Humbled.

One thing God has really been teaching me lately is that He can use me anywhere. I know it's a pretty simple concept and I've heard it said a million times in church and from my parents, but I never fully believed it. Last summer I had the amazing opportunity to work at Bluewater Covenant Bible Camp. In a Christ-centered atmosphere like that, it's so easy to see God use you to impact the lives of the children each week. I have a passion for helping others so after last summer, I was filled with excitement from what I saw God doing through me. I applied for that camp again for this past summer, and got the job!....but unfortunately had to turn it down because I needed to find a good paying job at home so I could afford to pay for college. I was heartbroken. The thought of just spending all summer at home and not being able to serve in the same way I had the previous summer really made me upset. I was angry at my parents for making me get a job at home, and I was angry at God for not just giving me the money I needed for school so then could work at camp. I mean, I was working there for Him anyways, right?
As it turns out, God was right and I was wrong. Go figure. This summer I got a job as a tour guide for the Boise Paper Mill in my hometown of International Falls. During the week leading up to my first day I kept thinking that there was no way I could do anything to further God's kingdom at a paper mill. It's a paper mill....lets be real here. But God made it his goal to prove me wrong and change my heart this summer. He taught me to be a witness to Him through my actions to those I guided through the Mill and those I worked with. But the biggest thing He taught me was that He can use me anywhere He wants. It's HIS plan, not my own. I don't get to decide where He places me, I can only decide to obey Him or not to obey Him. This summer I became so humbled and blessed by the different tourists who came to visit. As I learned their stories and loved on them, God changed my heart in bigger ways than I ever imagined. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve God at Boise Paper Mill this summer....God is so good!