This is Not the End

This is the last week of summer camp. Holy cow.

No matter how long the summer looks at the start of camp, it always goes by like this. It's way too soon to be time to go. Especially for me, who might be calling this my last summer, this last week has been mourned. But in ways, I am ready for it now.

Last week was a session to remember. I had incredible girls, incredible sponsors, and an incredible partner. Not to mention, my parents came for the first time to see chapel service. What a great way to end up the summer!

I've talked before about how I don't always get to see the harvest even though I plant seeds, but this week I got to see some of the harvest while the girls were still at camp, it was such a blessing!

One of my favorite examples of this concerned an adorable little thing named Marissa. She was terrified of our ropes course after trying it at night. So terrified in fact, she cried when I mentioned we would be doing it again the next day. But I talked with her at bed time prayers, and I told her she didn't have to be afraid of the ropes course because God has not given her a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Then we talked about how she can do anything because of the strength of Christ (Philippians 4:13). And the next day, to my surprise, she got on the ropes course again, and went straight to the top level! As I made my way over to help her she looked at me and said "I remember what we talked about last night!"

Lord have mercy. It doesn't get any better than that.

All of the moments like this make my job all the more rewarding.
And all of this makes the ending all the more bittersweet.

I have peace about this being the end of my counselor days, I think.
I will miss it, but I know my God gives me all the desires of my heart, (Psalm 37:4) and in years past, my desire to be a counselor has been crazy passionate. This year, I feel like I have to chance to pass that desire on to some awesome newcomers. They can carry the fire over, and they will be awesome at it.

As for me, I think the Lord is preparing for something new. He knows what is best for me, and he asks that I commit my ways to him so he can establish my course (Proverbs 16:3). All I do is committed to him, so I can rest in knowing that my new course will be something I have the desire to do. Or at the least, the grace to do. He will be enough.

But with all of that said, I also know this will not be my last time out at Dry Gulch. I don't know if the Lord will have me to come back in another capacity, if I'll just be returning as a guest, or if I'll just come out at other points during the year, but I know this is not goodbye. The Lord has given me so much at this place, and I fully believe he has many plans for me to return!

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."(Colossians 1:17) I am excited for what is in store!





The Best Part is...

Chapel. Hands down, no arguments. Chapel is the best part of Camp Dry Gulch.
This is our main event, so we treat it like a pretty big deal.

 Back in session five, I had a bunk of girls who were all new to Dry Gulch. Everyone was a first-timer.  A few of them had been to other camps before, and they were quickly excited by some advantages Dry Gulch presented, such as air conditioning (my goodness, Lord bless the counselors of other camps who do not have air conditioning!)

But above all else, they were blown away by our chapel services.

 Then this past week, in session six, I had a bunk with a few specific girls who largely influenced the rest into being very disrespectful. For the first time this summer I had to do some benching and I had to take one girl to the office. That was a shame.
It stinks to discipline kids when you only get to see them for a week. It can be hard to really move past it all and have a good time again. Therefore, I felt like this week ended a bit awkwardly.
But the good news is that I am a seed planter. Even though I do not get to see the fruit of my labor within the small week these girls are here, I trust that the seeds I planted will grow into something good.
And the even better news, that is how chapels work, too.  In every chapel hundreds of seeds are thrown out, and we hardly get to see their results while the kids are still here. Only heaven will be able to reveal its impact!

 So now then, I just wanted to share with you a brief synopsis of each chapel, so you can be in on the magic, too.

Here's what you need to know about chapels before we begin:
Camp Theme: “I am a Child of God”
Camp Memory Verse: “Come close to God and He will come close to you.” (James 4:8)
Chapel Phrase: Each night there is a different phrase used to sum up the lesson for the night. The kids must remember this phrase, and they also get a wristband that says the phrase as they leave chapel.

 Night One:
Chapel Phrase: “I have a new Spirit”
Main Point: This is salvation night. We are teaching the kids the very first step of coming close to God and becoming his child, which would be asking him into our hearts.
Illustration:  We bring out a friend of all the kids named Andrew. He’s in his 20’s but he portrays the mind of a child. Andrew invents things that usually do not work. This time, he has invented teleportation and he believes the only way to come close to God is to be physically close to God, therefore, he tries to teleport to heaven. At the end of chapel, Andrew returns from the opposite of heaven (“Arkansas”) and learns that the way we come close to God is with our spirit.

