know whose you are

(preface to this blog: growing up, my mother's catchphrase has always been"remember who you are and whose you are". I can't count the number of times I've heard that phrase in my 20 years on this earth--whenever I leave to go somewhere, both times I've said goodbye to my parents when they moved me in to UNC...in short, I've heard it a lot. I think I even wrote a college application essay on it, but anyways. Who am I? I am Alecia Ann Johnson, I am Meg and Doug's daughter, I am Lainey and Blaine's sister, etc. Whose am I? I am a Child of God, and this means that I am His hands and feet and mouth wherever I may roam on His earth.)

I was having a Monday. I was frazzled and frustrated and wondering how on earth I was going to get everything done and still make it back to camp to be at dinner on time. After leaving a neighborhood where I had just visited someone, I pulled off into a church parking lot to get my bearings and figure out where I was headed next. I wish I had taken a picture of the church, because the building and parking lot combined couldn't have been bigger than a single-wide trailer. It was a church nonetheless, and I had driven past it at least once that day without paying it much mind. So when I looked up through Bruno's windshield at the church's sign sitting right in front of me that said, "Know Whose You Are!!", it was enough to make me stop and step back from everything I was so tangled up in that day. You see, I had been trying to do it alone--to bear the burdens of our campers and the people we work for, trying to fix all of the problems I came across without first turning to God for help and guidance. 

Sitting there in that church parking lot looking at the church sign made me take a step back and put things in perspective: I'm not alone in this walk. I don't have to do this by myself, because God is going behind, beside, and before me every step of the way. Not only was this sign a reminder of God's constant presence and provision in my work at CCC this summer, it was a reminder of my parents. One of the challenges of my job is being apart from my family and not being able to talk to them as much as I'd like. So not only was this sign a reminder of what all God can do, it was a reminder of my awesome parents and their constant support of me. I'm pleased to say that the remainder of my Monday went much smoother than it had started out. Seeing the church sign was enough to take me down a notch off of my high horse and keep me mindful of the fact that there's no way I can do this without help.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, one of my CMG's had the two-day project of replacing the vinyl underpinning on a trailer for a lady named Ms. Shepard. Ms. Shepard is quite talkative and really friendly, but she gets lonely because she lives by herself, so the CMG got to spend a lot of time talking with her and giving her a break from that. As I was on my way to visit this CMG on Tuesday, I got a call from their adult leader asking about a newspaper reporter that was there with the group and had some questions about CCC. I was slightly confused because although we try to do a lot of this sort of publicity at CCC, I was almost certain that there wasn't a scheduled visit to my group that day. When I arrived at the worksite and began to talk to Mr. Freeze (the reporter), I found out that he was a volunteer delivering Ms. Shepard's Meals on Wheels and he was also a reporter for the Salisbury Post. When he got to Ms. Shepard's and saw the CMG there, he began to talk to them and decided to write an article about CCC. God sure does work in funny ways sometimes! Check the article out here :)

Ms. Shepard's home with new underpinning and crawlspace doors!

I'm headed back tomorrow to start prepping for camp week 3! I'm not sure how I feel about this summer slipping away so fast, but I am absolutely having the time of my life. Thanks for your continued prayers and love!