First week

So the first week has drawn to a close.   I have been so blessed to be able to sit back and watch these people share the gospel with the young ones.   Today was a bittersweet day.  A lot of the counselors out here are first time counselors and to watch them say goodbye to these kids they spent the week with was pretty heart breaker.   The camp is so small that it's very hard to not learn a big portion of the kids name and stories. 

It's funny because it was probably the closest I've been to tears in a long time.  For a few minutes there I laid back and let all the goodbyes I have ever said to campers wash over me.  How back then, it didn't seem to sting as much as it did to these people in my life right now.   That says a ton about their character.   A few counselors were pushed to their limits this week.  We had a few campers that were pretty crazy(as anybody that has worked at a camp will tell you happens every week).   Our group came together and lifted them up in their burdens it was just awe inspiring to work with these people. 

Dear Chris what you said inspired me to tell a few little stories about you this week.  So my friend Chris is about 6"7 and he had the youngest boys on camp this week.   If any one of them got on anothers shoulders they still wouldn;t even be as close in height to them.    Hmm what story should i tell first.....  How about every day when you had your kids line up outside with their arms out and made sure they were all nice and covered with sunscreen.  Or maybe when your camper didn't quite make it to the bathroom so you poured water on him to make sure he didn't get embaressed. Every time I saw you, you looked pretty worn out.  And there is a very specific reason for that.   Not because you stayed up late, or spent your time laying out in the sun.  You poured everything you had into those kids and for that you got planted that tiny little seed.  The seed that will hopefully one day blossom into a strong christian built on the foundations of the attitude and full trust in God that you showed those campers.  That good enough for ya? ;)
In closing I just want to say that this weekend is about rest.  So I pray my fellow counselors are doing that exact thing.   Goodbye for now people and have a wonderful weekend.