God is So Good - the last week of camp and reflections on the summer

It's been nearly 2 weeks since camp ended, and I apologize for my lack of an update or closing to the summer. I was jumping into the next whirlwind of activity – packing to move to Trinity. But we'll talk about that later.


The last week of camp was August 12-17. There are two things this might make you wonder: a) wait, wasn't there a week in between that week and the last week you wrote about? and b) that's a Monday to a Saturday. That can't be right. First, yes, there was a week missing in my blogs; I sat down to write that blog, but couldn't think of much to say. Let it suffice to say that the first week of August at camp went smoothly, and looked pretty similar to the week before (see the blog about Tim Team during Surf City). Second, the final week was indeed Monday-Saturday. Due to the differing schedules of the guest groups, I worked Saturday, had Sunday off, and then Tim Team came Monday and stayed through early Saturday, the last day of my contract.


The most unique thing about the week: it was an all girls Tim Team. Yup, the only ounce of testosterone on the team was from our core staff, Jonathan.


I'm not going to lie, prior to the beginning of the week I was freaking out about having an all girls team. It wasn't because I didn't know how to handle all girls; I was a Treasure Seekers counselor, after all. It was more about the fear of isolation. For the last month of camp, most people on staff work as adventure staff, and they don't have their own campers. This allows for more time to be around other young adults, and, though they do work hard, there is generally more down time than when you're in charge of a group of campers. And I am not denying that I love my job as counselor. Adventure staff is great, but it isn't the role I would fit into if I was working there all summer. However, when every staff member is off together and making memories and you still have campers relying on you, and you're pretty much separated from the staff on different assignments than they have, it can get lonely. That was one of the reasons I was glad to be working alongside Kyle, to have another peer to share my day with (okay, okay, that wasn't the biggest reason, but it was part of it). But now my companion wouldn't be around. I was literally the last counselor standing. I eventually turned that into a light-hearted brag, but before the week began I was not happy about it. Everyone would be having fun, and I would be the only person in the crew who had left high school far behind me. Plus it was the last week, the week of goodbyes. I was frustrated and not looking forward to the week.


Before the girls arrived Monday, I realized how much I was spiraling into irrational stressing. And it was Satan just whispering doubts and negative thoughts into my mind, thoughts I was buying into. It was just another week, working with an age group I had come to love working with. I had done this 3 times before; I knew the ins and outs. And most of all, God was with me. Why was I stressing?


Well, God then gave me many blessings. One blessing was my team. Of 5 girls, all but one were Quest campers, which meant they were older and most had gone through Pathfinders once or twice. 4 of my girls were also returning Tim Teamers, so they had done it at least one week if not more prior to this particular week. They knew what they were doing, and their ages also increased their responsibility level.
Another was how the schedule fell into place. Remember how I didn't think I would get to be with any of the staff, ever, all week long? Well, God took care of that worry. First, Jonathan wasn't scheduled as much so was working with our group a lot. Second, every day at least one staff member was scheduled to come do an activity with us, and sometimes they came for multiple activities. Lastly, with some shifts in scheduling, I was able to attend all but one of the staff events they planned for the final week, participating in ziplining, movie night, and a closing campfire for the staff.


And at those events I was further blessed. I (finally) got to be in my favorite position on campus – the top of the zipline. I was able to encourage my Tim Team girls and the staff as they climbed to the top, took in a lovely view, and then I got to zipline down myself. I was able to just relax outside, on a blanket, next to friends, watching Despicable Me in the company of full-time staff as well as summer staff. And then I got to be at the closing campfire, where we shared memories from the summer and what God had taught each one of us. I even got to be there for the moment Kyle shared how he is closing one chapter in his life and moving onto the next, symbolized by the burning of his old pink hat, and support him as he did so. I not only got to see and speak with fellow staff members far more than I expected, I was able to participate in the memories being made. I was incredibly thankful.


