Pushed to My Limits

I love being pushed to my limit. Two summers ago I was challenged at Peak 3, a servant leadership camp in Colorado. I remember every day I was there because each day is set aside for a specific event. The one day that sticks with me is the second day. Everyday they challenged us to what we thought was our limit, but in the end our limits we had set for ourselves were demolished.
The second day was high and low ropes courses. This day pushed me to what I thought was my limit. At breakfast they chose one person from each group to be muted for the day, and yes, I was chosen. I never knew how important communication was for me. For the whole day, well until supper, I could not vocally tell people how to do the activities that day. Instead, I showed by my example. This challenged me to step back in the group and see my friends step out and become leaders themselves. At Peak 3, they test people to try new things. For some it is becoming a vocal leader others like myself it was becoming a servant leader.
As I look back, I see why they chose me. They realized I was one of the vocal leaders of the group. They wanted to show me how to be more of a servant leader. I thank them for that. Also, it was a way to not let the natural leaders be the organizer of how to do things. Servant leaders help others become their best by showing them with their actions. Servants lead through their hearts not their mouths. This is a big accomplishment for me to realize that I should lead through my heart and actions I do. I have applied this to my life in many ways.
People should become more like a servant leader. A servant leader would respect what others have to say and their ideas. They would not try to be the ‘hero’ all the time. Being a hero does not mean one has to be the vocal leader. There are many people I know of that are great leaders from the past and present just through their actions. Actions are the key to showing people how to respect each other. People will listen to someone who leads by example before someone who just vocally tells them how to do certain things. One person on campus I think of to be a servant leader is Dr. Hiigel. Everything he said in class about faith, love, and hope I can see in his daily life. When I see him at church he is faithful to God and his family he loves. The hope he possesses in Jesus Christ our Lord shines through him whenever I see him. The first thing he asks me every time I see him is how is your walk going? I have a great respect for the leadership he shows in the classroom, at church, with his family, and every day of his life.
In order to become more of a servant I think one needs to be served. Once a person is being guided by friends around them he or she hopefully wants to return the favor. Being blind folded for part of the day would show a person how much some people need to be guided. A servant would give all he or she has to offer to a friend in need. I can affirm that with the time period I was blind folded at Peak 3 on the second day. For every activity we did that day people had to guide me because I could not see. While I was in this state I realized serving others through my example of bravery was the most interesting thing I have accomplished.
Besides becoming a mute for a day, they challenged me to be blind folded for every activity. We started off at low ropes, but at least they gave me the benefit of walking there with my eyes opened. The hardest part for me was trusting others to lead me in the right direction, because the first experience I had being blind folded my foot got crushed by a plank with Andrew, on it. However, I persevered through it. Each activity gave me more trust in my friends, God, and myself.
The whole morning kept on making me realize I need to rely on God and friends to get through the troubles of life that come in and out. I am very glad these were in the morning because these gave me confidence in doing the high ropes later. Little did I know that after the low ropes they made me walk back to the lodge for lunch blind folded, and our leaders said I would be like this until they said it was ok to remove the blind fold. Every step I took forward made me realize being a leader by example is the type of leader God wants us to become. This was scary for me because I did not know where I was headed, but had to have faith in the people around me. Finally, when we came to the lodge it was lunch time, but I did not realize I was going to eat blind. This broke me down, and I felt helpless. Throughout the day I broke the limits I thought I had for myself. Those limits should not have been in existence because I broke them.
Now, it was time to go to high ropes. This part of the day I was dreading. I sill had my blind fold on until we got to the course. On the way to the course I fell into a creek because no one helped me across. I felt like they were leaving me behind, but really they just did not remember I was disabled. At least, that did not break the trust I had in my team. They were nice to me finally, and let me take my blind fold off. This way, I could see others do the course in partners. They paired us up kind of randomly, but really they did by how much they thought each group could handle it.
They already told me and my partner, Margaret, that we would be going last. We watched all the groups go two-by-two. At that moment, they blind folded me and then Margaret realized that she was going to become blind too. They got us connected and it was time to go up the tree. Going up the tree I fell a little but the cord caught me. When we got to the top we had to trust people to tell us where to step onto the rope. The first steps we took we missed the rope to step on, but got back on track with the help of others.
During this day I learned a lot about myself. As I look back, I see why they chose me to be blinded. They pushed me over my limits that I had set. I learned limits people set for themselves are nonexistent because they usually pass them up. I realized now that I taught others how to be a servant to me and I felt like I served them. This is how I realized being an example to others is more unique and memorable then telling them how to do something. Being held back with a blind fold and muted mouth made me rely on everyone around me. It broke me down to the point where I totally trusted in God to pull me through.
The next two days were amazing because we did rock climbing and rappelling. I got to be a servant leader on showing how to accomplish the difficult rock climb. I was a coach. Also, rappelling was amazing. I did not go because we did not have time so I let people go who have not gone before. The climb made me rely on other people; I hurt my foot earlier in the week. I was still in the same group, but I was not the same leader I normally would have been. I enjoyed sitting back and watching others take the reins.
During that week, some of the employees sat me down and mentioned that I should think about coming back next summer to work there. I never thought sitting there that day it would come true. Little did I know what God had in stored for me. Last summer this came true. I went back to Peak 3 and worked there for a summer.
Working at Peak 3 gives you a different perspective on servant leadership. Now, I see how much work the interns from last summer had each day of the week. Even when we got to level we thought we had no energy it came out of no where. Facilitating activities I did the summer before that was interesting because when I picked the people to be muted and blindfolded I knew exactly how they felt. I always made a neat connection with two or more campers each week. Many of these relationships are still going on just not in person.
I am thankful for last summer and the opportunity I had to work at Peak 3 before it closed this year. I never knew that going to Peak 3 would lead me into Outdoor Ministries. My field of study here at University of Sioux Falls is Sociology and and inter-disciplinary in Outdoor Ministries combing theology, sports psychology, and some communication and theatre classes. These classes I hope will help me get a job in full-time outdoor ministries. My goal is to someday run a camp focused on bringing teens from the inter-city to the mountains to break them down. I would love to be a director of a camp similar to Peak 3 in years to come. But for now, I am excited to work at a new camp this summer. I am looking forward to going to California and using my outdoor and dancing skills at the same camp. God works in weird ways sometimes. For me, he needed to break me down to realize what I love is right under my nose!