one place can hold so much meaning.

the past 3 nights/4 days i was blessed to have the opportunity to visit sandy cove and visit friends who have worked there in previous summers. i have been back to visit many times over the past 4 years, but this time i got to thinking about how much my life was dramatically changed by sandy cove and at sandy cove. i am sure that the same growth and changes would have also happened if i was somewhere else, but in my story sandy cove is where God chose for me to be. my first summer i was a 19 year old girl. i am now a 23 year old woman. wow, looking back is sometimes unbelievable. was i really that immature?? haha to become more mature we must have been immature at some point right? i defined my life and happiness by so many other things other than the Lord. i feel that there is far too much to write and i probably won't remember it all, but i will try to hit the main points. it was at sandy cove i grew up, i found my calling, i fell in love with the Lord, i found like-minded believers, i found a 2nd family, i learned what it meant to serve, i learned what brother's and sister's in Christ really look like, i learned that families face the same things mine did, but really can make it through if they work hard enough and run to the Lord. i learned so much more than i mentioned as well. how do you give back to a place that gave so much to you? my only conclusion is to give back to the Lord who gave me so much while i was there. i know that it was really the Lord working through sandy cove and that it was actually the Lord teaching me and not the place, but it was there it all took place. i walked the same paths i walked in the past 4 years, sat in the same spots i once used to sit in over the summers, and enjoyed the beauty like i have so many times in the past. my heart and my soul were warmed with the flooding of memories that had been made in my time there. i wish everyone could experience such change and growth in one place like i did. it makes visiting that much more special. to see how far i have come and how much the Lord really worked in me is an amazing emotion. it's almost too much to take in at once. so much emotion just wants to pour out of me. emotions of immense joy and thankfulness that God granted me the opportunity to grow and transform into who He wanted me to be all in one place. that one place i can visit and be reminded to thank Him for all He has done in and through me.

God, sometimes i don't have the words to tell you how thankful i am for what you have done for me. i am so thankful you brought me to a place where i knew you were working in me, where i saw your work in others, and where memories will remind me of Your greatness. thank you for using sandy cove as a tool in my life. what you have done over the past 4 years i will never forget. it was in the past 4 years that i believe the biggest transformation of my life took place and it was all because of You. You amaze me. You leave me speechless and for that I thank you. Thank you for being You, for blowing me away with your amazing love. Amen

thankfully,
beth.