I was also challenged during the week. Though it was a blessing to have girls who were experienced, it also brought its own challenges. In general, those challenges were defining the line between camper and counselor. It was helpful to have girls who were older, and it was helpful to have veteran Tim Teamers, but sometimes that caused conflict as they started acting as if they were the ones who had the authority and started taking certain liberties. Now it was up to me to resolve them, something that isn't my strong suit. It also required me to figure out how to best define that line, and when to treat them as the responsible young women they are and when to exert my authority. It wasn't perfect, but we made it through the week. More importantly, I came to realize this may very well be a conflict that arises if I teach high school. I will be smaller than most students, and in my effort to build relationships, sometimes students can push that line separating us. I had always known this would be an issue I might face, but experiencing made me realize I need to really think for myself about how to handle this.


Overall, this summer was absolutely fantastic. I don't think I can sum up everything that has gone on in a few sentences, nor do I think I can pinpoint everything I've learned and experienced. Here's just a few ways that I've seen God working in me this summer:

• He has shown me just exactly how right it is to follow the career path I chose, which is a continuation from the rest of the year. Time and again he has opened my eyes to the passion I have for teaching; this summer, it was clearly showing me the love I have for working with students in the middle and high school ages, the age group I will be teaching. In the one week I worked with elementary students, even though I like little kids, my heart wasn't in it in the same way as when I worked with older kids, especially the Tim Team. Though this age group has its own challenges that I will have to navigate, I look forward to seeing this passion grow as I have more experiences in the classroom this year.
  
• He showed me more about leadership, and how I can be better Christ-like leader. I may have been the one teaching the lessons, helping to train the teenagers to become servant leaders, yet through working through the material for them, I too learned more about how I can improve.
  
• I've learned where I, too, have bought into the lies Satan tells, like we talked about with the Treasure Seekers. I was able to see that some of my actions are motivated by those lies, and I have been trying to grasp the truth instead.
  
• I learned about God's absolutely perfect timing. Stay with me, this might get more sappy than I have been on this blog, but it was a real lesson I took from these 3 months. For awhile, I wanted to find someone to make me happy, someone to fill a gap. But God didn't want that for me – yet. It took being comfortable with where I was, recognizing that God was enough. I stopped looking for a boy; unlike last summer, I came into the summer at camp with zero expectations of finding someone to date. Once God had me where he wanted me, he decided to bless me beyond my wildest expectations. It wasn't by chance I met Kyle this summer, going into my final year at school, after I had gone through several experiences that have molded me into who I am. It was after he, too, had gone through a time of growth, bringing him closer to God and better equipped to be the man God wanted him to be, preparing him for me, as God was preparing me for him. Now, I'm in a relationship where I am treated like a queen. We encourage one another, sharing our burdens and joys as we also share a love for the Lord. God knew what each of needed to experience, how each of us needed to get our hearts set in the correct place, and when we would be in the best place in life to find one another. I'd heard from many people God was preparing someone for me, someone who would be exactly the right man for me; I never could've guessed exactly how true that was, above and beyond what I had even dreamed. God has such amazing timing.
  

I probably missed some things about God's work within me this summer, but those are the major areas that came to mind.


God worked this summer in so many unexpected ways, and I give him all the glory for the things he has done.

Cruising along during Surf City - Tim Team week 2

“Becca.”

“Hmmm?”

“There's an animal in our tent.”

“WHAT.”

They tell us that a counselor should be willing to be up and ready at any point of the night. This week was the second time I've experienced a teenager waking me up at an odd hour of the morning (you'd think it'd be the little kids... not so. It's always been the high schoolers). This time it wasn't for medicine or bathroom emergency. This time it was an animal scavenging around in the tent we sleep in as the females on Tim Team; an animal this teen said she had been hearing for awhile but was afraid to wake anyone up. When she called across the tent to me, another teen also woke and heard the animal. As we lay in the dark, no longer hearing said animal but too afraid to look, the four Tim Team girls and I were discussing the possibilities.

“What if it's a possum?”

“Or it could be a raccoon.”

“Or a mouse or something.”

Now if you know some of my fears, two that are near the top of the list are raccoons and mice. The girls were saying “shine a flashlight over there.” I, however, was panicking that I'd find two beady, circled eyes or see a little ball of fur scurrying around the tent. I think I was squeaking in fear, while also giggling nervously, just as much as the other teens. Eventually, I summoned up at least some courage and ran to the boys' tent to call out Kyle to save us (remember his rescue in week one of Pathfinders, when I was trying not to panic while lost on a sand dune? Yup. This guy knows how to rescue me in my scariest moments of camp). After clearing ourselves out of the tent, he shone his flashlight around under beds and into corners and found... nothing. Somewhere, at some point, the animal had already escaped, to remain a mystery of who our visitor had been.

