Well I made it! I got home yesterday from 2 weeks of staff training at Kanakuk Kamps! It was crazy, scary, exciting, lonely, encouraging, exhausting, and so much more. Here are a few things that I learned over the past 2 weeks:
1. I am shy and I am ok with that. I am not the type of person to run up to a group of 8 people and immediately begin talking and feel comfortable chatting with them. Not me at ALL. I would rather quietly stand in the background and talk to one person. There were some girls at camp that came in not knowing anyone, just like me, but within the first 24 hours, they had 10 "close" friends because of their outgoing personality. My friendships from camp didn't become "close" until the last 3-4 days, which is totally fine. God made me to be shy when I am in unfamiliar situations. I accepted that this week.
2. Because of my introverted personality, I LOVE having time by myself. I never really realized this about myself until this week. We were so busy all the time, going from one thing to the next, never stopping. If we did have a break, it was usually for less than 10 minutes. After a week of so, we began having bigger breaks. During those breaks, everyone would be doing something...playing soccer, basketball, some kind of sport, laying out at the pool with friends, going on walks with people, or just doing something with someone. Me? All I wanted to do was be by myself. Not doing anything really, just laying on my bed, reading, listening to music, just something where I was by myself. It was delightful.
3. God is faithful. I have been constantly reminded of this throughout the entire semester but a lot these past 2 weeks. One year ago at this time, I was looking on the Kanakuk website and I thought to myself, "I would LOVE to work there, that would be so cool..." and look where I am. Thinking back on the interview process, the phone call telling me that I got the job, figuring out packing details, praying consistently about this crazy journey and finally getting on a plane to Missouri, IT IS CRAZY. He is so faithful. And I am so thankful.
4. I would much rather have some kind of chocolate instead of something fruity or sweet or sour. Just give me a peppermint patty, please.
5. I really appreciate a good glass of water since all we had at Kamp was lake water....gross.
6. I am so thankful for the people that God has placed in my life. Mom, Dad, Jake, all of my great friends from Knoxville, Clarksville, Ohio. Not being able to communicate with them reminded me how much they really mean to me, and how much I care about them.
With all of that being said, I can not wait to get back to Kamp in July. I can't wait to meet my kampers. (we spell everything with a K at Kanakuk) I can't wait to get to know them, share the Gospel with them, laugh with them, make s'mores with them, pray with them, teach them how to cheer, canoe, kayak, craft, blob, or any other fun thing we do at camp, and let them teach me as well. I am so excited. Thank you for your prayers throughout this crazy adventure that I have been on the past 2 weeks.
