So here we are. Here I am. I have been living on Vancouver Island for a little over six months now, and it blows me away how much I have grown and changed in that time, so I have decided to start blogging so that I have a real time account of what my life is like and how things are going.
First, I will introduce myself. My name is Ashley, I am a 20 year old who was raised for most of my life in Southern Ontario. A little over a year ago, I met Jesus Christ for the first time and that radically changed my life. I went from being a lost teenager without anything to keep me going through the day besides popularity and parties to someone who had an unshakable hope in the life that surrounded me and the people that were introduced to me.
That is not to say that I didnt struggle, or wander away from this new life I found. There was a time where I was so mad at God for the past that I lived that I went nearly a month where I did everything in my power to punish him - from moving away from his love, to telling him that I didnt believe in him and never would. But at the end of the day, I definitely knew in my heart that God was there and that God loved me regardless of my actions or failings.
So that brought me to early april. I applied to a christian camp on the west coast of canada as the First Aid Attendant/Health Care Team Leader. It was a big job, but after over a month of wrestling with God over it, I finally applied and had been hired. The next month was a flurry of activity trying to get everything ready and set up to move out here.
On May 1st, it finally happened. I boarded a plane at Pearson International Airport and flew to Victoria BC. I moved into my new home that day and went to be wondering what in the world I got myself into.
The next four months threw me into possibly the most difficult summer of my life. In 10 weeks, my team and I were responsible for over 5000 campers and staff. There were many really close calls, and a few potentially terrible accidents that were narrowly avoided (all things you would expect when there are 600 children and young adults running around a high adventure camp). But it was also the most rewarding experience of my life. I got to see children come into camp feeling lost, unloved, and just plain rejected and then I got to see God use the staff and campers here to show that child just how loved and cherished they are. It was amazing and it constantly blew my mind.
I also met some of the best people in the world (in my opinion). I began some amazing friendships with people that surrounded me, some of them are some of the strongest I now have, and some of them have fallen apart - but regardless, they have shaped me and helped me grow in ways that I think I dont even realize yet.
One of my two best friends were also out here this summer, and seeing how God stretched her and used her were incredible for me to see. My other best friend wants to come out here next summer, and I cannot wait to see the growth in him.
That brings me to the fall. About half way through the summer, I made a final decision on something I had been weighing since I got here. and that was to stay on at the camp as an intern. It is a year long commitment, and I am currently a few months into it. I thought that the year round part of camp would be easier than the summer. I was wrong. The year round has really pushed me to get to know God in his true self, not the God that I think he is. It has pushed me to learn how to actually love people, sometimes from a great distance. It has pushed me to learn how to be loved, how to connect with the tightknit community I find myself in. It has pushed me to be accountable to those around me, even when I don't want to be. It has taught me to look at myself through humble lenses and start to change the parts of me that I wouldnt like in other people.
All in all, it has been a crazy six months, and I have another ten to go before this contract is up (and then who knows where I will go or what I will do) and I would love to take you along for the ride.
- Ashley
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