This week I had an absolutely amazing group of kids. This week of campers consisted of kids in grades 7-9. Most of mine were 8th graders, but even my 7th graders were for the most part incredibly mature. They seemed to love everything we did, so getting them excited about our activities was really easy.
To be honest, the only frustrating thing about my kids was that they weren't exactly what you would call 'athletic'. We got beat like 30-5 in bellyball, but hey, they tried their best. I guess one encouraging thing was that I managed to stay somewhat patient (somewhat being the key word there) and not get mad at them for not being able to catch/run the bases very well.
Once again, my kids did amazing at cabin cleanup. We got the highest guy score for cleanliness every day of the week, and on Thursday we tied for the highest overall score. The success did not come without controversy, though. Some of the counselors gave me grief because I always huddled up with my guys after breakfast and gave them cleaning strategies. The guys would volunteer for responsibilities and then go for it. Well, some of the counselors started calling me the "Cleaning Nazi" and telling me that I was being too hard on my kids. It ended, though, when Fred (our Program Director) overheard some of the comments and squelched the comments.
On the spiritual side, I had one guy in particular that was incredibly mature. Even so, though, he still recognized that he had a long way to go in his walk with the Lord. We had a good chat on Wednesday where he poured his heart out to me because he knew that he wasn't living for God as he should.
Another guy wasn't also a huge encouragement to me. He broke down crying one night because he just didn't think he could be saved and continue sinning like he was. So we talked about how once we're saved God never lets us go, and he seemed to feel much better about it. Well on Thursday night he wanted to talk to me again, and before long he was just bawling. At first I thought he was just getting emotional again, but then he said, "I just really miss my sister right now."
My first thought was "Oh, he just homesick, he'll be just fine." But he then proceeded to tell me that his sister had died in June when, during open heart surgery, she developed an infection. I was floored. I didn't show it on my face because I didn't want to upset him, but I had absolutely no idea what to do or say. It really hit me then that I had no idea what I was doing as a counselor. Needless to say my pride took a well-needed hit.
By far, though, the most amazing thing happened on Friday night. No salvation decisions had been made all week, and all of us counselors had been feeling a little down about that. Then, on Friday night after chapel, I caught up with a kid who had been trying to find me the night before during free time but hadn't been able to. Well, we talked for a little while, and he told me that he had been struggling with feelings of hypocrisy, and he hated it. We talked through that, and eventually it came out that he really didn't think he was saved because he couldn't remember asking Jesus to come into his heart and he wanted to make sure he was saved. So, right then at the booth in the Lodge, he placed his trust in Christ for his salvation.
Then, that night after the bonfire I talked to each guy on the porch about the decisions they had made that week. I started off each talk with "What age did you get saved?" because I had to record that for my paperwork. Well, after I asked that to one of the kids he just flat out said "I don't know what that is." Now, I thought that was a little interesting, because I had talked to him earlier and he knew the right answers, but apparently he had never really gotten saved before. So, we talked about it, and he decided that was something he wanted to do. Hallelujah!
Yesterday I finished up my paperwork and went to the laundromat with Lindsay and Katie. While our clothes were drying we went to Wal-Mart and gassed up and then got our laundry and went back to camp. Then about 10 of us went to New Grounds, which is a Christian coffee shop about 10 minutes away. Then, it was sweet, sweet dreams as I got over 9 hours of sleep. Wahoo!
Today after church and lunch, I took a nap before heading over to Josh and Kimmy's trailer to play 'Apples to Apples'. Then, Myles came! He was in Wooster visiting a friend and he decided to come by. So, I took him on a tour of the grounds and then we all went to Pizza Hut. Now a couple of us are watching "The Princess Bride" before it's time for scheduling at 9:00.
Things to pray about:
Health: I've been sick the whole past week, and I'm tired of this cold! Juniors take a lot of energy and patience to deal with, and my cold took both of those away last week.
Adjustment: It's going to be difficult going from the maturity and responsibility levels of the junior highers to those of the juniors.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Week One!
As you can tell by my lack of posting during staff training, things were a little crazy around here. That busyness continued into this past week, when our first week of junior campers (4th-6th graders) were here. I had an AMAZING time!
All of my kids were incredibly enthusiastic about everything we did, and we did really well in all our games and activities. In fact, we won every challenge we did: kickball, dodgeball, carpetball, and the shaving cream fight!
Something also happened this week that has never happened before in any of my cabins: we won cabin cleanup all four days! Last year I really had to push my kids to clean the cabin, and I had to assign them different responsibilities (e.g. sweeping, making beds, etc.). This week, though, all of my kids volunteered for stuff, and they could barely wait to get done with breakfast so they could go clean. I know it sounds hard to believe, but it was incredible! On Friday we got a 396/400 for our score!
