Anyone who knows me would know that I’m a total sap over the ideals behind sleep-away camps. Especially when it comes into play with Jesus and building up relationships—or even fixing them. I think this is a newly found obsession, though, because it only began to stir after I spent my weekend in Eutaw, Alabama at Outback America freshman year. I’m pretty sure it builds more and more every time that I go back to that place.

For those who don’t know what Outback is, no, I’m not talking about the restaurant. That’s probably FAQ number one. Basically, the camp is a weekend long camp modeled after a week-long summer experience that happens in northern California at JH Ranch. A parent and their kid, or spouses, will come for the weekend and spend time together, time with coaches, and most importantly, time with Jesus. The weekend includes lots of talks from really cool people, music, low ropes courses, and the high-ropes course.

I’ve watched amazing things happen at Outback. I’ve watched two of my best friends come to know the love of Jesus while there. I watched a mother who lost her little boy come to forgive herself after thirteen years. I’ve also let go of the hurt in my heart I’d kept from someone who truly wronged me in the past.

But I don’t think this is my greatest story to come from my Outback experience as a volunteer.

I think my greatest story comes from my experience last spring. My family was going through somewhat of a crisis, and I’d received the phone call a big sister never wants to get from their mother. There was trouble, and a lot of it at that time. If I’m being honest, my family had even been going through a rough patch for a couple months before the day of the phone call. When the rough patch began, my mom decided that it was best that she and my two younger sisters went to talk to someone, and so they did. It seemed to be helping, but after the news my mom gave me, I wasn’t sure anymore. I remember hanging up the phone and crying. I remember calling people for comfort, not knowing what to do. I remember losing a lot of hope in that moment, and this was just hours before I was supposed to leave for a weekend at Outback where I’d be a counselor for a group of girls. I didn’t think I would make it, and at that point, all I could do was ask God for a miracle.

Little did I know the plan He had in store for me.

I got to camp later that day, distressed, but I had my duties, so I had to perform. I was able to greet my group I was helping lead, which was a father-daughter group, and get everyone ready for the weekend. It wasn’t until dinner later that night that the weariness of the day set in for me.

I sat at the end of my table, and was mildly amused by one of the dad-jokes a girl’s fathers was making. I suppose it was hard not to notice that there was something wrong with me, so he dug in, getting to know me. It turned out that he and his daughter were from my hometown, which is always a way to begin conversation. He got to looking at my name tag, remarking on my last name. He said that he recognized it from somewhere, and asked if I have any siblings, as he taught classes at one of the college. My oldest-younger sibling was still a senior in high school, so that wasn’t a possibility. He asked me her name, and I told him, playing along with the game anyhow.

This is when he told me my mother’s name, as well as my littler sister’s name, two things I hadn’t told him. At first, I thought I was going crazy, but after a second look at his name tag, it dawned on me that he’d also said that he was a therapist. It also dawned on me that I'd also heard his name before too. Still not believing it, I asked my mother if she knew him, and with a positive response, I realized that my prayer from earlier that day had been answered in a very weird way. Knowing that this man was a Godly influence in my family’s life was exactly what I needed to hear. The father winked at me knowingly once my mom confirmed who he was, but this wasn’t the end just yet.

After the weekend was over, the volunteer’s sat down together to talk about the weekend. I shared my story with them, elated about God’s answer. That’s when the director of the weekend spoke up. He knew the father in my group. They were best friends in college, and the director had been asking the father to bring one of his kids to Outback for over eight years, but every year, something would come up and the father wouldn’t have the time. But he was able to come this time, exactly when I needed him to be there to answer my prayer.

What I learned in that moment is something that I can’t fully explain, so I’ll try my best. What I learned that weekend was that God’s plans are absolutely crazy. He was prepping an answer for over eight years to my prayer that was uttered in a moment of total dependence, starting with the director and the father’s friendship in college. By giving up my time that I could have spent studying or partying, I learned that God listens and knows the deepest wishes of our hearts.

And I think God also has a small sense of humor, because it was almost like I could feel him laughing at me during that weekend. Because if he can make people who were strangers to me answers to one of my heart’s most deeply felt prayers, then he can handle any crisis that comes my way.