This week was absolutely amazing! I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to having juniors after having a great senior high week, but I ended up having a ton of fun and making some great memories!
The week started off great before the campers even arrived. I've needed a haircut for a couple weeks now, and a couple of the girl counselors volunteered to cut it, and it was so much fun. They had never really done it before, but we all had a blast laughing and having a good time.
Monday night's cabin wrap-up, though, was what really started the week off right. The kids paid attention really well, and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing. One of the kids (I can't remember who) gave me the nickname "Nathanator", and it stuck for the rest of the week. No joke, the kids called me that the entire week, and I think I only heard my actual name a handful of times. It was really cool.
The most amazing part about the week, though, was that fact that four--yes FOUR--kids in my cabin got saved this week! Praise God! I just could not believe the amazing things that God was doing in my cabin and all throughout the cabin. Our summer salvation number is now somewhere around 70, which is just incredible.
The cool thing about my kids' getting saved was not only that God transformed their hearts, but he began to transform mine as well. This week God really helped me see the simplicity of the gospel. As a Bible major, I tend to complicate the gospel and think of Christ's death in terms of doctrine and theology, when the most important thing about His sacrifice is that He did it because of His love. Junior kids can understand that God loved them so much that He sent His Son to die in order to give them the opportunity to have new life.
How amazing it was the see the smile on my kids' faces when they realized that when they die they'll go to heaven. Two of the guys accepted Christ on Tuesday night after chapel, and that night was one of the most amazing nights I've had at camp. The first boy was crying and just so upset that He didn't have Jesus in his heart and he wanted to change that. The second boy got saved after telling me just that morning that he didn't care about what happened to him when he died. It was just an amazing display of God's power and sovereignty in salvation.
Another kid got saved on Thursday morning just hours before he was going to leave camp early to go on vacation with his family. He said he had wanted to talk to me after chapel the night before but he didn't come back because the Pastor hadn't given an invitation that night. Then on Friday night another kid came back and talked to me after chapel and accepted Christ, and he was just so happy that Jesus was getting him into heaven.
One of the most encouraging things about all the salvations was the fact that the staff was so amazingly excited about all of the salvations as well. From the counselors to the grithogs, everyone was so excited to hear about the life-changing decisions that the kids were making. It made me that much more enthusiastic to spread the word when one of my kids got saved.
One big thing that hit me this week was the fact that this summer is absolutely flying by. There are only three weeks left (two of campers), and I realized this week that I have absolutely no desire to leave. I just love it at Skyview, and I can truly say there is no place I'd rather be and nothing I'd rather be doing this summer.
Yesterday after the kids left my sister and I bought my Dad a birthday present and then we helped work a company picnic. I did high ropes while Lindsay helped out in the kitchen. After we finished with that we drove to Dad's house and now we're here for his birthday party. I'm really excited because I'll get to see my other brother and sister and my two nephews and niece.
One thing I realized about this blog is that none of you get a chance to see the pictures that I've taken throughout the summer. So far I've only put them on Facebook, which means that only Facebook users can see them. Not any more! I've set up a Flickr account so that anyone can see the pictures. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10346651@N03/
Next week is Junior Highers! This is a very interesting age group, but it's a very fun one as well. It will bring a unique set of challenges, but these kids will also be much more self-sufficient than the juniors and they'll be able to process more information.
Things to pray about:
Patience: For the girl counselors it's dealing with modesty issues, and for the guy counselors it's dealing with apathy. Pray that we'll all be able to have patience as we deal with these issues.
Wisdom: Junior highers are at the age where they're really starting to struggle with their identities and who they want to be. Pray that us counselors will have wisdom as we try to counsel them.
The week started off great before the campers even arrived. I've needed a haircut for a couple weeks now, and a couple of the girl counselors volunteered to cut it, and it was so much fun. They had never really done it before, but we all had a blast laughing and having a good time.
Monday night's cabin wrap-up, though, was what really started the week off right. The kids paid attention really well, and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing. One of the kids (I can't remember who) gave me the nickname "Nathanator", and it stuck for the rest of the week. No joke, the kids called me that the entire week, and I think I only heard my actual name a handful of times. It was really cool.
The most amazing part about the week, though, was that fact that four--yes FOUR--kids in my cabin got saved this week! Praise God! I just could not believe the amazing things that God was doing in my cabin and all throughout the cabin. Our summer salvation number is now somewhere around 70, which is just incredible.
The cool thing about my kids' getting saved was not only that God transformed their hearts, but he began to transform mine as well. This week God really helped me see the simplicity of the gospel. As a Bible major, I tend to complicate the gospel and think of Christ's death in terms of doctrine and theology, when the most important thing about His sacrifice is that He did it because of His love. Junior kids can understand that God loved them so much that He sent His Son to die in order to give them the opportunity to have new life.
How amazing it was the see the smile on my kids' faces when they realized that when they die they'll go to heaven. Two of the guys accepted Christ on Tuesday night after chapel, and that night was one of the most amazing nights I've had at camp. The first boy was crying and just so upset that He didn't have Jesus in his heart and he wanted to change that. The second boy got saved after telling me just that morning that he didn't care about what happened to him when he died. It was just an amazing display of God's power and sovereignty in salvation.
Another kid got saved on Thursday morning just hours before he was going to leave camp early to go on vacation with his family. He said he had wanted to talk to me after chapel the night before but he didn't come back because the Pastor hadn't given an invitation that night. Then on Friday night another kid came back and talked to me after chapel and accepted Christ, and he was just so happy that Jesus was getting him into heaven.
One of the most encouraging things about all the salvations was the fact that the staff was so amazingly excited about all of the salvations as well. From the counselors to the grithogs, everyone was so excited to hear about the life-changing decisions that the kids were making. It made me that much more enthusiastic to spread the word when one of my kids got saved.
One big thing that hit me this week was the fact that this summer is absolutely flying by. There are only three weeks left (two of campers), and I realized this week that I have absolutely no desire to leave. I just love it at Skyview, and I can truly say there is no place I'd rather be and nothing I'd rather be doing this summer.
Yesterday after the kids left my sister and I bought my Dad a birthday present and then we helped work a company picnic. I did high ropes while Lindsay helped out in the kitchen. After we finished with that we drove to Dad's house and now we're here for his birthday party. I'm really excited because I'll get to see my other brother and sister and my two nephews and niece.
One thing I realized about this blog is that none of you get a chance to see the pictures that I've taken throughout the summer. So far I've only put them on Facebook, which means that only Facebook users can see them. Not any more! I've set up a Flickr account so that anyone can see the pictures. Here's the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10346651@N03/
Next week is Junior Highers! This is a very interesting age group, but it's a very fun one as well. It will bring a unique set of challenges, but these kids will also be much more self-sufficient than the juniors and they'll be able to process more information.
Things to pray about:
Patience: For the girl counselors it's dealing with modesty issues, and for the guy counselors it's dealing with apathy. Pray that we'll all be able to have patience as we deal with these issues.
Wisdom: Junior highers are at the age where they're really starting to struggle with their identities and who they want to be. Pray that us counselors will have wisdom as we try to counsel them.
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