Post-Camp blues :(

This weekend I attended my annual church youth camp.  I was despondent towards it at first, with the worry that I would not have many friends, but I suck it up.  As expected from the title of this post, this camp was truly amazing! Sixty-two people attended it, majority being high school scholars, and the weekend was filled with life, joy and excitement.  It brought back such beautiful memories of the many leadership and confirmation camps that I went to during high school, but many, or probably most of those camps that I went to, were in the hope that my crush was going too. Having grown up since then, and learning that no love received from any man is greater than the love received from God, I truly enjoyed this experience.  We grew closer more than ever, as a youth camp, regardless of age.
I have been experiencing many struggles with sin and hurt lately, and the title of this camp was Grace.  A lot of the messages had to do with facing the giants in our life and handing them over to God to take hold of them.  God shows me His grace daily, not by "letting me off" for my sin, but also for His dedication to me, even when He is far from my thoughts.
One of my favourite moments was letting go of lanterns like they do at the Thailand lantern festival.  Just letting go of those four lanterns, instead of the thousands let off at this festival, filled me with such a delight. This festival is something that I would absolutely love to see! I can't imagine anything being more beautiful...and it is such a pure and perfect image of what can happen in our lives if we hand our worries and giants over to our God.  It's like placing your problem in the lantern, filling it with hot air and letting it float up to the heavens where it will be taken care of :)

I am also truly amazed at how God can work in young lives.  I wish that I could have been the kind of believer that some of the older scholars are...some of them have just accepted that having God is the only way to live and their faith is unmovable.  I yearn for the kind of trust that some of them have...

1 Timothy 4:12
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity

God is simply great and I want nothing more than to make Him proud. I can only hope that others can see the kind of life that He has to offer when we accept Him into our hearts.

 

Aaaand I'm back

It has been more than long enough since I have posted...the holiday clearly got to me, but this post is most definitely an appropriate one for a comeback :D

Desmond and the Tutus!!!!

Yes, this amazing South African band graced us with their presence in Grahamstown this past Friday when they performed in the union.  I have always been a fan of their music, but this was honestly one of the greatest nights that I have experienced in a tragically long time.  The lead singer, Shane, is just too odd to describe, yet I'll give it a go: he shakes his long, lush, brown hair as he sings, but not in that annoying heavy metal sort-of-way.  And calling him "alternative" is just too cliche' and he would probably be extremely insulted.  His voice is probably what makes him, it's thrilling and bouncy (the first word that came to my head).  One may think he actually cannot sing because of his odd vocal techniques, but do not be fooled, when he gets down to a good old "normal" song, his voice is melodious.

The entire night was just filled with fun! The mosh pit got a bit out of hand, but I was bruise-less when I arrived and departed from Union, so I don't really see the problem.  The crowd was crazy, but not in that I'm-so-drunk-I-don't-know-where-I-am-nor-even-care-who-this-band-is-but-I'll-dance-anyway vibe. EVERYONE knew the songs and were genuinely excited to see the actual musicians!  I bought myself their band t-shirt to add to my collection.  R180 is pretty steep, but I was convinced in buying one when the band members did a role-play in the middle of their set to advertise their merchandise.  It was just too sweet to resist.

If you do not know this magical band, start knowing them because they are just too awesomely different to not give a hoot.