What Is Success?

It’s a question that is thrown around a lot in our society….

“What is Success?”

Graduating from High School or University?
Scoring a high paying job?
Being happily married?
Raising happy healthy kids?
Climbing to the top of the corporate ladder?

And the list goes on. But I guarantee you that it will look different for all of us.

 

Last weekend we had the #DOTK retreat and of course, when I got back people ask “Was it a success?” and the answer was a resounding yes, but then I got to thinking, what made it a success?

Was it that the girls ate all the food we had, so we had to go out and get some more?
Was it that we had no broken bones over the weekend?
Was it that the girls loved the crafts and the dance party?
Was it a success because none of us leaders got much sleep the first night because of all the giggling and talking? (from the girls, not the leaders!)

All those things are great but are those what define success?

For me, it was all about connection. My prayer was that every girl would feel connected, special and loved. That she would be recognized for who she was, and that she would learn to love herself the way God does. That she would see the potential God has placed in her and she would walk away from God with a greater sense of who she was created to be. That she would have a personal relationship with her Heavenly Father……That to me would be a success!

But how do you gauge that?
How do you know if every girl walked away feeling like that?

On the first night of camp, I could not sleep! I got a total of 2 hours. It wasn’t due to the fact that I could hear girls giggling, but God had kept me awake to pray for the girls….and so I prayed!
I prayed hour after hour, that each girl would know their value and worth and they would leave camp knowing more about herself and her creator who made her. We had the greatest number of non-christian girls there and I wanted them to experience God like all the other girls.

God said to me, it’s all about the one!

Leading up to camp I kept telling people that we had 60 girls coming to camp, but the fact was we had 61, and it was that extra one that really mattered. God said that 60 of them would be fine, but we need to keep watch for the one. The one who felt lonely, the one who felt isolated, the one who felt like she didn’t belong! There were 61 girls and each of them just as beautiful and precious as the next. 61, not 60!

And so I got up on Saturday morning and had a meeting with all the leaders, so they too could keep an eye out for the one!

We were not going to let one girl slip through the cracks……not on our watch!

And that very morning we had 18 girls give their hearts to Christ for the first time and every other girl recommit her life…..now to me, that defines success!

That every girl felt loved and valued, and that she wanted a relationship with her Heavenly Father, well I could not have asked or dared to dream of a better outcome.

So yes, the camp was a success, and God is already downloading to me what next year looks like……but for now, this exhausted girl just needs a bit of rest!