The camp struggle has certainly set in these last two weeks. It doesn't help that I haven't gotten a break in between. Kim wanted to make sure that we got our full paychecks even though the second discovery wasn't a whole week long, so I got a long weekend for the 4th, but worked Discovery 2, worked the weekend, and worked straight into the next camp, and it is stretching me thin.
First the 4th weekend. I don't remember much. I know Olivia and I went with my parents to Kathy and DaJuan's overnight for the 3rd into the 4th. It was fun, but they kept talking about the future, which stressed me out. They do that a lot. It seems like whenever we go there, we have to talk about grad school and marriage and crap like that, and it stresses me out that literally one year from now I'm supposed to be in the real world figuring my life out. This wasn't exactly where I expected to be at this point. We went into Plymouth too, and that's a cute little town. Oh my goodness did we eat good too. After we got back, Liv left to go to her Grandpa's, and 2 hours later texted me and told me to come, so I did. So that was how I spent my 4th evening. We had another great meal, and we just sat on their back porch, which was peaceful and quiet and not exploding. Then when I was driving back, I took the long way, and got to see a lot of fireworks from the highway, which was awesome. I think fireworks look cool, but I hate the noise, but seeing them from the highway meant I could see them very closely, but couldn't hear anything but my own music. It was awesome, and there wasn't anyone else around to give me a hard time or for me to ruin their 4th. So it was good. I don't often (ever) have good 4ths.
The next day was Discovery. Discovery was fun cuz it's the little bitties, but it was still stressful. The first discovery, we had the entire staff, so we had plenty of people, but for this discovery, we had probably about 1/3 of the staff, so support staff especially had more work on their hands. I got pretty tired out. And it was also sad because one of the little girls was giving her counselor a hard time. She had tantrums often and was hard to get out of those tantrums modes. So they ended up sending her home. She was only 6 anyways. But it turns out that her and her older sister (who was also at camp) have been sexually abused by their dad since pretty much birth, and their dad was only taken out of the home one month ago. Heartbreaking. And I also came to the realization that as a social worker, that's gonna be my life. Stories like that. And it won't just be working with the victims. It'll be working with perpetrators too, and that's just hard. So that was pretty heavy. Friday, I lifeguarded all day. There was tons of people there, so we didn't have to do too much, but I was still tired out. Friday night, Liv and I stayed with Shayna and then Rae, Katie, and David decided to come scare us. Punks. Saturday morning, I had to do low elements with a group from Kettering. I've never ran those before, and I actually enjoyed it. I had a good group though. And then I spent the rest of the afternoon lifeguarding. I feel like that day was more stressful, but I don't remember why. Then Rae, Mariss, Liv and I went to Goodwill. Saturday night was kind of off for me too.
By Sunday, I was exhausted already, and honestly, when I woke up knowing that we had to start Junior Specialty, and I just didn't want to be here anymore. I wanted to be at home. I wanted to be done. But instead, our staff was being split in half again, and a lot of the responsibility was left on me. Liv and Marissa both went with on Senior Teen Trip, so Stacey was supposed to do games and Tiffany was supposed to be waterfront director, and I was supposed to just kind of help them out. Well then, last minute, TONS of adjustments were made, and Stacey ended up as a counselor, taking out her ability to do games, and so that fell on me. So I was worship director without my singing partner/acoustic guitarist, or keyboardist, or the help I usually have to set up, I was in charge of games (coming up with and setting up and running pretty much), and still assistant waterfront director. And I was already burned out. Sunday was long and hard. Monday was LONG and HARD. (She never said that). And Tuesday morning, it was already starting out with too much for me to try and do and figure out, and so I went to my car, turned on an Underoath song, and had a temper tantrum/hysterical crying fit. I called my mom, and my wonderful mother, waking up to a daughter calling at 7:45 AM sobbing, calmed me down. At that point, Angel realized I needed help. Lauren was supposed to go on trip, but she ended up being sick and coming back for Junior Specialty, so we tag-teamed for games, which made it TONS easier. We had two people to brainstorm, and I was fine with set up and she was fine with directing them, so that worked out much better. Waterfront was still stressful, but that's gotten somewhat better. And I've been figuring worship out better too.
