Home For Good...

Well, it's Kara. And I'm home. Summer is almost over even though it feels like it just started yesterday. I guess I'll tell you about my adventures so far.

First, St. John was gorgeous, as usual. It was just the Crenshaw clan and Granny for the first week but then Aunt Kim and cousins Michael and William came down too. We had a blast. It was great to just get some time to relax and calm down for a while. But, I left by myself on the 6th to go to Tulsa for a night. I stayed with Uncle Rob and Aunt Tony and Haley Bug. It was really great to see them and just talk. I don't get to see them much so it was nice to catch up on everything. Early the next morning, I flew to the Durango, Colorado airport and headed to Bayfield, CO, where there is a little piece of heaven on earth. I was at Camp Kivu for twelve days and I absolutely loved every minute of it. I got to do all the outdoorsy stuff that I can't do here at home all while making new friends and catching up with old camp friends. I adore the mountains and the views there were epic. Oh, and there was absolutely no humidity. It really was amazing. All the kids are so accepting and the counselors are encouraging and pushing you closer and closer to Christ. I learned so much there. On the last night, I got to lay under the stars (which are stunning up there in the mountains... You can even see a band of the Milky Way!) with some of the best girls in the world. Very early the next morning, I went back to the Durango airport feeling bittersweet. I was happy that I was going to see my family again but I didn't want to leave all the new relationships I had made or leave that awe-inspiring place. However, we got to watch the sunrise over the mountains in the back parking lot while we were waiting for our flight. It was breathtaking. And I got to share those last moments there with some really cool people. I got back home that afternoon, only to leave that evening to go to volleyball camp in Nashville. I came home a couple days later and felt like I wasn't really home, that it was only a temporary thing. But, I'm still here and I think it's starting to sink in that I am in fact, home for good. I still sort of feel like a guest here though, haha.

I miss camp like crazy, but it is nice to see all my home friends again. Now I'm just dreading school again. I really think that I might go crazy this year. Hopefully I'll be able to last a couple more years.

I had a really awesome moment on the last night at camp. It's called "Veritas" which means "truth" in Latin, and the oldest guys and girls cabins teach us through their testimonies and other stations all evening. Their testimonies were really eye-opening because I think I went there expecting everyone to be perfect, happy Christians, but it showed that they weren't. They were vulnerable and therefore people could relate to them easier and we all realized that we are not the only ones who struggle. We realized that everyone has imperfections and that no one is perfect. Anyway, the last station we went to was a "celebration of life." One of the older guys got up and talked to us about laying down our burdens and eating up the Word. At the end, he asked us to yell at the top of our lungs, "JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!" and so we did. And in that moment, it was like I could feel God smiling down on us, and laughing in the happiness that some of His children were so unashamed of Him right then and there. It was like He was pleased because for at least that second, His kids had put away all of their cares and fears about what the world would think about them, and did something purely to praise Him. It made me realize that scarcely any of my time is spent caring only about praising God, and that too much of my time is spent caring about what the world thinks of me. It makes me sad that I am too ashamed of God to put away my silly fears more often. I stink. The end.