Thank you!
We had a volunteer team from Perimeter Church that continued the trend of best volunteers ever from the week one group. They just fully dived into camp life. They interacted with children, got to know High School Helpers, and encouraged staff all along the way. They really bent over backwards to be helpful and their humble, servant hearts shined all week long.
One of their team leaders shared a story at the end of the week about a conversation with one of the younger Muslim boys at camp. He was insisting that all Christians are bad. The volunteer asked if he knew camp staff was Christian. He said he didn't and then changed his statement to "Christians not at camp are bad." While we need to be praying for this camper's heart, how encouraging to hear that we are showing the right example within camp. Praise God.
Story Time:
My favorite moment of the week had to do with our same little friend from the previous story. The Chick-fil-a cow had come for a visit, and in his excitement, my little friend stepped right into an ant pile. Annalisa swooped in and saved him. After his shoes were off, we found that he was fortunate to have only two little ant bites. Annalisa then washed his feet. She was so gentle, even cleaning his toenails, I couldn't help but think about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. It was a sweet, sweet moment.
I also had quite the adventure with a few of the High School Helpers this week. One of our guys found a starving kitten on the side of the road and just couldn't leave it. So naturally he brought it to camp. A few of the High School Helpers worked hard to build a box out of broken down boxes to keep the kitten safe through the camp day until one of them could take it home. As hard as they tried...the little cat was a master escape artist. Thier perseverance was impressive, though. We ended up bringing our new little friend to a neighbor and friend of camp who had some tuna to donate to the cause. After our little feline friend had a snack, we decided Annalisa's porch was the best place to keep it until it had a home...at camp it was quite the distraction...
I am happy to announce that Avalon now has a happy home with her rescuer. She's in for a long, spoiled life I'm sure.
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| Best Friends |
Friday I was having was a rough day. It was a "got up on the wrong side of the bed and forgot my lunch" kind of day. One of my long time camper friends was just the trick to make me smile. He built a rocketship out of legos and was telling me all about it:
"It shoots magic!"
"It can headbutt its enemies!"
"It can go into hyperdrive and travel to the future!"
"AND...Ms. Emily look...IT CAN SELF-DESTRUCT!!!" *broke it into so many pieces it would never look the same again
It was just what I needed to get out of my slump. These kids that I spend every day with are crazy...but they are also creative, loving, welcoming, goofy, imaginative, and some of my favorite humans on this earth.
Lately, there has been a trend among anyone who visits camp for a few minutes or week. They all have the same thing to say. They walk onto the field and it's chaos with kids and toys everywhere...but they feel like they belong. They feel welcomed. And I could quit my job happy now. We've successfully created a space where anyone from anywhere can walk into the middle of our day and feel like a part of our mix-matched, loud, messy, hot, crazy family. Don't worry, I'm not actually quitting my job, but I am busting with pride over the shout outs campers, high schoolers, and staff receive. They are the best. I am honored to be a part of this summer with them!
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| Many hande makes for quick work de-flooding the blacktop |
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