Since Tuesday morning, the days have been long and full, but not hard. I can handle doing lots of work, but having too much responsibility of things that aren't my strengths added on me takes me down quick. When I got sufficient help, things got much better. I have done so much in the last few days that I'm almost impressed with myself. It's almost been like finals week, where I get done, look back, and am like "Yeah. I did all that. I can probably do anything." But I will sleep well this weekend, I can tell you that.
The kids this week have been hilarious. Junior Specialty has such a different feel than Junior Explorer, despite the fact that it's the same age range. They are much more dramatic. We've had like, 5 girls go home because they faked illnesses pretty much. And mylanta, during worship, I have been concerned that the whole place was gonna go down because their motions were so enthusiastic and big. I had a hard time singing over them in a microphone, even though there's only like, 55 of them. I also watched Rachel's cabin for about 45 minutes yesterday because she needed a little extra break, and they were CRAZY!!! But they LOVE me! Whenever they see me, all 11 of them attack me and give me a hug. It's kind of nice being loved :)
Long story short, these last two weeks have required a lot of extra work, because the same amount of work is still expected even though we only have about half the staff. So I've been stretched pretty thin. But things have definitely looked up from the beginning of the week, and I'm finishing this week out feeling good about things.
Next week is Family Camp, which I normally hate, and still will to a certain extent, but this year, instead of getting stuck in Day Camp (which literally may be my least favorite part of camp) I'm with the Teens, which is AWESOME!!! I don't even have to do music in the morning cuz Wellspring will, and I get to be a part of the Teen services. Ben Markham is speaking and he's phenomenal, and I'm just excited for that. But for now, I need to go because chapel is in half an hour and I haven't picked songs yet :)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Teen Challenge
Well this past week was Teen Challenge. And it was a challenge indeed. The weather was much more cooperative. The kids were pretty great. I definitely had some favorites :) And come to find, many of my favorites were the bad kids. :)
The first couple of days, it was chillier. And of course, we had water carnival Tuesday night. It was freezing. In the water wasn't so bad, but going from event to event, or, lifeguarding from the shore, was freezing cold. I think they had fun though. Wednesday, and Thursday it was SUPER hot. Wednesday, had a lot of lifeguards, so I only had to lifeguard the last rotation, and I started on totter. As soon as I got out there, all the kids came in from it. So I laid on the kayak and fell asleep for a bit, and woke up with a nice sunburn on my legs. They proceeded to radiate for the next couple days. Now they're fine, though I have lots of fun tan lines all over after this week. For Teen Challenge, instead of cabins going to different activities together, the campers get to choose which one they want to go to, so we have a camper choice time for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. I was assigned to the climbing tower, and I really think it's one of the worst places to be assigned too. It's a little tedious, and the belay system we have entails pulling the rope through a pole, and it's quite painful on the hands. A combination of rope burn and holding such a tight grip for so long. Even with gloves, it's pretty painful. So Wednesday afternoon, I switched with Rae and did waterfront instead, which was a good switch, and then Thursday, there was no climbing tower in the morning, and in the afternoon, I switched with Lizzi and did Gaga :) Rae and Katie ended up at Gaga with me too, and let's just say we earned some respect :) We played everlasting, which means that when whoever gets you out gets out themselves, then you're back in. Katie, Rae and I teamed up, and we were ONE KID away from winning everlasting. But Cameron hit my foot fair and square, and so when I got out, 15 kids were back in, and then Katie got herself out, and there was just no recovery. It was a nice change up. I love Gaga. Especially with Rae and Katie :)
Overall, activities and waterfront and stuff went smoothly, but chapel was very odd this past week. Teen Challenge the last few years has been known as the week where God just really moves, and this age group is the age group that is able to go deeper and to really start to get it. They're just hungry for it. And I was SO excited for Chapel and stuff going into this week. On the way to Camp Sunday, I was listening to Romans 1-9 and my worship stuff on my iPod and I was just pumped by time I got to camp. But every time we had chapel, or had anything that was dealing with spiritual aspects of life, the kids' eyes just glazed over with apathy and distraction. We also had chapel in the DAWA the first few days because they bathroom pipes were exploding by the pavilion or something gross like that. But I pulled out everything I had as worship director. I prayed over all the cabins before I want to bed and devoted cabin devos to praying for the kids. I even spoke for a bit. I hate doing that. I sang some of the most truth-filled songs I had (that's what I feel like my calling has been as worship director, "to proclaim the truth of who God is and what He does" and also who we are and can be because of who God is) and nothing seemed to be doing anything. One of the counselors described it as "hard to watch" and that seemed a pretty accurate description. We also had gender time in Wednesday, and there continued to be a glaze. Lauren and Stacey did a great job, as did everyone who shared their testimonies. I got to play one of my songs too (Amazing Grace) but still, it was just dead. One of the chapel speakers we've had in the past said that if the kids are still asking for Romans Wednesday night, than you've lost them. And Wednesday night, that was where we were at. I was at a loss. I drove to Angel's house and asked her what to do. I was disheartened and discouraged, and fighting against the lie that it had something to do with me not being as good as Wesley. Angel didn't really have anything for me either.
