I was rereading some of my posts from the never-ending camp experience, which just happens to be ending today, and I need to be clear.
Yes, I’m still fed up with the fact that we continue to prepare people, even children, to die but we never learn how to live. Yes, I got a new bed, but the mattress has so many holes in the top that the girls saw a few bugs crawl out today (I am sitting on it right now). Yes, I will only eat fruits and vegetables for the next six months. Yes, I want to go home.
And, yes, I want to bring each and every girl with me.
As we have lived together, we have learned about each other. One girl’s father died before she was born and her mom chooses to live with her boyfriend, so my small friend lives with grandma. Another girl, who also lives with grandma, was abandoned by her mom as an infant and her father is a long-haul truck driver. One young girl told me that her parents are getting a divorce, but don’t have enough money to live apart so they just fight all the time. Another girl has one brother in the Marines and one in jail. One little girl has a learning disability and one goes home to eight brothers and sisters.
They are each unique and special and deeply loved by God – and now by me. I have complained about camp, they found respite here. Here’s hoping that questionable theology is outweighed by goodnight hugs, holding hands on scary waterslides, eating unhealthy food together, long bus rides and playing a lot of hairdresser (they were the dressers, I was the hair).
Maybe I’m only half glad it’s Friday.
Yes, I’m still fed up with the fact that we continue to prepare people, even children, to die but we never learn how to live. Yes, I got a new bed, but the mattress has so many holes in the top that the girls saw a few bugs crawl out today (I am sitting on it right now). Yes, I will only eat fruits and vegetables for the next six months. Yes, I want to go home.
And, yes, I want to bring each and every girl with me.
As we have lived together, we have learned about each other. One girl’s father died before she was born and her mom chooses to live with her boyfriend, so my small friend lives with grandma. Another girl, who also lives with grandma, was abandoned by her mom as an infant and her father is a long-haul truck driver. One young girl told me that her parents are getting a divorce, but don’t have enough money to live apart so they just fight all the time. Another girl has one brother in the Marines and one in jail. One little girl has a learning disability and one goes home to eight brothers and sisters.
They are each unique and special and deeply loved by God – and now by me. I have complained about camp, they found respite here. Here’s hoping that questionable theology is outweighed by goodnight hugs, holding hands on scary waterslides, eating unhealthy food together, long bus rides and playing a lot of hairdresser (they were the dressers, I was the hair).
Maybe I’m only half glad it’s Friday.
2 comments:
Wendy,
The blessing you will receive goes beyond the hugs and bug bites you get this week. Years from now one or more of those children will have a moment in their lives that they will remember not the greasy food or the lumpy beds, but the presence of God in the form of the adult in their cabin. They may not think of it as the presence of God, but will remember the good time they had in the midst of the rest of their life. They may even contact you or try to to "reconnect" because of something happening in their life at that time. That is the blessing of camp, or teaching, or coaching, or any thing coupled with young people learning their way in the world.
It sure sounds like you were in the exactly right place this week. There is that poem...about being successful in life is if you have made the difference in the life of a child. I'm sure God sent you there for those special little girls who will likely not look at life the same thanks to you... in a very good way!
But my heart went out to you this week. I went camping one w/e, got up early, went home, showered and changed and picked up donuts and went back before anyone else was up. and I'm pretty sure I didn't have bugs in my mattress. You are amazing, Wendy! Have a great night sleep tonight and enjoy your shower at home!
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