No Place Like Home

Well... I am finally home. I spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday at church camp. My good friend Sha, who was our previous Children's Minister at GCC asked if I could help out again this year with 3rd Grade camp at Scenic Hills in Mitchell. I wasn't sure at the beginning if I would be able to attend, but Mickey encouraged me to go ahead. He knows how much I love to work with the kids!!

This year held a couple of new challenges for me...first of all I had to leave Michael for the first time, and he was not quite a week out from his surgery. I knew that Daddy was capable of taking care of him...but hey... I AM the mom!!! The cell reception at camp is pretty well non-existent so I was worried about not being able to get through to check on him. God took care of that! As I walked to to the top of the hill, cell phone in hand, I was showing absolutely NO bars... I finally managed to get one small one and I hit send. I could hear Mickey great, he couldn't hear me at all. I decided that it was no use. Heading back down the hill my phone burst into song and I couldn't believe it... Mickey had gotten through. He was able to tell me that all was well and Michael was fine before our signal was lost. What a great and awesome God... I needed to hear that badly!!!

Challenge number two... having been diagnoised with Osteoarthritis I was going to need to be mindful of my activity and try my best to do all I could with the kids at the same time! Not an easy task, but I managed it just the same. After I learned that OA was the cause for the pain I had been going through I did a great deal of research and I have become very deligent when it comes to my medication (with a few helpful reminders from my friend Marilyn!!!!) I did my best to remember all that I had read... it worked out fine.

I found out a few things this weekend... I don't have to 'do it all'. There are many wonderful people who are willing to pitch in and help out...sometimes all they need is direction. I found out that kids are willing to help you...all you need to do is ask, they love having some responsibility. I learned that it is okay to sit down and take a break...even in the middle of singing praise songs with 54 3rd graders. They are too busy to care!

There were several of us from GCC who attended camp. Aside from Jeremy and Chris, none of us were spring chickens. Yet... even though we were wiped out by the end of the day Saturday, I think that we were all walking a little lighter...we were all glad that we had came...and we were all beginning to plan our schedules for next year.

What did I really come away with from camp this year? I came away knowing that kids need to have adults in their lives who are willing to teach them about Christ...even if they only see those adults for three days. They need to know that when they wake up at 2:00 AM in a strange place there is someone they can go to who will help them feel secure. I learned that kids need to know that they can have boundaries and follow the rules and they will STILL have fun. Kids need to be loved for who they are...and they are ALL wonderfully made.

If you've ever considered going to camp to help out just give me a shout. I can hook you up with Sha and get you plugged in. It is well worth it...even as I sit here with aching feet, bleary eyes and a sluggish mind. I would go again in a heartbeat!!!!!

But... there really is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!