Jesus, Campfires, Sparkles

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to be back at my childhood camp for my second year on all-summer staff, but some days it absolutely blows my mind. As I see the high school girls in my cabin grasping new truths about God throughout the week, listen to the sound of joyful worship each evening around a campfire, receive dozens of hugs and kisses from the 2^nd and 3^rd grade girls, and see God’s grace and provision in a million ways each and every day, I can hardly believe this place exists. I am so blessed by the campers that I get to hang out with every day, the staff that offers constant encouragement, and the beauty of God’s creation that surrounds us here at camp. This is truly one of the best jobs in the world.

 

Several weeks ago as I was contemplating the summer ahead, I realized that camp includes my top six favorite things of all time: Jesus, nature, youth, music, fire, and sparkles. Really, could it get any better???

 

Although camp life is certainly not easy, even with the days that I wake up so tired that I worry I might throw up, the times that I wonder if my campers learned anything over the last five days of Bible study, and the moments when I have so much to get done that I just want to give up and cry, I realize there is no place I’d rather be for the summer. Each day I get to watch young girls discover more about who God is and grow in their love for Christ, and in the process I learn more of God’s heart and gain a deeper love for and trust in Him. And not only that, I get to be silly and ridiculous all the time with zero negative social repercussions.

 

This week was my first week as a counselor this year (I was up here for a week earlier in the summer for training), and it was a blast. One of the highlights of the week was playing Tinkerbell for our all-camp game on Thursday evening, a role which left me covered in sparkles, even after two showers. Another wonderful memory from the week was dressing up as trees with my high school girls for cabin time. And of course it wouldn’t be camp without burnt dessert at Tuesday night cookout, bug spray wars before morning Bible study, and having our cabins “Pink-ified” by the Pathinders (the youngest division at camp). It was a wonderful start to the summer and I am exhausted but ready for new campers to come tomorrow!

 

[Soli Deo Gloria]