What I learned about God this summer

Wow. Talk about the longest, most challenging (but also thrilling!) summer of my life.

I came into the LT program thinking I would probably grow closer to God, grow as a Christian guy and have a pretty good time hiking some mountains. This all happened in my two and a half months in Colorado, but my experience was so much more than I expected it would be.

So what did I learn about God this summer? First I should probably tell you where I was coming into the summer.

I’ve always known that God existed and always believed with my head that he loved me, but I never knew what that love really looked like until last school year.

Last year was my first year plugged into a small group and a church at Mizzou, and it was the first year I really got to experience God’s love through other people. The people there truly cared for me and were always accepting of me, no matter what.

This summer took that love to another level. Before LT, I had never had a real good one-on-one relationship with another guy who could keep me accountable with things and challenge me to grow closer to God.

I finally got that kind of relationship this summer! Two guys really dedicated themselves to discipling me and helping me through trials, good times, or whatever the summer threw at me. These meetings and relationships were the best part of my summer, which has inspired me to share God’s love with younger guys by caring about them and discipling them (the #dowork movement is coming to the Dobbs Canvas Group in this way).

So basically, what this all means is that I have finally experienced God’s love consistently and it has been through other great Christian men and women. It's not just the people who have discipled me, but also through others worshipping God with all their hearts, giving everything away to God to find healing or just working really hard to love others.

This is not the only thing I’ve learned about God this summer. His love is insane and keeps me going when nothing else will, but I have also learned that he is indeed mighty to save anyone he wants.

Through hearing crazy testimonies of great redemption, I am convinced that no one can be considered a “lost cause” in the eyes of God and that we as Christians should reflect that thought by loving everyone we know, even if it seems like they will never love God.

Many times in my life, I have thought that I shouldn't really talk to people about God or what they think about spiritual things because it could be uncomfortable and I didn't want to be seen as "that Christian guy." Now I know my mission is to help show as many people as possible the love of God, no matter what sacrifice it takes.

God is love and God is mighty to save. Two pretty important lessons that I learned through the great Colorado LT program. I can’t wait to share more about my summer with anyone who wants to hear it!