The Missing Piece

"If love is a language, I'll use words." - Above the Golden State, "Love You More"

This was a long summer. And a short summer. A hot summer. And a cold summer. A summer full of frustration. And a summer full of joy. I will not lie and tell you that this summer was easy. I will not lie and tell you that this summer was all rainbows and puppies. It wasn't. But that didn't stop it from being the best summer of my life.

Summer has always been a time for me to get out of the daily grind of tedious responsibilities, like it is for most, but for the first half of summer, it wasn't. For the first half of summer, I attended Air Force Field Training. "The most fun you'll never want to have again," many say. I say the same. It was an incredible experience, many of us participating in activities we may never have again.

The first half of field training is spent on a base in the middle of a city. It's all lessons in leadership, GLPs, and big guys with high ranks telling you all about how to be effective in the new age Air Force. It's not half bad. Air conditioning. Three square meals (eaten in 7 minutes or less). And some cool activities. Echo Excaliburs had the coolest cheer, and the most solid flightmates. The second half of the month wasn't as easy.



From half of the encampment getting pinkeye to crawling around with our faces in the dirt, it was tough. Standing on a wall while they yell at you for nonsense isn't fun. You didn't hold your silverware right. You didn't place your cup in the right place. All of it is mind games. But it was all a blast. I won't tell you about Mississippi. I will tell you it was hot, humid, and I was there slightly longer than I would have wished to be. Mississippi was the lowest (and the highest) of the training experience, but something got me through it.

I got home 16 June. Not before grabbing Buffalo Wild Wings in the airport with my Echo flightmates. It took a few days, but fairly quickly I switched gears, switching into camp mode.

Camp Tecumseh. Warriors. Wea Cabin. I had been placed into the youngest cabin in Lake Village. Awkward 12-13 year old boys. For the second year in a row, I had been placed in the unit I did not want. But I was going to roll with it. One of my best friends was put into a program where she would hardly be at Camp. Another would be in Germany most of summer. The girl I was interested was to leave after I was only at camp for a week. One of my biggest role models for living for Christ was in the other village, being a coordinator of one of the units and stuck on the other side of the Great Village Divide. My co-counselor was a counselor that I had hardly talked to the summer before, even though we were in the same unit, Blazers. He had a best friend that wasn't a fan of me, and he thought I was going to be a super-stickler. Both of us were hesitant going into this partnership.

David and I co-counseled and just did our jobs for Week 3 (my first week back.) We just loved the kids and did what we were supposed to. But there really wasn't friendship there. We did this for a week and a half, because I don't think either of us knew how to address it. Wednesday of Week 4 at a lake time, we were given lifeguard positions next to each other. Finally something clicked. I don't know exactly what it was. But we finally stopped with the shallow conversations and touched on things that were actually important to us. He took an interest in something that I had struggled with, and after that things seemed different. Wea's cabin culture started to take shape.

We never got a cabin cheer locked down for this year like we did last year for P-O-T-T-E-R-S. We never won the Golden Toilet Seat. We never won Empire. We were never first to flagpole. But all of that is completely fine. Actually it's more than fine.

I saw my partner help a kid achieve a blue swim band by taking all of the aquatic times to teach him how to swim. We got the kids pumped up for mundane things. We were the first cabin to the lake 8 out of the 9 weeks. As fun as water polo was, I think we both had more fun getting to know our campers that sat it out. He led the bead devotion in an incredible way, not necessarily pointing it back to just being a Sagamore, but instead focusing on how these six qualities - friendship, trust, responsibility, initiative, joy, and faith - were the qualities of Godly men.

We woke the whole cabin up at inhumane hours to give the kids their favorite experience of the week, most often. (It wasn't always easy to be completely awake for that, and it rhymes with bleaching a cabin.) We gave the kids amazing devotions under the stars, giving these campers experiences that will one day hopefully lead them down the path to the Lord. We had a love/hate relationship with our friend under the porch, Toby the Raccoon. (My partner had a love; I had a love/hate.)

This was an incredibly formative summer. Everything from judging a book before reading the first chapter to learning to love even the toughest to love. (I can't imagine being in any other unit than Warriors now.) That seemed to be a theme about my summer: Love. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. God's love to me and others. Our love to God. Others' love to me. My love to others.

You guys, love is amazing. Love is incredible. Love can heal a broken heart, turn a frown into a smile, and give a child hope for the future. Love can make the old man young and can soften the hard of heart. 1 Corinthians 13:13 reads, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." A friend's love. Godly love. Familial love. Romantic love.

