circles.

i don't think i can even begin to describe the circles i've made. there are so many details to each of them. in my mind i see this map of the country...places i've been, places i've come back to...just when it seems like one is complete, something new starts...in many ways i'm waiting for something new to start...and i'm at the brink of it all...we'll see.

• i grew up and went to school in decatur, in. i moved when i was 12. today, march 26, 2009 at the age of 23 (almost 12yrs later) i set foot in my elementary school. so many teachers were still the same and names of people in my family were all over the walls...i was back.
• while living in indiana, i grew up going to camp lutherhaven. it quickly became one of my all time favorite places. so much happened for me, and i grew so much in my faith. i applied to be on summer staff in 2006, but God had other plans. now i sit here living and working at camp lutherhaven as the ministry impact worker-one of the craziest things for me coming back was re-living all those childhood memories...and getting to experience this camp in a whole new way---completing the circle, if you will.
• on that same note, not long after i moved away from indiana, i started to tell myself id never come back...i loved life down south...here i am-completing another circle.
• in the summer of 2006 i was called to be a counselor/assistant wrangler at shepherd's hill at the crossroads-a nloma camp in north dakota-i knew nothing about it and it wasn't really 'my plan.' i went there and learned SO much. about horses, about work, about myself, about kids, about God...the list goes on and on. i pretty much decided in 2007 that i wouldn't be going back to ND...i'm pretty sure God laughed at me at that moment because by coming full circle and coming back to Lutherhaven, i also completed another circle by going back to shcr in february to work the nloma conference...i got to see those people, see the horses, and re-experience the whole camp. it was a lot to process.
• in 2007 i applied and took a job at camp lakeview in indiana as a counselor. being couneslor of shawnee in 2007 and getting to meet and work with the staff was possibly one of the greatest things of my life. because of my summer in 2006 and my time in 2007, i was called (and equipped) to be a wrangler in 2008...whoa.
• now, here i am, compiling all my camp experience...being a camper inspired me to be on staff. staff at shcr enabled me to be on staff at lakeview. my lakeview experiences sparked an interest/desire in year round ministry. a taste of year-round ministry as sparked an interest for program work...and here i am, completing another circle and committed to spending may-august 2009 as lakeview's assistant program director..

the best part is...i'm closing another circle...which means a new one has to start...and i have no clue what that is.

this is the short, brief version of my life of circles. to think about it all is overwhelming and constantly going through my head...ask me about it sometime.