went to camp to find God, and I found him and so much more.  I had just started to really move on from my heartbreak. I decided to work at Tadmor because I knew that was where God was going to heal my heart. Almost instantaneously, I stepped foot on camp property and my heart came to life for the first time in 9 months. I felt such peace being on summer staff and spending my time committed to Jesus.

      I was so focused on my campers that I didn't notice a certain someone had started paying quite a bit of attention to me. I was completely oblivious. I was enjoying camp life so much that I didn't notice anything outside of my counselor duties, that is, until I got the note in my mail box that changed my life.

      Inside this note several things I had mentioned to a fellow staff member were written. Apparently I was the first person to every mention that he looked good with his hat forward (which he totally does). He also brought up the fact that i had said that I like me some nerd to him sometime previously, which is true.

     Drawing conclusions from all of our interactions, he decided I was one of three things: 1. I have a very flirty personality, 2. I am really nice, or 3. that I like him. He also threw in the fact that he would have been fine with any of those three conclusions. I remember reading that note and being completely shocked. I hadn't realized that I had been flirting at all. But none the less I had been noticed. Something inside me pushed me to take a chance and get to know this fellow staff member, so I wrote back. I am so thankful I did.

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      Eight months later and I am even more in love. Every day he shows me more about the Lords character and challenges me to be more like Christ. He calls me beautiful like its my name. He makes me belly laugh until I cry. He listens to my worries and prays for me daily. He knows my heart.

     Sure, we have had our struggles. We are nowhere near perfect. We fail and we do things wrong but the most beautiful part of our relationship is the abundant grace of God. I have never experienced the grace of God like I have while pursuing our relationship. I have always had the tendency to doubt God's love for me, but he never ever fails to remind me.

     He is humble. He admits when he is struggling and openly discusses his sin. He admits that God's love is the only thing that cleanses him and never acts like he deserves it. He pushes me to practice giving grace every single time I get frustrated or angry. He encourages me to seek Jesus on my own, not just within our relationship. He sees why I love to sing and recognizes that its a part of who I am at my core. Even better, he shares that love for music himself. He doesn't love me despite my flaws, he loves me and my flaws.

     I thought I knew what love was when I was seventeen, I thought I knew what it was at twenty. At twenty one I decided love didn't even exist between two people, and that love was a lie. I thought I knew what a christ centered relationship looked like. But I knew nothing until God introduced me to that boy at summer camp. I knew nothing of the depth of God's grace until grace was all we had to cling to. I knew nothing of a soul mate until my heart became acquainted with Samuel Gerald Miller. I still don't know much, truthfully. But everyday I spend with him I learn more about Jesus and I learn more about myself. I used to believe that I could never be in a relationship that wasn't selfish or distracting, but I have found someone who points me to Jesus even on the hardest days. I have found someone who helps me to glorify God with my life. I have found some one who loves Jesus more than me, and thats more than I could have ever dreamed of.