Overall, the week went well. We had about seven or eight Tim Teamers who had been on Tim Team before, so, for the most part, knew the ins and outs of the various tasks. This was definitely an advantage, because I spent a lot less time explaining and simply delegating. However, not all of them took that experience and turned it into taking initiative. After a bit of a rough start, though, more and more teens began to simply do the next task rather than sit down or wander aimlessly once one task was complete. We had some hectic moments, having over 200 plates a meal from the combined Surf City, Rustic Warrior, and Ranch camps plus the various pots, pans, and utensils used to cook those meals. Yet the kids worked hard and by Thursday we were cruising.

Moreover, I felt more confident this week. Part of it was knowing I had a team of veterans who I didn't have to break down every detail for them. Another part was that I also had experience backing me up, having one week of Tim Team counseling already under my belt from earlier this summer. Third was my partner in crime. For the first time since Pathfinders, Kyle was leading right next to me. As with Pathfinder weeks, we fell into the cohesive team, his strengths playing off mine and visa versa. All of these combined, in addition to a more laid back schedule that accompanies Surf City weeks, made it a great week.

We're in the home stretch now. Two weeks of summer at Grace Adventures left for me and the staff that remains. Already my mind wanders to ten days after I complete my contract, when I move back to school. This fall looks different than any other semester I've had at Trinity, bringing excitement, anxiety, anticipation, and sadness. Yet I can't allow myself to dwell on that just yet. I remain physically and mentally present here at Grace for a couple more weeks. It's going to be crazy, it's going to be fun, and there will be more stories to tell. Let's see what God has in store for these next two weeks!

Treasure Seekers - Truth and Girl Talk

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:32

Guys are cool. I love hanging out with my boyfriend, I have male friends, and sometimes nothing beats spending some time with a group of mixed genders. But every girl needs some girl time. For the last week of Grace's youth camps, I had a whole lot of girl time with 4 staff and 26 middle school girls. This was Treasure Seekers.

Working with 12-14 year old girls had its share of... well, drama. There were a range of maturity levels, a range of attention spans, and lots and lots of hormones. And those hormones led to tears, particularly in my cabin. Of 9 girls, I saw 6 of them cry at one time or another; and a couple of them cried over something almost every day. I have the spiritual gift of mercy, and God surely needed me to use it this week.

Last week it was somewhat hot in the kitchen. This week it was hot... everywhere. Lucky for the Treasure Seekers, we were pampered all week long by staying in the only air conditioned building on campus. Besides being pampered this way, we also spent a lot of down time chatting as only girls love to do, we had a spa night, and a fancy dinner where we got to put on our Sunday best and look cute.

But this week was far more than outer beauty and being girly. Rather, we were focused on what it means to be a Godly woman in today's culture. Specifically, our focus centered around seeking truth over the lies that we hear every single day. We looked at lies versus truth in several different areas – the truth about lies, the truth about God, the truth about relationships, and the truth about ourselves. In looking at truth, we first studied the lies the world tells us about the different areas, such as God isn't involved in our lives, we need a boyfriend to be happy, you must perform well or look a certain way to be valuable, God should just fix all our problems, and several more. Those lies were replaced by truths such as I am fearfully and wonderfully made, God is enough, God cares about every detail of our lives, and much more about the way we are viewed and valued. We had speakers each night, followed by discussion time and some time for each girl to journal.

The curriculum was so relevant to young women in today's society; middle schoolers and high schoolers hear those lies daily, from the media, friends, or even within their own minds. The lessons were even relevant to twenty-something-year-olds or older. I still find myself caught in some of those lies, and need to meditate on what is the truth. The talks really hit home for the girls, as evidenced by the questions they were asking, their attention to their own personal devotions, and the one-on-one discussions I had.

Those lessons were carried out in other experiences during the week. At the climbing tower, we focused on overcoming challenges and how holding onto the truth isn't always going to be easy, but perseverance and overcoming those lies is rewarding. At the zipline at the very end of the week, the girls left the biggest lie that has been invading their life at the top of the zipline, than zipped away from that lie. My girls also wrote on their targets things they needed to get rid of in their lives while at the ranges, and shot 22's at those targets.

