Sr. High-2

I was blessed to be able to counsel for Sr. High week and just focus on the girls in the cabin and not just on a medical stand point. I worked with Lauren which was a blast and I loved it cause we had counseled together last year for the second Sr. High camp as well. This week there were only a little over 50 campers there so it was super small and kind of weird. We had 5 girls in our cabin, I thought it was going to be hard and not good at all, but God used it to help us all grow so much closer together by the end of the week. Two of the girls I had in my cabin last year so it was great to reconnect with them and get to know them much better. The first day or so was hard during devotions. They would not open up about much and they continued to get off topic (much like colt campers do). Lauren and I continued to pray about it and asked God to give us the strength to persevere and the words to say that can only come from Him. Then one devotion time we had the girls go around and share their stories and how they have seen God work in their own lives, if they have at all. Lauren and I had shared our testimonies the night before so we just wanted to them to kind of do the same so we would get a better idea of where they were spiritually and also that they could hear each other talk and see that they are not the only ones going through tough times. All the of them came from broken homes and it was really sad to see the hurt and pain that leaves on the kids. Their lives are not the same after that.

One girl said she had a hard time seeing God as her Father and she hated that because her step father had run out on her and her mom for another lady. She saw a father figure as someone who leaves when you need them. That was really hard to hear and we talked a lot with her about forgiveness and just what the Bible says about God as our Heavenly Father. By the end of the week she was ready and willing to forgive her step dad and wanted to start fresh with Christ. That was super encouraging to hear and I praise God that He was able to work in her life/heart. Another girl opened up about a lot of things she was going through in high school and that she had given her life to Christ a couple years ago and was just striving to live for Him. She said it wasn’t easy and sometimes she wanted to give up, but she knew she needed to give it all to God and continue to have faith. It was so good to hear her story cause it was a lot of things that I had gone through in my life. I talked a lot with her and I just loved sharing God’s word with her and the other girls. One of the girls was not very open about anything, but by the end of the week she had started to open up a little about things. I pray that God would continue to work in her heart and that she would be able to know His love and live her life for Him.

It was hard seeing all the kids go. As a smaller camp we were able to grow a lot closer, even guys and girls. So it was sad to see them all go with the relationships we had started to build with each of them. The speaker this week was wonderful and I learned so much from him and was reminded of many things that I needed to hear again. There was a lot of suffering going on with the kids and questioning why God would let that happen. Brian (the speaker) felt God calling him to change his lesson one evening and he talked about suffering and what the Bible talks about it. It was so good for all of the campers to hear (as well as myself). That was an answer to prayer and I thank the Lord for using Brian to share His message with the kids. During my own devotions I was reading Lamentations 3:22-24 which says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.” I was just reminding of His great love for me and I thank Him for giving me those opportunities to talk with the girls in my cabin as well as others in camp about His love for them. Verses 40-42 of that same chapter say, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in Heaven…”

One a lighter and more fun note, we had an amazing skit night this week. This is where each cabin comes up with a funny skit or act to do and many of the counselors/staff members get involved with it as well. Last year they had done one that was wonderful and Lauren and I did it again this year. We had five guys come up front (not knowing in advance they were coming up) and they were blind folded and had to take their shoes and socks off because we were going to have them feel things with their hands and feet, taste things, and smell things and they had to guess what each thing was. While they were doing these things we had some girls with nail polish come up and paint their toes. At the end I had them stand up and take their blindfold off and take a bow and they saw that their toenails were painted. They were super surprised and had no idea we had done that to them. It was really funny and they enjoyed it even though their toes were painted. It was a super great week and I thank God for every moment of it. Continue to pray for us as we work through this next week with over 120 bronco campers!!!!! And it’s the last camp of the summer:(