On a spiritual side of things, I had some big difficulties. One of my kids was a big troublemaker who was constantly getting in fights with his cabin mates and other campers. I would talk to him about it, and he recognized that God didn't want him to do that, but after our talks he would just go out and get in trouble again. He even got in a fight yesterday morning about an hour before his parents came.
Another frustration was with a camper that I probably talked to three or four times about the gospel, and he just would not talk to me. Just before I would bring it up, we'd be talking about camp or sports, and he'd talk my ear off. But when I'd bring up Jesus he would just look straight ahead and barely talk to me. I think he knows the "right answers," but it doesn't mean anything to him.
On a positive note, I had a few kids make some major decisions for Christ. Throughout the course of the week, three of my guys came to me crying because they knew they weren't living for God like they should be. Another one of my guys just wanted to talk because he's moving to Nevada in a couple weeks, and he's worried about leaving his family and friends. We had a great chat about how God will always be there for him, and how God has everything in His control.
Yesterday after I finished up my paperwork, I had a really good time just relaxing around camp with the staff. A bunch of watched "The Count of Monte Cristo" in the Lodge and then just hung around talking for awhile. I love my campers, but sometimes it's just nice to have some peace and quiet for a change. It's also always nice to be able to hang out with the staff, since we don't get to do that during the week.
Today I also had a chance to get some rest and just relax. Our counselor meeting is at 9:00, and then it's bed time. Tomorrow morning I'll get up at about 7:00, and our first campers will begin arriving at about 9:00. This week we'll have junior highers, and I'm pretty sure I have two kids in my cabin who were in my cabin last year. I can't wait!
Things to pray about:
Patience: Junior highers can be extremely apathetic at times, and it will take a lot of patience to continue trying to get through to them regarding spiritual matters.
Focus: It's so easy to get caught up in the "Super Counselor" mindset and being doing things for the wrong reasons. Pray that I'll be able to focus on Christ first and then my campers, never on impressing anyone.
Decisions: Junior highers struggle with a lot of different issues, and there will obviously be kids here who are not saved. Pray that God will work in their hearts and bring about some awesome transformation!
All of my kids were incredibly enthusiastic about everything we did, and we did really well in all our games and activities. In fact, we won every challenge we did: kickball, dodgeball, carpetball, and the shaving cream fight!
Something also happened this week that has never happened before in any of my cabins: we won cabin cleanup all four days! Last year I really had to push my kids to clean the cabin, and I had to assign them different responsibilities (e.g. sweeping, making beds, etc.). This week, though, all of my kids volunteered for stuff, and they could barely wait to get done with breakfast so they could go clean. I know it sounds hard to believe, but it was incredible! On Friday we got a 396/400 for our score!
On a spiritual side of things, I had some big difficulties. One of my kids was a big troublemaker who was constantly getting in fights with his cabin mates and other campers. I would talk to him about it, and he recognized that God didn't want him to do that, but after our talks he would just go out and get in trouble again. He even got in a fight yesterday morning about an hour before his parents came.
Another frustration was with a camper that I probably talked to three or four times about the gospel, and he just would not talk to me. Just before I would bring it up, we'd be talking about camp or sports, and he'd talk my ear off. But when I'd bring up Jesus he would just look straight ahead and barely talk to me. I think he knows the "right answers," but it doesn't mean anything to him.
On a positive note, I had a few kids make some major decisions for Christ. Throughout the course of the week, three of my guys came to me crying because they knew they weren't living for God like they should be. Another one of my guys just wanted to talk because he's moving to Nevada in a couple weeks, and he's worried about leaving his family and friends. We had a great chat about how God will always be there for him, and how God has everything in His control.
Yesterday after I finished up my paperwork, I had a really good time just relaxing around camp with the staff. A bunch of watched "The Count of Monte Cristo" in the Lodge and then just hung around talking for awhile. I love my campers, but sometimes it's just nice to have some peace and quiet for a change. It's also always nice to be able to hang out with the staff, since we don't get to do that during the week.
Today I also had a chance to get some rest and just relax. Our counselor meeting is at 9:00, and then it's bed time. Tomorrow morning I'll get up at about 7:00, and our first campers will begin arriving at about 9:00. This week we'll have junior highers, and I'm pretty sure I have two kids in my cabin who were in my cabin last year. I can't wait!
Things to pray about:
Patience: Junior highers can be extremely apathetic at times, and it will take a lot of patience to continue trying to get through to them regarding spiritual matters.
Focus: It's so easy to get caught up in the "Super Counselor" mindset and being doing things for the wrong reasons. Pray that I'll be able to focus on Christ first and then my campers, never on impressing anyone.
Decisions: Junior highers struggle with a lot of different issues, and there will obviously be kids here who are not saved. Pray that God will work in their hearts and bring about some awesome transformation!
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