Camp Wed Night

One of the best times this week has been centered around mealtimes.  All of the youth sign up for daily chores such as setting and helping make meals and cleaning up after meals.  People from the church have been supporting us by sending food, coming up to cook, and by showing their love their efforts.  We have been very blessed. 

This evening, we invited the band to eat with us.  Tomorrow, the future head of the camp will be dining with us.  Being able to show our hospitality to the other group and to people from the camp has been really great.  We had so much biscuits and gravy left that this morning we gave what was left to the cabin across from us.  Since they are eating in the cafeteria, they were overjoyed with some home cooked food!
The people behind this great food experience are the pastor and his wife.  Their labor of love has blessed our week more than they can know.  As we were talking about it today, something occurred to me.  The pastor got called here.  He shared that story with the youth when he talked about his spiritual journey.  Part of the story is about the woods and the lake that is a part of the camp. 
Because I wanted him to be a part of the youth’s camp experience even if he couldn’t be here, I decided to give the group an experience that included the woods and lake.  After our evening worship, which ended around 10:30, I brought the youth to an area where they usually have campfires.  They had to straddle the connecting benches around it with me being in the front and one of the other adults at the end.  A rope was tied around my waist and each youth was then connected to the rope.  As we got up, I was the only one with a flashlight.  We had to communicate the path and the obstacles in it by telling the person behind us what to watch out for.  To have 18 people behind me trusting me, depending on me to keep safe and go wherever I led them was an awesome experience!  Our trust walk ended in the woods right by the water.  It was then that we sat down in the dark and I shared why we were there.  We shared our evening prayers in the circle afterwards.  Then, we sat in silence, looking up at the beautiful sky, in awe of God’s beauty.  It was then, in that silence that I began to sing “Amazing Grace” as the rest of the group joined in.  It’s in those moments that I am overcome with peace and joy that God is in my life, that I am surrounded by the amazing people in my life, and grateful to God for all that He has given me. 
So, where was God today?  He was in my pastor and His wife and the work they put in to making our week so special, for giving us the experience of being a community with God’s people this week, and for they love they have shown us consistently throughout the week.  Their impact even though they couldn’t be there was beyond words.  God was in our experience during the trust walk, the sharing in the woods, and the prayers that were said.  And, God was there years ago when He called my pastor to a life of ministry that would change so many lives forever.  He knew when He called Him that he had a gift for ministry and that he would be able to share His love with many, both by words and actions.
Blessings,
Jennifer