I received love in so many ways this summer. The first one I saw was an incredible Brazilian counselor, Iolly, gave me currency so I could have a souvenir from Brazil. I had known him for about 8 hours. I still carry it around in my wallet.

I left for field training, and I received so many letters. From my mom, dad, and sister, from Brody, from IU flightmates, from Cru friends, from random people, from people I hadn't seen in years. It was truly incredible. Field training was made so much easier with every single letter I got. Friends, thank you so much. The chaplains at field training were so easy to talk to, and they were so encouraging, Chaplain Cox and Chaplain Ansah. With them, I decided to put chaplain on my dream sheet for the Air Force. You have no idea the impact on someone's life you can have just by showing them a little love.

I returned to camp and immediately I was greeted by so many familiar faces willing to show everybody love. To their campers, to God, and to me. Porch talks lasting until the golf cart came around or 2:30, whichever. Those helped me work through so many things I and others had been struggling with. Constant encouragement is something that happens at camp. All the time. I can't really explain it. But it's incredible. Camp is probably the most encouraging place you will ever visit. Two counselors had been teaching hip hop all summer and knew that I had wanted to teach it, too. Fizz and Ren went to bat for me. This meant so much to me. They stuck up for me. That's one awesome way to show someone you genuinely care about them: vouching for them.


But there's one type of love I find myself focused on: romance. Why? I don't know. But I love love. I am a hopeless romantic. I am Ted Mosby. Always hoping on The One. Yes, I love God, and His love. But I find myself focusing on this imaginary future person who may or may not be coming. It's something I've always done. Since freshman year of high school, I've been either in a relationship or pursuing one. Very few times have I taken a break. I don't know if that's good or bad. I've learned a lot from each one. I've learned that I love spoiling my significant other. I've learned want someone who challenges me in my faith and is right there next to me in my walk. I've learned having someone that is actively asking what I need prayed for makes me feel amazing. I've learned I hate hearing that I was cheated on. Not everything I learned has been positive.

But the thing is with every failed relationship, it doesn't discourage me from getting back out there. I take what I've learned and I roll with it. Some people become afraid to get hurt again. For me, that has never been the case. Yeah, it'll take a bit to get over it, as it should. Too often do I feel like the "it" from the book the Missing Piece. Constantly finding pieces that are too sharp. Or too small. Or too square. The thing is, when I find that Missing Piece, will it actually complete me like I had hoped it would? Have I already met the Missing Piece, but rolled on past it?

This is an area of my life I still struggle to give to God. And when I do offer it, it's with a clenched fist, and not an open hand. I'm learning. Everyday, I'm learning.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 reads:
 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Guys. Love never fails. 

"No, you move." - Why Captain America Is My Favorite Superhero

Saying Captain America is my favorite superhero is a huge thing. I love my superheros, and there are so many great ones. Spider-man was my favorite growing up. The web-slinger is a superhero with a great wit and humble beginnings. He would get the bad guys, crack a couple jokes, and save the day. As I grew up, Iron Man jumped into the second place position with his cocky attitude and sarcasm to boot. Peter Parker and Tony Stark were my favorites because when everything was falling apart around them, they brought in some humor to lighten the mood. This was something I truly admired. Composure, even in the darkest of times. Spider-man was my favorite superhero for many, many years as a result. I grew up watching his 90's cartoon version with my mom.

But wit and humor only go so far. A lot of times something more is needed. Any person with powers can be good. Sometimes it takes a greater cause to be great. Many superheroes fight for something great. Steve Rogers fights for something greater than all. He fights for the least of these. Why? He was your average Christian kid who grew up to be drafted for the war. He was picked to be a part of Project: Rebirth. The rest is history. He becomes the super soldier known as Captain America and fights alongside American troops in World War II. He fights for what is right, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to save lives, even down to sacrificing his own life. He crashes the plane into the arctic waters to prevent harm coming to others. He doesn't die, but he sacrificed the life he had for all. He fights for the least of these, because that is what he believes God has called him to do. He has a sense of patriotism that goes beyond any other. One that I hope I will be able to live up to Captain America someday.

"What do you mean you hope you live up to Captain America? He's a superhero. That's impossible." That's not quite what I meant. I meant being able to retain my faith as I serve my country and the people in it. I have recently raised my right hand and swore to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This was a huge step for me. It means that I have decided to put the lives and the well-being of the American people above my own. It means that I now live for the two things for which I have wanted to live for a while. I am living for God and Country. In my opinion, the two greatest things I could live for.

