Week One

I'm a camp counselor.

Wow. I never thought I would say that. Never. But it's true. I even own a hot pink baseball cap. I lost my voice cheering, I'm covered in bug bites, and four little pieces of my heart belong to my four precious campers. 

This week I didn't sleep a lot. I ate crayfish caught only a few hours before, I won a belly flop contest, I gave more middle school relationship advice than I care to remember, I was pummeled with pillows, I ate spam, and I loved every single minute of it. 

The word "I" has already been in that post 15 times. That's the problem. Even my ministry is about me. There is no such thing as my ministry. This week was God's gift to me, and it's one I can never deserve.

The lessons God taught me this week are way longer than any blog post should ever be. I am so limited, but His limitless grace is always always, enough.  It is enough at 4:00 am when an 8-year-old wakes you up to play Pocket Pets. It is enough when two girls fight over friends. It is enough when you find a huge cockroach in the shower. It is enough when you get a stewed tomato and hot sauce pie in your face that stains your white shirt. 

My life in Christ is one undeserved gift after another, and this week was no exception. I laughed, I cried, and I absorbed the goodness of God. The messages focused first on redemption, then on growth. My girls weren't as open as I'd dreamed they would be. One on one time was hard, them distracted by bugs and boys and chocolate ice cream, and me distracted by myself and my selfishness.

My God is bigger than me. He is bigger than my pride, and He is bigger than my inabilities, and He was incredibly big this week. He worked in the lives of my girls in ways I would not have imagined. Campers found Jesus this week, and campers saw how amazingly fun serving Him is. Thursday night I listened to child after child tell their friends about their great Savior. I'm a cryer anyway, but when 10-year-old boys cry in front of a group of people when talking about the satisfaction Jesus makes, I'm a goner.

This week was hard. I'm emotionally and physically exhausted, and I caught some kind of bug that's landed me in bed all day. Please be in prayer for the health of all our team members this week. Getting sick isn't exactly in the schedule, and with seven girls in one room, the germs flow freely.

This week was hard, but hard is what my heart needs to grow.