 Night Two:
Chapel Phrase: “I Will Win the Battle”
Main Point: We can do the right thing even when we do not feel like doing it. Our new spirit knows the right thing to do, but sometimes our feelings try to take control of us and make us do the wrong thing. Therefore, our feelings and our spirit are in a battle, and we want our spirit to win.
Illustration: This is what we all call “Ultimate Fight Night.” You see, the stage is consumed by a boxing ring, in which two actual fighters take their marks. The lights go down and get crazy, and actual announcers boom through the room. One fighter represents our “Feelings” and the other one represents our (new) “Spirit.”
They fight two rounds before the message, where Spirit wins once and Feelings win once. Then after the message, round three commences, and of course, Spirit wins.

 Night Three:
Chapel Phrase: “I make my Spirit Strong”
Main Point: To win the battle over our feelings, we need to have a strong spirit. Just like we feed our bodies every day, we should feed our spirit everyday to make it strong.
Illustration:
Three trays of food sit covered up on the stage. Each plate represents a way we can feed our spirit. Plate one has a big slice of pizza-and this represents how we can feed our spirit by talking (or praying) to God. Then we have a big hamburger under plate two, this represents thinking about God. Such as when we read our Bibles or go to church. And then the third is a big bowl or ice cream, (except it is really Crisco because ice cream would totally melt if it was left on stage) which represents thanking God and worshipping him.


Night Four:
Chapel Phrase:” I Will Win the Race”
Main Point: When we sin or mess up in life, we have to confess it and let it go so we can keep getting closer to God. If we hold onto it, it will weigh us down.
Illustration: We have this enormous backpack like thing with all these other ridiculous things connected to it. It looks really cumbersome and heavy, so it represents our sin. Pastor Gabe wears it around to represent how sin put a weight on us, and it is not as easy to run close to God with the weight. Then at the end he drops the weight, and this represents how we drop our sin, confess it to God, and keep running.

Well, that is everything my friends. Now I’m off to work with a church group I have happily kept in my bunk for the past three years. I’m so excited to see them!

Melody

I am Blessed

I am blessed beyond belief every year I work here, but especially this year.
I am amazed it has been four whole sessions and I have not needed to bench anyone at all!
It makes me wonder if I'm doing something differently this year, maybe my approach to each session this year is changing my results?
Or maybe I'm really just receiving incredible girls every week.
Regardless, I'm liking it.

One of the best blessings is just hearing the sweet things these girls say. I have received an extra large dosage of great notes this year, even more than any other year. And since words of affirmation are totally one of my top love languages, this is really exciting for me.

Last session in particular blessed me in this.
Just sitting at the lunch table one day and I hear "I am so happy you are my counselor."
Just walking to an activity and I get "I like you, you're nice."
Just after winning the golden sombrero and all my girls say "Thank you for helping us clean!"
Just filling up water balloons to get the boys back....(long story) and someone says "Wow, you are just so fun!"

I treasure these things.

However, the most important blessing of all is evidently praying the prayer of salvation with my campers.
One salvation in particular this week was extra special to me.
The girl's parents are divorced because of religous differences.
She liked going to church, but she didn't really understand what she was supposed to believe.
And all of our chapels were able to clear that up.

I should devote an entire blog to how awesome every chapel service is, but for now, I will just say this: each night we have a key phrase to sum up the message and tie into the bible verse for the week. Our theme verse is James 4:8, "Come close to God and he will come close to you."
So on night one, we talk about the first step of coming closer to God, asking him into your heart.
Therefore our theme phrase is "I have a new spirit."

The next day after I prayed the salvation prayer with my camper she gave me this note:
"Ms. Melody- thank you for helping me understand the word of Jesus. My mom is saying thank you, too (most likely). I didn't come here JUST to enjoy the activities, I came to learn, and you helped. Thanks!"

You better bet I'll be keeping that note forever. What a blessing to see some fruit of my labor on this side of eternity!

In addition to all of this, I was blessed to get to return home briefly last week.
Due to this mini-session of teen camp, no kids were at camp this week.
Therefore, I didn't have to miss anything.
And, I got to participate in my dear friend Sam's wedding.
It could not have been better timing.
Her wedding was on the 3rd, I came back to DG on the 4th, and I get to be here for teen camp which started yesterday on the 5th.

Somebody say amen.