Then we had Wednesday night chapel. We were back in the pavilion, and God just poured in. It was insane. A night and day difference from the chapels prior. After we left chapel Wednesday, I turned to Livia and just said... "well I'm confused." I'm not 100% sure what all was involved, but I do know that it taught me that it is not at all me that brings these kids to worship. I will be used as His tool, but it is totally up to God when He wants to move. It was incredible. And Wednesday night on, chapel was amazing. Thursday night, John (the chapel speaker) had everyone take rocks and write sins or stumbling blocks that they wanted to leave at camp on them. Then they took them and threw them into the lake. It was a pretty powerful. For both staff and kids. It was amazing to watch, and I pray so hard that those rocks truly stay at the bottom of the lake. Our God is such a good God.
I swear, I know I keep saying this, but I'll probably continue saying it every week, this staff is amazing. After hearing everyone's testimonies, we are some JACKED UP people. But God is using us all in some seriously incredible ways, and these are some really great people. I feel like I have a lot of compassionate and genuine people around me, and working with people like that, broken, but real and loving people, is just an amazing experience. I feel so privileged to be working with these people. I really just feel so blessed.
So that was Teen Challenge in a nutshell. Oh I did miss the part where I spent over an hour trying to break into Lauren's bug. Livia put her keys on her front seat, and then Lauren's car locked automatically. I failed to break in after a coat hanger, a ping pong paddle, two wrapping paper rolls, and a flattened metal rod, so Lauren had to wait a day for her keys to be UPSed to her. Also, when Livia and I went into the DAWA Friday morning, in the middle of it was dog poop. Are you kidding me? We couldn't believe it, haha. Somehow, I always manage to find poop. Oh, and I received one of the most unique hugs yet this week. During cabin watch when I was walking around, Rachel ran up to me to give me a hug, and ending up jumping on me and wrapping her legs around me. It was hilarious. We also have "our song" now. Rihanna's Umbrella. Haha I love her. I'm sure I've missed other tidbits too. But it's been a great summer so far. I love have Rae and Bean around too. It's just really my favorite :)
I'm really going to miss camp I've decided...