I ship out to field training for the Air Force on the 20th early morning and I couldn't be more anxious. I've rolled, unrolled, and re-rolled my socks over and over. A full month of getting shouted at is not quite how I wanted to spend the first half of my summer. A couple things will get me through it. 

Number one: God. In many ways, shapes, and forms. I plan to spend time trying to get into the word intentionally. Joshua 1:9 hanging around my neck is a constant reminder to not be afraid. No one dies from this. It's a month of discomfort, and I'll be all the better for it. I will pray for the Lord to give me the strength to get through this. Also, church on Sundays will be a nice respite, and a place for me to get back into His presence intentionally.

Number two: friends. I have so many friends who have been constant encouragement to me leading up to field training. I have received nothing but words of affirmation from fellow camp counselors, life-long friends, fellow ROTC flightmates, and members of my campus ministry. I have found that when I am stressed out the most, my friends come through for me. So many have already told me that they will be writing to me while I'm away that I'm sure I'll get through this in nothing flat.

Number three: Camp. 16 June, I will be home. 21 June, I will be loving those kids to the best of my ability. I have been given the opportunity to return to Camp Tecumseh to be a resident counselor for the second summer in a row, and I could not be more excited. This is the light at the end of the tunnel. The marshmallows in the Lucky Charms summer. 

These three things will help me to keep my head down and make it through this month of summer heat in Alabama and Mississippi. I can't wait to get down there because that means that I have less than a month until I'm back. 

Captain America stands up for what is right. Field Training is a step toward me being able to do my best to serve others. 

Ultimately, when it comes down to it, God is first, then country. 

What Is Life?

Post one. Or Post, The First. Or the First Post. Here we go. Introduction time.

My name is Thomas Thompson. But most people call me Tommy. Or Tom. Or Tom-Tom. Or Tomás. You get the point. That's me on the left (with one of my best friends, Katherine.)

I am currently a sophomore, class of 2017, studying International Studies with a focus on Russia at Indiana University Bloomington. I am pursuing a minor in Russian Language. As an International Studies major, I am required to study abroad. I plan on studying in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the fall of 2016. Which seems really far away. And really close. At the exact same time. Hopefully I'll have enough of a hold on the Russian language that I can survive when I head over there. International topics and languages interest me a great deal. In the past, I've studied Spanish for four years in high school, French for two years in high school and one at university, German for one through Rosetta Stone, and Italian for a couple weeks the same way.

I am involved in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program here at IUB and am prepping for Field Training this coming summer. It's inside of a month until I leave, and my nerves are starting to get the better of me. I know I'll be fine, but I just want it to be over with so I can get to Camp. More on that Camp later. In the AFROTC program, I've had many amazing opportunities already. I competed in the German Armed Forces Challenge, earning a gold. This was an awesome experience, getting to compete among Army ROTC cadets.

I'm also involved in this little thing called Cru. It's a campus ministry organization whose goal is to spread the Gospel to every nation. I'm specifically involved in Greek Cru, a bible study group more geared toward members of fraternities and sororities in the social Greek System. Brody, one of my best friends, and I are a couple of the leaders of this bible study. He's kind of awesome. More on his influence on my life later. The mission and vision of Greek Cru is that every man and woman in the Greek system knows someone who truly follows Christ. Christ is sort of definitely the center of most everything I do. Again, I'll touch on that in a later post.

I mentioned being a member of the Greek system. I'm a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. I was in the fall pledge class of 2013, and I've been in for four semesters now. This has given me amazing life-long brothers who I can count on for anything. Brody happens to be both a member and my son in the fraternity. Alpha Sig at IUB is currently 50+ men strong and growing. When I joined, we were just at 16. It's been amazing seeing it grow into an incredible organization.

Finally, the most important thing of which I've ever been a part.

Camp Tecumseh

This place, this camp, has been the biggest influence in my life. Hands down. From amazing Christ-centered friendships to summers I don't have words to explain to experiences that have completely changed my life, Camp Tecumseh YMCA has come to be my favorite place on earth. It has influenced my faith, my personality, my thoughts, values, and feelings, my friendships, my relationships, and my family. This camp has striven to keep the C in YMCA. It does it through morning worship in chapel and evening devotions with individual cabins. Under the stars, under the green canopy, on the lake, and among amazing people, one would be hard pressed to not feel God in this place. It is the closest thing I have ever seen to a Heaven on earth. Camp T will be getting so many more posts because I simply can't describe it all in one post. I can tell you all about it, and I will, but you will never completely understand unless you experience it for yourself.

Joyfully,
Tommy Thompson