21 days until launch.
The last week of camp ended about a week and a half ago (honestly feels like it was just yesterday..), and boy was it an ADVENTURE. Yes, all the other camps beforehand were an adventure too, but this last camp week was something else. First off, I honestly wasn’t even expecting to counsel the last week of camp and that wasn’t even the plan. However, one of the girls (bless her heart) ended up getting sick and I was given the opportunity to take her spot. The camp is called Itchee-Owee (ages 8-12), we get to stay down in the woods in teepees. I was actually super pumped! It wasn’t till later that night that I realized what I actually got myself into. That night, as all the campers and counselors were finishing up dinner and getting ready to do chapel, large white things started falling from the sky. Yes, HAIL. Almost golf-ball sized. It was coming down so hard, it started to look like snow was covering the ground. Thankfully, there is a pavilion where the tables are so we all huddled under there. As it is coming down, I can hear our coordinator yell, and I quote, “JUST A LITTLE ADVERSITY!” And indeed it was.
The next day, around the same time, we didn’t get hail again, but we got rain (which Colorado very much needs) and a lot of it. The teepees are at the very bottom of a hill. We look to the left of the pavilion and see a literal river of water rushing towards us. All the counselors holler, “Get to high ground!” So we all jumped onto and huddled on top of the tables in the pavilion, and of course I hear once again, “JUST A LITTLE ADVERSITY!”
As a result of the hail storm the first night, the whole camp lost power for the next couple days, which then resulted in us also having no water either. Great. Just a little adversity. Now, I’m sure if you ask all the other counselors about this week at camp, they would list off to you tons of more “adventures” we experienced during that week of camp. Which is true. Everything that could go wrong at camp, did go wrong that one week. As a result, I know the kids and counselors will never forget it.
As you can tell from reading above, it is easy to list off all the things that went wrong. In the chaos of the hail and thunderstorm and in everything else that happened, it was easy to become negative, worried, or even scared. Our theme for the summer/camp was “Dive In.” The lesson was to put your trust in the Lord no matter what kind of storm your in, to take a leap of faith, and dive in. During the storms and challenges of the week, instead of being negative, our group was totally the opposite. When the hail started covering the ground, a counselor decided to try and sled down a hill as if it was snow in a big bucket. After that, all the other counselors, one by one, attempted to sled down the hill of hail as well (not really succeeding), and the kids LOVED it. During the rainstorm, we had a paper boat contest on whose boat could go the farthest on the river that had formed (mine didn’t go very far). The night of the power outage, we had a Christmas party in a building (why Christmas? Well why not!) Though the lights were off, everyone still had a BLAST. In addition to this, during the loud storms, our group still found a way to have worship and devotional time. Here’s the best part, through all the adversity, 6 out of 9 of the girls in my group either recommitted or newly committed their lives to Christ by the end of the week. So even though, our camp went through quite a bit of storms (literally and figuratively), we still managed to enjoy ourselves and each other and keep our focus on God.
Each of us will experience some adversity in our lives. Correction. Each of us will experience A LOT of adversity in our lives. I know that on this upcoming trip to Central America, there will be challenges and obstacles that our group will experience, and adversity that I’ll personally experience. However, I know that when we keep our eyes fixed on God and put our full trust in Him, we will be given the strength to combat that adversity and trouble and respond with thankfulness and love. Not just this, but I know God will also use the adversity we experience as a tool to help us grow in our faith.
So eh, just a LITTLE adversity.
Thanks for reading!
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” -Romans 5: 3-5