The first couple of days, it was chillier. And of course, we had water carnival Tuesday night. It was freezing. In the water wasn't so bad, but going from event to event, or, lifeguarding from the shore, was freezing cold. I think they had fun though. Wednesday, and Thursday it was SUPER hot. Wednesday, had a lot of lifeguards, so I only had to lifeguard the last rotation, and I started on totter. As soon as I got out there, all the kids came in from it. So I laid on the kayak and fell asleep for a bit, and woke up with a nice sunburn on my legs. They proceeded to radiate for the next couple days. Now they're fine, though I have lots of fun tan lines all over after this week. For Teen Challenge, instead of cabins going to different activities together, the campers get to choose which one they want to go to, so we have a camper choice time for an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the afternoon. I was assigned to the climbing tower, and I really think it's one of the worst places to be assigned too. It's a little tedious, and the belay system we have entails pulling the rope through a pole, and it's quite painful on the hands. A combination of rope burn and holding such a tight grip for so long. Even with gloves, it's pretty painful. So Wednesday afternoon, I switched with Rae and did waterfront instead, which was a good switch, and then Thursday, there was no climbing tower in the morning, and in the afternoon, I switched with Lizzi and did Gaga :) Rae and Katie ended up at Gaga with me too, and let's just say we earned some respect :) We played everlasting, which means that when whoever gets you out gets out themselves, then you're back in. Katie, Rae and I teamed up, and we were ONE KID away from winning everlasting. But Cameron hit my foot fair and square, and so when I got out, 15 kids were back in, and then Katie got herself out, and there was just no recovery. It was a nice change up. I love Gaga. Especially with Rae and Katie :)
Overall, activities and waterfront and stuff went smoothly, but chapel was very odd this past week. Teen Challenge the last few years has been known as the week where God just really moves, and this age group is the age group that is able to go deeper and to really start to get it. They're just hungry for it. And I was SO excited for Chapel and stuff going into this week. On the way to Camp Sunday, I was listening to Romans 1-9 and my worship stuff on my iPod and I was just pumped by time I got to camp. But every time we had chapel, or had anything that was dealing with spiritual aspects of life, the kids' eyes just glazed over with apathy and distraction. We also had chapel in the DAWA the first few days because they bathroom pipes were exploding by the pavilion or something gross like that. But I pulled out everything I had as worship director. I prayed over all the cabins before I want to bed and devoted cabin devos to praying for the kids. I even spoke for a bit. I hate doing that. I sang some of the most truth-filled songs I had (that's what I feel like my calling has been as worship director, "to proclaim the truth of who God is and what He does" and also who we are and can be because of who God is) and nothing seemed to be doing anything. One of the counselors described it as "hard to watch" and that seemed a pretty accurate description. We also had gender time in Wednesday, and there continued to be a glaze. Lauren and Stacey did a great job, as did everyone who shared their testimonies. I got to play one of my songs too (Amazing Grace) but still, it was just dead. One of the chapel speakers we've had in the past said that if the kids are still asking for Romans Wednesday night, than you've lost them. And Wednesday night, that was where we were at. I was at a loss. I drove to Angel's house and asked her what to do. I was disheartened and discouraged, and fighting against the lie that it had something to do with me not being as good as Wesley. Angel didn't really have anything for me either.
Then we had Wednesday night chapel. We were back in the pavilion, and God just poured in. It was insane. A night and day difference from the chapels prior. After we left chapel Wednesday, I turned to Livia and just said... "well I'm confused." I'm not 100% sure what all was involved, but I do know that it taught me that it is not at all me that brings these kids to worship. I will be used as His tool, but it is totally up to God when He wants to move. It was incredible. And Wednesday night on, chapel was amazing. Thursday night, John (the chapel speaker) had everyone take rocks and write sins or stumbling blocks that they wanted to leave at camp on them. Then they took them and threw them into the lake. It was a pretty powerful. For both staff and kids. It was amazing to watch, and I pray so hard that those rocks truly stay at the bottom of the lake. Our God is such a good God.
I swear, I know I keep saying this, but I'll probably continue saying it every week, this staff is amazing. After hearing everyone's testimonies, we are some JACKED UP people. But God is using us all in some seriously incredible ways, and these are some really great people. I feel like I have a lot of compassionate and genuine people around me, and working with people like that, broken, but real and loving people, is just an amazing experience. I feel so privileged to be working with these people. I really just feel so blessed.
So that was Teen Challenge in a nutshell. Oh I did miss the part where I spent over an hour trying to break into Lauren's bug. Livia put her keys on her front seat, and then Lauren's car locked automatically. I failed to break in after a coat hanger, a ping pong paddle, two wrapping paper rolls, and a flattened metal rod, so Lauren had to wait a day for her keys to be UPSed to her. Also, when Livia and I went into the DAWA Friday morning, in the middle of it was dog poop. Are you kidding me? We couldn't believe it, haha. Somehow, I always manage to find poop. Oh, and I received one of the most unique hugs yet this week. During cabin watch when I was walking around, Rachel ran up to me to give me a hug, and ending up jumping on me and wrapping her legs around me. It was hilarious. We also have "our song" now. Rihanna's Umbrella. Haha I love her. I'm sure I've missed other tidbits too. But it's been a great summer so far. I love have Rae and Bean around too. It's just really my favorite :)
I'm really going to miss camp I've decided...
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