My name is Timmy Seo. I was a Program Coach (Summer Leadership) for the Yellow Team this summer under the direction of Lindsey Brown and with the co laboring with Katie Crawford, Alaina Fay and Rylan Underwood. My first year as a Eagle Lake Counselor was my summer of 2014, the summer of 2019 was my 4th.
I was finishing my freshmen year at Iowa State University and I had no idea what I was going to be doing during the summer. Jesse, a good friend in my class, told me that Ishould join him at Eagle Lake Camps for summer. I applied online. Laurie (a full time staff member) contacted me RIGHT away. We set a time and a date for the interview. However, I forgot there was an hour difference between Iowa and Colorado and had just got out of the shower with wet (short) hair. I remember my first interaction with Eagle Lake was a Skype interview drenched in water with Laurie. But, in the end, I was offered a job as a counselor. I was put on a Day Camp On Location Team that would travel around the Midwest.
The summer of 2014 was the most difficult summer of my life. I am not exaggerating. I am a prideful, skeptical and an arrogant person to the core. Through the grace of the LORD, I have gotten a lot better at shedding these qualities. But let us imagine a person like me in a team that requires, trust, humility and an environment of servitude. People applying in 2019 would say, “That is a huge NO for me dawg”.
But, I would like to compare my summer of 2014 as a counselor to the gold purification process. According to a trusty online source, “Gold is heated to over 1000 degrees F, which removes sulfide and carbon…” (sciencing.com). God used that summer to refine me. He showed me my brokenness. He humbled me and revealed how he heals this brokenness of mine with his Covenant love and through His people.
Donʼt get me wrong, I was still a trouble maker but as I take a step back, I see the hands of God in the summer of 2014. Let me share what the Lord has taught me through Eagle Lake Camps.
FIRST: Good feelings will not free us. Ecstatic experiences will not free us. Getting “high on Jesus” will not free us. Our Lord himself, made it unmistakably clear that that the knowledge of the truth will set us free. (See John 8:32) But, in order myself to know the truth, I need to love THE truth first.
SECOND: Cling on to the truth and treasure and live the Gospel out to the core. Genuine faith in Christ will always result in a grateful joy that produces life change. Think about it… We get to live the life of servant for the summer. What kind of honor that is that we get to do that in this post-modern age that encourages pride and vainglory?
THRID: Letting the Word of God and Jesus’ work on the cross change you from the inside out is NOT easy. But, I am constantly reminded that I am loved for Christ’s sake, not because my heart and life are perfect (HAH). Without God’s words of grace to build each other up (See Acts 20:32), I was constantly falling into false guilt or false innocence. It is true that both an over scrupulous conscience and a numb conscience are ways that my heart continues its self-salvation project. They are both ways of reusing to believe that I am saved by sheer grace through Christ. Drilling the Gospel down into my inmost being by the power of His Spirit and the Community was a huge lesson I learned at Eagle Lake.
Standing Shoulder to Shoulder. Lifting others with Love. Living in the House of the Lord.
Yes. It is exhausting to clap and dance to “Church Clap” every morning with children. Yes. It is exhausting to tear down the rock wall for the 50th time.
But Behold! What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God. Because we are (see 1 John 3:1). This summer… for the last time. I get to serve the children intentionally because that is the manner of love that I have received from my Father in Heaven. Who is infinitely wise. Who is infinitely just. Who is infinitely loving.
To any staff applying or coming out this summer, let me summarize.
This summer is not about me. It is not about you.
It is about the Children.
It is about the Community.
It is about Christ and His Church.
So, come on out and let us serve the Kingdom together.