Joy Filled Faces

Kamp life is hard. It is so frustrating to have middle schoolers asking you 5 million question in a span of 2 minutes. You never get a good night's sleep. Not sweating is not a possibility. You never really feel clean. The drinking water takes a little while to get used to...it has a distinct lake taste. I am constantly on my feet. I have to be happy and excited all the time even when I don't feel like it. There is a ton of tedious paperwork. Waking up in the morning is difficult. You have to constantly be thinking of ways to pour into your girls and teach them more about Jesus. Sometimes, I just want to hear my family's voices...just for a minute. I want to hug my best friends. I want to sit and watch a movie. It is a hard job.

But there is so much joy, that these difficulties don't seem like difficulties at all.  

Everyone is there for the same reason...to glorify our great God. Each camper wants to learn more about Christ and grow in their relationship with him. And each counselor wants to help campers achieve that. 

A few days ago, we had Man Day/Girl Day. Basically this is when girls get to act like girls all day long by painting each other's nails, having a cake decorating contest and doing what we do best...talking. Men do manly things...not sure on specifics since I am obviously not a man, but I have heard they break things, make fires, yell scream, etc. Girl Day is Disney Princess themed...THE BEST. It was by far my favorite day at camp. Dinner that night was a "Dinner Theater." The leadership team dressed up as Disney Princesses and put on a show. Cinderella was trying to find her prince and they incorporated as many Disney movies as possible into this skit. As I was watching the theater, Jasmine was dancing with Aladin and their faces were lit up. I then looked around and every girl's face in the dining hall was filled with a huge smile. It almost brought me to tears. There is so much joy in this place, the joy of the Lord, and it was incredible to see. 

The next day, my co-counselor and I took our cabin to the slip-n-slide as a surprise. As each girl flew down the slide, their faces were filled with such happiness. "That was SO FUN!" "I LOVE kamp!" Different statements were made from each girl. That is exactly what camp is about. Joy. Having such joy in the Lord and resting His presence. 

Yes, kamp is hard. But it is so rewarding that you tend to forget about everything you deal with on a daily basis. I have heard so many time from kampers, "I am so tired, I don't know how counselors do it." The joy of the Lord. That's how I do it. That is what I rely on. The joy of the Lord is my strength. We can't do it. We can do nothing apart from God. But because of His grace and love, we are all able to wake up in the morning and pour into these middle schoolers and teach them to be more like Jesus. 

Thank you Lord for giving me enough grace for each day to be able to wake up and appreciate a smile on a girl's face after going down the slip-n-slide, or singing High School Musical songs as loudly as possible with joy radiating from every person surrounding me. Thank you for loving me enough to send me to Kanakuk Kamps and experience Your goodness.