This week was a week full of impact, and that came out in some of my one-on-ones. Wednesday night, we answered questions from the anonymous question jar, and through that not only taught them about life, boys, being a girl, and interacting with their parents, but also our speaker shared the salvation message using the analogy of the cross as a bridge. That talk brought a lot of girls to make the decision in their lives to live for Christ and start their own relationship with Him, including some of the girls from my cabin. One girl committed that night during the talk, another recommitted her life during our one-on-one while everyone got ready for bed. A third from my cabin had told me originally that she wasn't in a relationship with Christ yet, that she felt as though she was standing on the edge, almost ready but not quite. I checked in with her later, and found out during one of the morning devotional times she finally felt she was ready and committed her life. God was moving every week, but there was something special about how He moved in the hearts of the Treasure Seekers this week.

This brings us to the end of the youth camps Grace Adventures puts on for the summer. Last year at this time, I was headed home; many counselors from this summer have now departed, finished with their contracts. The next 4 weeks I have left are going to be spent working either adventure staff (running activities, cleaning grounds, and so on) or Tim Team while GA hosts a guest group that comes in yearly called Surf City. This program is separate from Grace, bringing in large groups of inner city kids from Pittsburgh to use our grounds for their camp experience. I've heard amazing things about this program, and can hardly wait to see what these weeks will bring for those kids and the staff as I and many others transition roles. Stay tuned for many God-sightings, funny stories, and new experiences as the rest of the summer plays out.

I thank God for what He's done this summer; I could never have expected the changes God has brought in my heart and life, and wouldn't have pictured this is what my life would like only 2 months ago. Pray for me and the staff as we prepare ourselves for what's to come, and for the many lessons God has left to teach us.  

Tim Team week 1 - kicking butt, taking names

Well, here we are with only one week left of the Grace camps; 5 weeks left to go in my contract. Nuts!

From June 30 to July 5, I was with Family Camp, hence no blog post about that week. Though exciting things happened, I didn't see it worth writing a whole post. Just know that it was refreshing, fun, and I had an awesome family I hosted as well as got to hang out with staff members more often.

Then, for this past week, I spent my first week out of 5 as Tim Team counselor. Praise the Lord, I'm back with my high schoolers!

We had nearly a full Tim Team week, which is a first for this summer. I had 5 girls, and there were also 4 guys (full is 6 of each gender). My fellow counselor this week was Josh, which was really good for my first week as he has worked Tim Team many weeks when he was in high school himself so could guide me, a girl without the first clue as to the details of the responsibilities we have on Tim Team.

Essentially, every day our schedule looked a little like this:

7:15 Wake up/get ready. Actually, for my girls and myself, that was more like 6:45 or 7:00.

7:40 Personal devotion time

8:10 Set up the dining hall for breakfast. This included setting out cups (if we hadn't done that after dinner), getting juice pitchers, and prepping the dish room to be ready for us to start working after we finished eating

8:25 Eat breakfast, and try to finish by about 8:45 so we can start dishes or our work project

8:45-10:30 Work in our crews. For this week, with a larger amount of Tim Teamers, we split into 2 crews, with Josh heading one while I headed the other. Every meal it switched who was doing what. If my crew was in the dish room at breakfast, we would be doing a work project after lunch, then we'd be back in the dish room at dinner.

10:30-11:30 Either a work project for the whole team or Bible study

11:30 Back to the dining hall to set up lunch!

12:20-2:30 Work in crews

2:30-4:30 Scheduled activity, which might be free time or a field trip or Bible study

4:30 Back to dining hall

5:30-8:00 Work in crews

8:00-11:00 Night activity, usually with Venture Out which was the middle school camp, and showers

That pretty much sums up what went on in a general sense. It was actually nice for me to have just a few specific things I knew we would be doing every day, rather than feeling like every day brought something completely new and running all over camp to this activity and that activity.

