That Summer at Camp

There was one summer that will forever be ingrained in my heart.  That one summer I spent being obedient when I really was wondering what kind of out of body experience I had when I applied and accepted the job of counselor.  That first day we arrived and I saw more bugs than I had ever seen before. (Except for those summers I spent there as a child.) It was like coming back home, like a piece of me had been there since childhood and always knew I would come back on the other side, the 'grown up' side.  And so I did.
I spent what, at times, seemed like the longest summer of my life with some pretty amazing people who became friends almost instantly. We hiked, we swam, we canoed, we sang, we played silly games. There were skits. There was laughter. There was love, lots of love. Love and prayers over every child who entered that sacred ground. I learned a lot about myself that summer. Things that have continued to mold me into who I am as a woman, as a mother, as a child of God.  I learned to build a camp fire. I learned to craft. (I could still use some help in the craft area!)  I learned that when you're already soaked to the bone in the rain, just keep hiking because there's beauty in the rain. And beauty in the appreciation of dry, warm clothes when the rain is done.  I learned to pick up a craw fish. They don't pinch when you grab that little area on their back. I learned how to open my heart to kids. To hear their hearts and to listen, really listen to them because what they say is important and matters.  They are all smarter and deeper than they get credit for sometimes.  I learned that I could endure. In those early showers and the diet sun drop hidden in a canteen so i could manage to wake up, I grew up. I am now much better prepared for the little hands that cup my face at 5:30am and say "mommy, I'm awake!".  I learned that obedience is a blessing, even when it's a challenge.

So on nights like tonight, as I sit here on the deck and see the setting sun and feel the breeze blow by and smell the summertime, I remember so fondly that summer. That beautiful, hot, tiring, glorious summer. And I remember the friends I made. The way we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit each night as we sang out in the cool, damp evening air.  Every year I remember. And I'm grateful for those beautiful memories.