So it is time once again to apologise for my terrible blogging and bite the bullet. Looking at my blog for the first time in months it strikes me that I haven't written since August. Nothing will be able to bring me up to date with an absence so long. With that in mind I will write of my amazing time on camp this past week.
I went on Waves camp this week and it was amazing. I was so nervous about going and worrying about how my preparations would go. How would the games I carefully selected be viewed and would I personally be up to the challenge of being a leader and mentor to the campers.
I remember the excitement I felt when I got there and the conningham bushfire loomed. Worrying about whether camp would go ahead. Whether we would have to tramp down to the beach and fight fires. This didn't eventuate but the risk was there and watching our team pray and prepare for this really brought to me the knowledge of God's love for us. Knowing that God was protecting us and had his hand on our camp really settled me.
When the campers arrived the next day I was so excited. Seeing familiar faces and meeting new campers was awesome. But the thing that stood out most to me and did for the entire camp was seeing how some individual campers had grown and matured over the past year. Seeing how these kids who were absolute terrors on the past camp became great assets to the camp. How they interacted in a positive way with other campers and fitted in to the strong social hierarchy that was set up over the week. To hear one say "I know that was bad and I will sit out of the game if you want me to."
My greatest low came on the second day when I was running oval games. Note to self- don't run games you have never played or don't know much about. It was a disaster. I had been looking forwrd to this particular game Giants, Wizards and Elves for almost a month and it was a huge flop. No one knew what was going on. I yelled many times for order and modified it twice to try and get it to work. It was a huge failure and I was very depressed. I lost nearly all my confidence in running games.
That brings me to my greatest high. Mad Proffesors. This was a game I found and modified from a book and after the disaster of the previous day I was very nervous about running it. However it was a huge success and I can only give the credit to God. Seeing how it ran, the many 'coincidences' that helped it to run smoother and the overall vibe during the game I can only thank God for intervening in this. I was so pleased that this was helping to build the teams we had put together and was proud of the kids when the unveiling showed creative and funny inventions.
I cannot mention all the many amazing things that happened on camp as they are too many. But I can say that watching God at work in the campers was an experience I will never forget. To hear a camper at mid week say "I don't want to go home and tell my mother I had a horrible time at camp." Then at weeks end say, "I don't want to go home. I love camp!" Was awesome. To see campers take risks and open up was great. For me to rely on God to help me through camp and to learn more about myself and what I am capable of was a very special experience. Being a leader is not just about leading, but about learning to serve through the position of leadership. Remembering that you as a leader are responsible for the health and wellbeing of your charges. Was a lesson that I discovered on camp and a lesson that I hope I will take with me to the next camp.
Until next time.