My week actually flew by, faster than most weeks at camp so far. All 9 campers came ready to work, which was a giant blessing. I had some conversations with some of the girls about campers who chose not to do Pathfinders because they didn't want to work; the Tim Teamers I was talking with thought that was poor reasoning, because they find working with Tim Team actually fun and not really that much work at all. To hear young high school students finding work beneficial and not a burden was really encouraging. Even more so, I saw campers who I taught during Pathfinders step up into leadership roles, which is exactly the type of outcome the program is aiming for.

Furthermore, I really appreciated spending at least some time with Venture Out campers and counselors every day. Tim Team can sometimes feel secluded and cut off from the rest of camp. Having the schedules mix allowed for my campers to talk to their friends in the camp and learn from what their peers (or only slightly younger students) were learning from. I appreciated seeing some of my friends who were counselors in the camp, and still being able to spend some time having fun outside of the kitchen.

I won't say we didn't have hiccups. There were times the kids tried my patience or weren't always serving joyfully. There were times I felt discouraged and lost as to what I was supposed to do, and not sure I was leading well. But overall, this was an excellent week. I got to further those relationships I began in Pathfinders, something few counselors get to do, since they only see those campers for one week. I can hardly wait to see more kids come back for other Tim Team weeks, and to continue to serve the camp joyfully myself while leading kids to do the same.

Questing with the Explorer camp

Remember how exhausted I was at the end of last week, and praying for an “easy” week with Explorers? Well, God decided to grant me with another week leaving me drained but with new lessons to learn amidst the strain.

Last year, I worked over half of my time with the elementary school camps. I loved my time with the Explorer camp, and going into this week was thinking I know the drill. I wouldn't have guessed transitioning back into young kids after weeks of training high schoolers to be leaders would be so difficult. Counseling for Explorer camp used to come nearly as easily as breathing; not true anymore. I had to transition into tying tennis shoes, answering dozens of questions daily about what was next on the schedule even after I'd already told them the schedule a couple times that day, and listening to sobbing over minor injuries and homesickness. I was missing my high school campers, missing the expectations of that camp, and missing feeling confident and comfortable with my role.

Overall, the campers themselves were well-behaved and got along well. I did have a severely homesick camper, and I struggled for days to prod her into getting involved in fun activities with others. She would sit off to the side at free time and when others were socializing she remained withdrawn. I would prod her to get involved, suggesting different things she should try, but I couldn't push her much more. However, this situation provided opportunity for an exciting moment, a true God thing, towards the end of the week. After days of frustration over how to get her to involve herself, on Wednesday we went on dune rides. This girl sat by me, but when we got out to play on the dune, she ran off with another girl and simply played. When we returned, she was playing gaga ball, 4-square, and chatting with other girls at free time. That night as we spent time as a cabin, she was talking to various girls in the cabin and being a crazy 10 year-old with them. All of this occurred without me having to push her towards it. I was seriously dancing inside.

Outside of the challenge I faced with this camper, the rest of the campers provided few challenges besides the normal constant questions and not always listening to directions. Rather, what caused the biggest stress throughout my week was feeling like I lived on different planets than some of the counselors. For 2 weeks of Pathfinders, I worked with 5 people whom I knew, who I had worked with on some level, and who knew Grace as well (or better) than me because we'd all worked here previously. In Explorer, there are many new staff. That isn't to say they aren't good counselors; they are doing a marvelous job overall. And I'm not going to bring up all of what I faced, but let it suffice to say my expectations of how things were done didn't always line up with other counselors, which was causing tension for me. I had to implement a model I had taught to high schoolers for the past two weeks about feedback, and try to get on the same page as them. After those conversations, things did get better, but I still didn't always see eye-to-eye with those people. It still provided a couple valuable lessons. First, when I am working with faculty and staff in my future job as a teacher, I may be working on a team with a teacher who doesn't do anything the same way I do. I'm going to have to learn to communicate, compromise, and major on the majors rather than on the minors. Second, this challenge forced me to confront the issue, something I avoid, and be a better communicator.

There were still highlights, as usual. Kids still surprised me in one-on-ones with their answers to questions. They learned lessons I didn't even realize they were absorbing, about prayer, the Bible, God, and their relationship with Christ. And we had fun – I rode the shark multiple times, I was able to be energetic and laugh during chapel, and I got to be totally wacky and crazy during songs, skits, and sillies. I dressed up in my pj's one morning and later that night wore a sparkly dress and a tiara. I sang at the top of lungs some silly songs. Daily, I received notes from a pretty amazing man ;) When I grasped onto those things, the tension lifted and I definitely had many laughs this week.

