Week one as a camp counselor....

The best way to describe my first week as a camp counselor is to introduce you to my cabin's mascot, a very cute little giraffe named Stretch. (Hopefully a picture will follow next weekend.) :o) This week has been stretching in many different ways but it has been amazing to see God's hand at work.

I had many mixed emotions as I watched my campers leave yesterday. After spending so much time with my nine campers it was hard to watch them go. Five days is such a short...and long time. It is long enough to get deeply involved in the life of a teen, but for some of my campers it felt like too short of a time to make a difference for eternity. Even though I felt some of the girls left in the same spiritual condition that they came in, I know that their lives were impacted in some way by the large quantities of scripture that was poured into them daily. God's word does not return void! (Thanks to a dear friend for reminding of that last night.)

However, the impacts that were visible were so encouraging!! Two of the girls in my cabin accepted Christ as their Savior on Tuesday. Their joy was so evident in their eyes and faces. Several other girls were challenged to do better at reading their Bibles, praying, and being a good testimony for the Lord. The evangelist this week hammered home the fact that how we live can deeply affect those around us for eternity; his message hit home with many.

The Lord worked in so many other ways this week...many of which my tired brain is not thinking of at the moment. The weather was one of the ways though. It was supposed to rain all week. Monday and Tuesday were beautiful; Wednesday morning we woke up to thunder and pounding rain. God answers prayer! By the time breakfast was over it had quit raining and the only time it started again was during meal time when everyone was inside. The girls in my cabin were concerned about rain the rest of the week and prayed that it wouldn't. Thursday and Friday? Sunny and not a cloud in the sky. God delights to show His love to His children.

By Wednesday afternoon I was feeling drained and unable to continue. It was a blessing to remember that people were praying for me, especially at different times that I knew my church family was meeting and would be remembering me in prayer. God's grace was made perfect in my weakness towards the end of the week; He provided strength.

Please continue to keep me and the rest of the camp staff in prayer as we have our first week of junior camp next week. Please pray especially that we would be able to see where each camper is spiritually and help them grow. Thank you so much for the prayers! We serve an amazing God!