“The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. (Isaiah 58:11) (NLT)
The most important thing that I have learned from camp over the past two summers is that God will equip you with all the tools you need to do his work. If it is his plan for you to do something then he will constantly steer you in that direction and will then give guidance as you do his work.
Camp will be here in 82 days. It’s hard to believe. I would be lying if I said that I haven’t been thinking about camp since I left last August. I am ready to be back and excited to see what is in store for this summer. Many friends from last year will be returning, but some will not, so it’s bittersweet. Throughout the school year, I have been able to stay connected with fellow counselors either through Facebook or texting. For some, I have been able to see them and hang out with them for a bit. I have continued a few relationships with some of my campers. I had dinner with a few when I was out of town for various conferences; I went to a High School soccer game to watch one play. Just last night a camper asked me for help with factoring polynomial expressions. Try teaching a 14 yr. old kid how to do this over Facebook. Not the easiest thing… It is going to be great though to reconnect with fellow campers and staff this summer and pick up where we left off.
As camp gets closer and closer, I am beginning to think about expectations for this summer. Here is what I mean…. The first summer I went to camp, I didn’t have many expectations. I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t know anyone going into camp, and only had ideas of what I thought camp would be like. Going into the second summer, I knew what camp would be like, but I knew it would still be different because I already had one summer under my belt. I knew I had to put aside any expectations I had so I could focus on how God would use me that second summer. Going into the second summer though, I knew I wanted to focus more on building relationships with the campers. Sometimes during the first year, I found myself wanting those relationships to happen and trying too hard to make them happen. The second summer, I realized that just being there for the campers was a start and the relationships would grow from there.
So, what about this summer? Looking at the staff for this coming summer, we will have a lot of new people and people with only a year under their belt. What should I focus on this summer and how do I make the most of it? One thing I know I can always improve on is giving more of me to the campers. Continuing to allow myself to be used by God, no matter which direction he takes me. I love every aspect of camp, from just being there to the way that we see Jesus in everything we do. But the most important thing to remember is that we are not here by chance, we are here to do God’s work, to show Jesus to these campers. We do this through the activities that we do, the skills we teach, and the devotions we give, but most importantly we show these campers Jesus by the way we live our own lives and how we allow Jesus to shine through us. When these kids look up their counselors, hopefully they don’t see a person who is awesome and is a super star. When they look at these counselors and staff hopefully they see someone who is not perfect, but despite those imperfections they follow Jesus and in all they do, they let Jesus shine in their life.
Bring it on Camp Ridgecrest! It’s time to impact kids’ lives through discipleship and adventure.
