The voices of one hundred teenagers filled the camp chapel, “God be with you til we meet again!” It’s been a tradition for as long as I can remember, the final united goodbye of the annual HRC Youth Camp before everyone leaves their separate ways.
Till we meet, till we meet,
till we meet at Jesus’ feet.
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
The verses were hard to sing at this year’s youth camp. Just last year, Jordan Kamp’s voice joined the acapella chorus as we sang the closing hymn. But this year, his voice was missing. Jordan was taken in an accident three days after last year’s youth camp. His parents are our close friends, his friends are my nephews, and so on. The effects were (are) overwhelming — for his family, his best friends, and the wider community. He was just here! How could he be gone? Again, the retelling of the story to sway our own disbelief.
How does one face the next day, and the next, and the next? In the chaos of grief and the loneliness of loss, I saw a resolve settle in our friends. A resolve to turn to God in the pain and with the pain. A trust that the Lord is good and that His Word is sure. A faith that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life, and therefore we have hope even (especially) in the face of death.
Till we meet, till we meet,
till we meet at Jesus’ feet.
Before Jordan died, Eric and Brenda had committed to being the directors of the 2022 HRC Youth Camp. After Jordan died, they were even more focused and intent on serving at camp with new urgency. This year’s theme was God’s Word: A Firm Foundation. Their life has been a witness to me of God’s powerful preserving hand and grace.
Trusting you’ll be encouraged by this short message they shared at youth camp:
God be with you til we meet again!
~Kara Dedert
Think Twice is a weekly newsletter about everyday life with Gospel perspective.
Kara Dedert’s writing has been called “raw, real, gritty, gracey.” From the desperation of an ICU room to the kitchen sink at home, her stories and essays vulnerably share the growing pains of life and learning with a gospel perspective.