Extreme Adventures week!

So I left off on Monday, having had an incredibly eye-opening day from God in which I learned so much about my character, and His character in me. Then, Tuesday arrived, and so did our campers! Again, I was so excited, and though I want as many kids to hear about Christ, I was a bit relieved to see that we would have fewer campers this week. Last week was nuts! Anyways, we began with our dance party as usual, but I was incredibly discouraged when almost all the male campers left (without asking) to go play basketball, and the female campers sat down and talked to one another. Right then I knew that even though we had fewer campers, this week was probably going to be harder than last week.

This week was called Extreme Adventures week, in which they brought horses and dirt bikes out to camp for the campers to learn how to ride. I think this is pretty cool, but with my neck injury, there was no way that I would be able to participate. As a result, I think that is why I was put into Cabin 2 again, because the campers are younger and didn’t necessarily get to participate in these activities either. My co-counselor was Sarah, which was an absolute blast because she cracks me up! We had three Momentum students helping us—Victoria, Korrin, and Serena—and six 10 and 11-year old campers—Renee, Nichol, Iyona, Ashley, Asia, and Jessica. They were all very sweet, and my bad first impression of the campers changed quickly because of how excited they were! Throughout the week, Sarah and I felt like we had so much time because there were less campers to keep together, and we didn’t really have any issues with our girls. Our Momentum students were great, and they helped out so much with our cabin, honestly more so than our students last week! I was nervous because Victoria and Korrin are only one year older than our campers, but they acted mature and interacted well with the campers, and for the most part, I thought they were much older.

Heres a little tidbit of info about each of our campers:
Renee- She was very sassy, but had such a sweet heart. By the end of the week, she did push my buttons a bit, resulting in some discipline.
Nichol- She was quiet and sweet, always giving me hugs. She acted more mature than the other girls, which was demonstrated when I had to discipline her and Renee on Thursday night.
Iyona- She was cute and small, and had the biggest smile! She always had interesting things to say during our small group talks.
Ashley- She was very quiet, but she always had something to say when we were talking about the gospel skit.
Asia- She was tiny but had so much energy. She was constantly dancing or laughing, which always made the cabin more cheerful!
Jessica- She has been to camp 2 other times, and knows the routine, so got bored quickly. But when I talked and played with her, she had a lot of energy and would get excited about what were doing at that time.

Sarah came up with a fantastic rap about our cabin that went like so:
We’re at KD camp
Reppin’ cabin 2
Throwin up the deuces
Listen to our crew
Ashley, Asia, Jessica, Renee
Nichol and Iyona, we’re here to say
GO JESUS GO JESUS GO JESUS GO JESUS break it down (then Nichol did the splits!)
The girls had such a blast singing this everywhere, and it won them the spirit award from the judges on Thursday night.

Our small group time was great during the week, but something happened Thursday that really disappointed me. This is the night of the end of the gospel skit, and the campers can choose to accept Jesus or not. Jessica was feeling very homesick and crying, which was distracting our cabin. I took her outside to talk to her, so we both missed the small group discussion with our cabin. Sarah told me later that the other girls were not paying attention at all, which was frustrating. It was so different from the week before when all of the girls were attentive, responded well to the gospel skit, and accepted Jesus into their hearts. I know that we simply planted the seeds, and that’s all God wanted us to do, so it is my own desire to see more happen with them right now, not God’s.

The distraction and goofing off continued as we were going to bed, and the girls would not listen when lights were out and TAPS (Totally All Persons Silent) was called. As a result I told the girls that the next person to talk would go on a walk with me. Renee laughed, and Nichol told her to be quiet, so I had both of them get out of bed. I told them we were going to walk without any talking until I stopped. Nichol was quiet and listened but Renee kept talking and laughing. She didn’t seem to understand that she was being disciplined. As we walked farther down the big hill (which no one likes to walk back up), she began to realize that I was serious. I didn’t really know where I was going or what I was going to say, but I had this feeling that God would give me the right words. When we stopped, I asked the girls questions about why they thought they were being disciplined. Nichol knew, but it took Renee awhile to understand that by not listening to Sarah and I when we told her to go to sleep, and also when I told her not to talk while we were walking, she was being disrespectful. One of our main rules at camp is to not be disrespectful. I honestly don’t know if Renee really took into consideration what I said, but it was the best way I could think to get my point across at the time. I expressed concern over the weekend about the need to discipline campers, because I felt that I would mess up or not know what to say. As counselors, they teach us to simply discipline out of love, which is what I aimed to do. In the end, I told both of the girls that I loved them and am so thankful that God brought them to camp, and I can only hope that the words God gave me made an impact on their lives and how they view discipline.

The week was really great otherwise because our girls were an absolute joy to be around, and the activities were fun. God has really been teaching me to rely on Him and gain understanding of the work He does, which I have been seeking. This week flew by, but I feel like I gained a lot from it.

Praise God that my neck is doing a lot better! It doesn’t hurt as much, but I still don’t have the full range of motion that I had before. I still cannot do many of the activities around camp, as well as the fun things the counselors did today (Saturday). We went to Caesar Creek to hang out on the beach, hang out in a boat, and go tubing and jet skiing. It was great to hang out, but I had to opt out of the tubing and jet skiing, which was a bummer because I have never done either before. It was really fun to get away from camp and enjoy what a beautiful day it was. Friday night was fun too, because I went with a few other counselors to go to a jazz festival. We went to the park that it was supposed to be located at, but couldn’t find it, so instead we frolicked in a meadow and took fun pictures. It was so beautiful and so fun, and a great time to relax and rejuvenate from the week.

I am excited for what God will teach me this next week, and I am hopeful for what he will be doing. I cant believe that I only have 2 weeks left here, because I don’t feel like I have been here very long. Even so, I am very tired, so I also hope that I don’t get burnt out before the end. Please continue to pray that I will be open to what God has in store for me, and that I would continue to put my all into this work. Thank you so much for your support and prayers! I love you all!