CAMPassion

Sometimes there are no words to adequately express our emotions. Sometimes we need to find another language that more adequately expresses the sentiment that we cannot capture or limit to a specific vocabulary. Tonight, that language was laughter. 

Church camp is amazing and there is no other way to put it. Church camp invites you to explore your emotions and your beliefs in a safe and loving place. Church camp invites you to make new friends and foster relationships with old friends. Church camp provides us with an opportunity to seek God when we don't even known where to begin looking. 

As my 5 purple girls sat on the cold floor for our night time devotional, I was reminded again why the presence of God feels so much more within reach during church camp. We shared our daily highs and our daily lows. We talked about what it means to gather around an open table (they used middle school terms of course, not those exact words) and we talked about farting. We talked about grief and we talked about Beyonce's theology. And continuously throughout it, we laughed. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and our throats were sore. We laughed and laughed and laughed. 

As we prayed just before going to bed, we kept laughing. I was dead set on praying as long as I had to just to help them calm down but at some point in that prayer, I was so overcome by the presence of God that I had to stop before I burst into tears of joy. My girls laughed through the prayer and I felt like that was the most sincere prayer I have ever heard- not because of my incredible articulation, but because God could hear the joy in their voices as they reflected on memories from today that will stick with them through all their tomorrows.

I asked God to make our stomachs hurt even more and to not let us stop until our throats are completely destroyed by the uncontainable amount of laughter in company of one another. I asked God to be with us and to share in our joy. I asked God to help us remember that even when it's hard to laugh, let alone smile, God will always provide us with a reason to smile and a hand to hold until we are ready to laugh again. As the words moved from God's hand, to my heart, and then to my mouth, I could tell our prayers were being heard with all of the joy that is God. Our joy comes from God and that joy is limitless. We can have as much as we want, but we must remember to seek the Joy of God in everything we do.

Tonight I am thankful to speak three languages: English, French, and Laughter.