Friday still came, as it always does. I survived, and I will only be working with people over the age of 12 for the rest of the summer, most of the time working with returning Pathfinders. I also realized why God is calling me to work with the older kids, as that is definitely more where my heart lies. I cannot wait to continue those connections I've formed with the high school students, and to see them return and step into leadership roles in a new way on the Tim Team. But God wanted me to step out and try a little of everything.

Family Camp is this week, which is one of the best weeks all summer. Families stay on campus, and staff hosts them, eating meals together, leading one daily family activity, and answering questions, but we do not stay with them. Family camp week means a) no kids staying with me 24 hours a day, b) less responsibilities for pretty much every job, c) more time with the staff due to less responsibilities, and d) I am able to practice some duties of adventure staff, like belaying, sitting on top of the zip line tower, or hanging out at the waterfront. It's a week of refreshment, which I think I definitely need at this time. I thank God for His strength, but also for this rest.

Pathfinders Week 2... God's challenge for our staff.

I sit here this Friday night, pretty worn out from this entire week but happy I'm here. This was one of the craziest, toughest, and most memorable weeks of camp I've had. 

Similar to last week, we had very few Pathfinders. Carla and I combined to have 9 girls, and the guys had 11 teens. Also similar to last week, Kyle and I were paired up as small group leaders. But unlike last week, nearly every camper was returning to camp and some were even returning for their 2^nd year of Pathfinders. Looking at that list at the beginning of the week, it seemed that fact might make it a little easier. Well not exactly.

We quickly realized our biggest struggle for the week would be focus and respect while others talked. This went for both groups. I'll admit I fell into some certain teacher habits (“you're only wasting your own time”) when trying to gain back control. They sort of worked, but this is going to need to be an area I work on before becoming a teacher – gaining back the focus of my students. However, we had the advantage that we knew some kids had been here before and could be influencing these groups for the better if they stepped up and implemented leadership. This worked with some individuals, and that made it easier. 

We got through the first two days without too many major hitches. Then Wednesday came. The most interesting day that was so full of roller coaster moments as I hadn't personally experienced before.

As I believe I mentioned previously, part of the Pathfinders curriculum is teaching about the five major worldviews. This week, each of the counselors took one of the four worldviews (the four beside Christian theism) to teach each morning. I began this morning teaching spiritism. It went all right, and I even got kids interested in watching the 1990 movie, Ghost, because I showed a clip from it. Anyway, after lunch, during free time, one of my highlights of the day came along. Tubing was open, so Kyle and I went with a couple campers. When that ride was over, not many campers were lined up to go tubing. Kyle and I were already in the water, Carla was standing on the shore debating tubing, and Josh was just near the point. Carla jumped into our group, but we needed a fourth. Guess who we asked; Josh. The 3 people I've been working with, growing close to, and connecting with in a way different than any other staff, all participating in one of my favorite camp activities. I couldn't help but grin. Kyle and I ended up in the water while Carla and Josh both stayed dry, but that's besides the point. 

 

I couldn't have guessed then just how quickly this day would turn, and be one of the most jam-packed, longest days ever. Near the end of free time, I see coming towards me a Pathfinder camper being escorted quickly by a staff member, and something red all over his chin. Yup, that's blood. The news traveled before he even reached me that he'd bit through his lip while tubing. A counselor has to attend him to the hospital, so Kyle rushes off and my heart is racing for no other reason than we are one counselor down and a kid in our care is headed to the hospital. I'm able to settle down, but I already know that my hour off is not going to happen at the scheduled time; we'll be in small groups, and I'm the only half of my team currently on campus. Not a big deal in light of the situation. 

