RYM - FL.

my church, eastern shore presbyterian, has always gone to a camp in florida. i've been going to this church camp every summer for the past five or six years now, i can't even remember exactly. rym (reformed youth ministries) is easily the best five days of my summer. at least, that's what i used to say, but now that i have traveled so much this summer, it has some tough competition. we met at church on a mid-monday morning - the sun was scorching, bags were loaded into vehicles and excitement was building amongst the numerous conversations.

i think i always get so stoked for rym because, what's not to love? each day is spent in God's Word or having his Word being taught, eating the memorable (not in a good way) camp food, constant fellowship, and, of course, hours upon hours of beach volleyball. the camp is located directly on the beach, with half of the campus across the highway and the other half on the gulf side.

every day is spent in the sun; and not just the regular ole sun (if there is such a thing), but the radiating-warm-skin-penetrating sun. even though it's hotter than anything we like, somehow every student and leader can withstand the temperatures. i haven't quite figured out how, but it could be because each second is dense with fun and laughter. 

gosh! i love this camp and these days. nights are always a blast at rym too! we have a session every evening that consists of: a video from that day, games, worship, and teach from the Scriptures. it really is a sweet, sweet time, worshiping and learning about Jesus amongst other believers. this year, we had elbert mcgowan as our main speaker. his passion for the gracious God that we believe in is incredible - tears were shed, both by him and listeners. i think that's when a speaker is considered good, when the audience is moved to tears. the cool thing is, elbert presented God's grace from perspectives i had never once heard before, which i liked so much! i'm a fan of keeping things fresh.

amongst the endless icees that are so desperately needed to quench thirst, contagious laughter and my closest friends, we have a free day. we usually rent pontoon boats, fill them with chips and drinks and sour patch kids, and go snorkeling for hours. however, this year was drastically different. we piled in the bus and drove to the huge pier park mall! we watched despicable me 2 (and can i confess that i laughed like a child?), sipped on starbucks and street evangelized around the mall sidewalks. it was a really cool twist to the usual free day.

these people above ^^ favorite. the day was awesome, might i say. it was such a challenge to talk spiritually with anyone at the mall because everyone there is on a mission. and that mission usually doesn't involve sitting down with strangers and getting personal. so with that being said, my threesome group did not get to share the gospel with anyone. it was hard to face the fact that someone - maybe a person who desperately needed Christ in their life - didn't get to hear this beautiful News. my prayer is that i become more efficient in street evangelism.
after our earlier-than-usual evening service, each of us actually attempted looking nice (for the first time that week - it's a given not to look pretty during rym), for the annual dinner out! after the beautiful and convicting words of elbert mcgowan were said, we headed to pier park for round two. it's classic for our group to eat at longhorn, so eating at longhorn we did.

everyone looked dapper. plus, the opportunity to eat non-camp food was definitely taken advantage of by all of us. we gorged on "real" food, considering camp food to be fake. it was great, let me tell ya.
dinner was followed by film watching by some and mall walking by the rest. i took part in the mall walking, despite my bankruptcy. although, i just had to by ice cream. i mean look at it! cappuccino chocolate chip...aka best ice cream in history.

we had a late-ish night, but soon arrived back to our dorm and settled in for much need rest.
the next day was our last full day at rym. also, my last full day at rym ever. don't worry, we soaked up the hours with electives, volleyball, gaga ball, worship, full blown dinner, and the famous dance party on the sandy shore. it was nothing but fun and smiles and memories.

my senior year at rym was nothing less than fantastic. every year i come back learning new things about the Bible and every year i experience refreshment on things that have grown stale in my heart. i primarily, i discovered idols in my heart, stood completely in awe of God's grace and learned how to grow in Christ. also, this year, i was a small group leader and folks, i absolutely loved it. i'm not sure if i was a good leader, but i loved having a small part in these girls' walks with the Lord. underneath all of the fun-filled days came the reality that it was my last year at rym; however, that soon changed when chris (our youth leader) invited me to be a chaperone next year! i. was. ecstatic. and that's how the week ended: ecstatically.
rym, you have not seen the last of me. Xx