Friday, August 21, 2009
Oh my! I am so sorry it has taken me so long to finish the last part of this blogging series! I had totally forgotten about it until... well... now. It is going to take me awhile to rewind that far back in my mind, but let me try. Actually, I think I am going to extend this series for you because I wrote a paper for my English class about our last week of camp, so I'll probably post that separately. Hopefully that will shorten the length of this post. (Which I'm sure would be nice for you all, but it would certainly be nice for me. My fingers get tired!)
We had been warned about the second to last week of camp: Boy's Week by the director of the week before. I realize this is not the forum to vent certain frustrations, but I will say that there were plenty of them. On top of working with difficult adults, we were working with about 30 hyperactive, 4th-7th grade boys. Oh boy(s).
This week was probably the most difficult, but I'm sure it was even moreso for the guys as us girls got to hang out by ourselves during cabin time, and drive to the home we were staying at evey night. (Being boys week, there was no point in us staying overnight when we had no cabin to look over.) The stresses were high, the frustrations were high, and the focus on ministry was very low.
Looking back on this week, I wish I could have done it over. I was so angry with people that I forgot why I was at this camp in the first place. I was not there to make people happy. Really, I wasn't there to run games or music or teach lessons help out with crafts or tell boys what they can or cannot do. I was there to love God and love His children. Though there is no doubt in my mind that God can and will use what happened in that week for His own glory, it is rather difficult for me to look back and recognize the fact that I did not do what I had been called to.
I wish I had some funny stories to tell about this week, but it has been awhile, and most of the things that I do remember I should probably not write about.
Being this was the second to last week of camp and the worst week yet, us counselors were not looking forward to our last week together this summer. We had met the director for girl's week two weeks prior. I guess you could say her motto was, "cleanliness is next to godliness!" as she made clear to us at our initial meeting. Before we even had time to think about what we were going to wear the first day that week (our red camp shirts that we wore every week), she already had a list of every other minor detail that could not be less important going into a week of camp. So, needless to say, we were more than a little discouraged that the very end of our summer was going to turn out so bad. I think we were even more disappointed that God did not seem to be working in any of the lives of the kids we met the whole summer. I prayed the whole week before that God would change our attitudes about the week we were about to face. It was the Thursday night before that I finally surrendered my work to Him. I realized that there was nothing I could do or plan to change lives. It is all His power. I let go of all my plans and ideas and let God lead the way. Only then were we really able to see Him working. It is still amazing to me how when we really pray to God in humility and surrenderance how big He answers our prayers. I don't think any of us were prepared for what we saw Him do that last week...
We had been warned about the second to last week of camp: Boy's Week by the director of the week before. I realize this is not the forum to vent certain frustrations, but I will say that there were plenty of them. On top of working with difficult adults, we were working with about 30 hyperactive, 4th-7th grade boys. Oh boy(s).
This week was probably the most difficult, but I'm sure it was even moreso for the guys as us girls got to hang out by ourselves during cabin time, and drive to the home we were staying at evey night. (Being boys week, there was no point in us staying overnight when we had no cabin to look over.) The stresses were high, the frustrations were high, and the focus on ministry was very low.
Looking back on this week, I wish I could have done it over. I was so angry with people that I forgot why I was at this camp in the first place. I was not there to make people happy. Really, I wasn't there to run games or music or teach lessons help out with crafts or tell boys what they can or cannot do. I was there to love God and love His children. Though there is no doubt in my mind that God can and will use what happened in that week for His own glory, it is rather difficult for me to look back and recognize the fact that I did not do what I had been called to.
I wish I had some funny stories to tell about this week, but it has been awhile, and most of the things that I do remember I should probably not write about.
Being this was the second to last week of camp and the worst week yet, us counselors were not looking forward to our last week together this summer. We had met the director for girl's week two weeks prior. I guess you could say her motto was, "cleanliness is next to godliness!" as she made clear to us at our initial meeting. Before we even had time to think about what we were going to wear the first day that week (our red camp shirts that we wore every week), she already had a list of every other minor detail that could not be less important going into a week of camp. So, needless to say, we were more than a little discouraged that the very end of our summer was going to turn out so bad. I think we were even more disappointed that God did not seem to be working in any of the lives of the kids we met the whole summer. I prayed the whole week before that God would change our attitudes about the week we were about to face. It was the Thursday night before that I finally surrendered my work to Him. I realized that there was nothing I could do or plan to change lives. It is all His power. I let go of all my plans and ideas and let God lead the way. Only then were we really able to see Him working. It is still amazing to me how when we really pray to God in humility and surrenderance how big He answers our prayers. I don't think any of us were prepared for what we saw Him do that last week...
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