 

Our next activity was talking about change, which was one of the favorites of the campers last week. Josh is leading this, and is using a “mission” (activity accompanying the lesson to enhance the teaching) that we used in staff training in 2012. In this mission, the kids are asked to untie knots in a rope but while they work on this task, the rules are constantly changing and new obstacles to completing the task arise. My team is doing pretty good, going faster than expected, so we escalate to one of the harder obstacles, which is completing the task blindfolded. This is where the group stalled, and they entered a major “storming” stage, meaning there was conflict among the members that if resolved well could really bring them together. It also includes a lot of frustration in the group. “Frustrated” was a bit of an understatement at this time; there was some yelling, some absolute refusal, and a lot of complaints about the task. After the mission is complete, and we're talking through it and what could be learned, there's still a lot of tension between each other and some between some of the group and me. They sort of started to see my point by the end – change will occur, obstacles will arise, and new actions need to be taken – but the frustration didn't disappear. This makes me a little concerned knowing what's coming after dinner... the infamous geocaching hike. Maybe they'll do well on this, and not get lost?

Good news – we never left Grace property this time. Bad news – we found one item and ended up at the Ranch, about 2 miles away from where the coordinates actually were leading. This time I wasn't upset or scared, because a) the adventure core was with me (Kyle had returned, but had nearly passed out in the hospital so wasn't in any condition to hike) and b) I knew where we were, and that they weren't doing it right. So I'm covering my grin. The team, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled. Actually, they were pretty ticked off. Many of them didn't want to hike, were mad that they had walked so far, upset they didn't find the items, and overall shut down in their attitude towards me since I had led them through two “stupid” tasks in a matter of hours. Not exactly the greatest thing for me as a counselor to have my campers not willing to really listen. Thankfully, we got back and I didn't have to lead anything in the small group setting. 

 

Some conversations that day also became heavier, and more challenging, which didn't exactly help my day. We did finish the night with healthy relationships, one of my favorite sessions, but by the time 11:00 lights out rolled around I couldn't believe it was all happening in one day. I was mentally and physically exhausted, and even still my mind wouldn't shut off very easily. After finally just unwinding a little through some reading, I fell into bed.

I'm happy to say that this day wasn't typical of the week as a whole, but definitely a defining day of the week. Thursday got better, was much more relaxing, and overall the end of the week was enjoyable. Even so, fighting for attention, fighting against some inappropriate behaviors, and handling all this week threw at me wasn't easy. But I came out of it, and I had a good Friday night, and hopefully a rejuvenating weekend.

So it's official. I made it through 2 weeks of camp. The rest of the summer is flip flopping between working with these kids again during service weeks and working with “normal” camps. I switch to Explorer Camp for this next week, 9-11 year-olds. It'll be an interesting transition, but I have done this camp before and have very fond memories of it. So what I need prayers for right now is a) a calming weekend and b) a smooth transition and a good week. I would pray that my week with the Explorers is “easy,” but that's selfish of me and sometimes seeing God work in the hardest weeks is the most impactful. We shall see what he decides to bring me for the next session.

Pathfinders Week 1, where apparently fluffy is something that projects

Just a couple things I realized about Pathfinders students this week that made me feel old:

• they were born in 1998 or later. I remember those years pretty well.
• they don't remember dial-up internet
• you mention AIM to them and you get strange looks
• trying to chase down teenagers during capture the flag – not as easy as, say, 9-year-olds. Actually, I couldn't catch them.

Well, week one of camp is over, and those Pathfinders went home Friday evening. But what a week it was.

There was a total of 17 high school students this week; that's total, both boys and girls. Pretty small camp, but that also made relationships amongst all campers closer. Carla, the other female Pathfinder counselor, and I combined our cabins into just one room, as there were only 7 girls. It was really good to be able to work alongside Carla, the only other female counselor returnee and so someone I already have a good relationship with.

Unlike other camps, though, we didn't do much of anything as a cabin group. Instead, we had 2 small groups that mixed boys and girls. My co-leader for our small group – Projecting Fluffy (name created by the kids) – was Kyle. God totally set up that pairing because we worked well together, my weaknesses made up for by his strengths and visa versa. Plus he's a really fun guy to work with and we grew close over the week.

We had some, uh, interesting stories from the week. One of those stories will live in Pathfinder legend for at least the rest of the summer, if not into next year.

Our activity for the night was a geocaching hike with our small group; the other small group would do this hike later in the week. It was the first time they were doing something like this, but the leaders thought it would be a good high schooler activity. One of the core staff hid various objects around Grace property and then recorded the coordinates for the kids to use the GPS to find. After an orientation to the GPS, we were off.

