TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the day that the first batch of kids comes! I am beyond excited to see them and love on them - and get lots of hugs! (One of the best parts of the summer is the endless supply of hugs from kids.) This past week, we have had our training time. I had to continually try to let myself see it all as new material because, since this was my third training week, it was really easy to zone out or to have a "know it all" attitude. And man, let me tell you, God is already breaking me so much this summer - and I haven't had to deal with difficult campers or the heat or frustrations with the staff yet! I already know areas of my life that God has to whittle away this summer, and I hate it but at the same time I am embracing the fact that they are things in my life that can be changed, and I am looking forward to the growth that will result from it.

Hettie Lue Brooks, the woman who started this camp 45 years ago, came and spoke to us and said something that really echoed throughout my mind. She said that these kids coming to camp want to see something in us that they don't have - but they already have insecurity, anger issues, fear, and so on, so we as a staff cannot operate in that. We have to be surrendered to Christ so that what comes out of us is that joy and that love that the kids need, not things of our flesh.

So far, most of what I thought would happen this summer has not gone as I planned it, but that's another area that God is growing me in. So I now have no idea how everything is going to work out, but knowing God it will all be awesome. I definitely appreciate your prayers!