Before I talk about the summer I want to let you know more about me... and what better way to do that than to tell you how God's changed my life (my testimony).
The bulk of my testimony begins in high school, so that's where I'll start. I didn't go to your typical school because I was homeschooled. I had been raised in a Christian home and blessed with two amazingly Godly parents who love me dearly. I had been homeschooled so I was never that far from home and I never had the opportunity really to be on my own and make a lot of my own decisions.
However, at the beginning of freshman year a lot of things changed. I went to a music camp that summer for 4 weeks and was all of a sudden in an environment where I was suddenly the one who decided what life I was going to lead and who I was going to follow. So, I followed the crowd that looked the most fun. Because of that I got into a relationship with a girl that started me down a path that I'd follow till my senior year in high school.
What I found in that relationship was happiness. But it was a happiness that I had to make compromises for. I decided it was worth more than my parents trust, more than God, more than doing what I thought was right. And the kicker was that happiness ended pretty quickly.
So I wanted more. For most of high school I was looking for relationships to make me happy. They would give me purpose and fulfillment.. I was sure. But it was never enough. And it wasn't until the end of my senior year that things really changed.
That summer after senior year I was in a relationship that had been in for 6 months and it was the closest I had ever been to someone. I thought that was it. But God, in his loving grace took that away and that relationship ended. All of a sudden everything that made me happy, that I invested so much time and emotion in, disappeared. I was literally crushed.
But it was then that God opened up my eyes to the relationship he wanted with me. The happiness I had before couldn't hold a candle to the joy I found in the arms of Christ. I found peace in the midst of having lost something dear to me. I had believed in God since I was a child and knew of Jesus, but I didn't experience Him until that point.
I can't tell you enough of how much God means to me and is at the center of my life. It's my want to be more in love with God everyday that I can and to share that with those around me.
So that's my goal this summer: to fall more in love with Christ. On top of that I want to love these kids with everything I have and have them hear the gospel and love God with everything they have. It's definitely not going to be a piece of cake and honestly I'm a bit nervous about how to really to do this whole camp counselor thing well.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain..." - Psalm 127:1
I know that if anything is going to work this summer it'll be God doing all the work and me just being along for the ride, which is hard because I'm always trying to fix things. I'm so stoked for the summer and I know it's gonna be a blast.
"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us." -- 1 John 3:16"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -- Matthew 19:14
- Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)