One thing to understand about this story is that I am the lone counselor on this hike for the first hour of it. We get an hour off per day as staff, and Kyle was on his hour off for the first part of the hike. So it's me, directionally challenged, and 9 high school students. Okay, resume.

We found the first two objects in a relatively quick manner – marshmallows and graham crackers. So we guessed what we were looking for next – chocolate. They read the next coordinates and we set off through the woods.

We're walking along the paths that wind through the forest of Grace property, climbing hills, trying not to trip on sticks, and me asking the students to not touch that dead baby raccoon. We pass high camp, a place I visited during staff training so I know where we are. We continue walking, and I grow less sure of if we're still on Grace property; I don't know how far our property reaches. And then we climb this hill and come out to a vast expanse of.... sand dune. Off to the side is this ramshackle silo. Well, we aren't on Grace property for sure now. The kids with the GPS find exactly where they think the coordinates lead, which is the middle of this dune. No chocolate, of course. At that moment the batteries on the GPS die. The kids look up bewildered. What do we do now? Funny for me to watch, only because I had been given extra batteries. I quickly rescue them from panic by producing new batteries.

The kids are sitting around the sand dune, saying how we're probably going to die out here and contemplating how deep to dig their own graves. Oh over-dramatic high school students. We are not going to die, I tell them, and try to think logically. I try to listen for cars to find a road which we can follow back. Nothing. Crap. Then I remember the other objects were found in a familiar place, so can lead us back to camp if we just find those coordinates again. I'm in big-time driver mode (meaning I take charge and just want to get things done) and so I tell the kids the plan is to forget the chocolate and go back to the coordinates for the graham crackers. No one objects. I tell them the coordinates and some of the students say that to get there we have to walk further across the dune. Heck no, I'm not doing that. I want to go back to the woods, where at least part of the time I was sure of where we were. I get a couple protests, but my teacher voice of firmness comes out and they all slink back to the woods. One of the students figures out the GPS allows us to retrace our steps, so we begin to do that. By this time, I know people know we're lost because Kyle's hour off ended half an hour ago, so he'll be wondering where we are, and we were supposed to be moving onto our next activity soon. We start retracing our steps and then I hear voices. “Pathfinders! Becca! Hello!” I shush everyone and yell “Hello?!” Then up over the next hill comes Kyle racing towards us with Silas, the adventure core staff and designer of the hike, directly behind him. We're found.

Apparently there were a total of 5 or 6 people searching the woods for us. Good thing we went back there, huh? What happened was the students were correct on the first and third coordinate of the north directions, but failed to take into account the middle coordinate, and so we were one degree off. According to Silas, that was about 1.5 miles further than where we were supposed to be and we walked a total of 3 miles that night. As I begin to process, the fear that was pushed aside on the dune takes over. But I'm given my full hour off, and by the time I rejoin the group I am able to laugh about it. Even writing this post I'm laughing about it.

Good things came out of this adventure. First, the students kept more positive attitudes towards one another than most students would in the situation. Sure, they were saying they were going to die, but they were also laughing and joking about what was happening. Second, it built the team. Getting lost in a sand dune tends to bring people closer as they laugh over the shared experience. Third, it allowed them to learn from their failure. Later, as I talked to my core staff, she apologized for causing me panic because I didn't know what was going on, but also said she wouldn't have wanted me to do anything differently if I had known. It was their failure to have and learn from. They learned to pay attention to all details for sure.

Besides these daring adventures, a lot more happened during Pathfinders week 1. We worked through the Journey curriculum, we discussed the 5 major worldviews, we talked about who God is, why the Bible is reliable, if and why Christ rose, and healthy relationships. I'll be honest, I wasn't always 100% sure what the kids were soaking in or what went in one ear and out another. But during one-on-ones and the final campfire I saw that I was wrong, and that I should've trusted that the Holy Spirit was working even when I didn't see it. Some of my girls told me their favorite part of the week was those lessons in the evening or the worldview discussions. At the campfire, students who had been acting difficult all week shared valuable lessons they had learned. Our God is amazing and works in wonderful ways.

So here we go, into week 2. The schedule may be similar, but the week is going to be totally different; new kids, new memories, new lessons learned. I'm looking forward to seeing more reapings of the seeds we plant.