Thanks to Covid uncertainties, we were not recruiting for JOY Camp very much at all this summer. Some repeat campers signed up, though, which led to an unusual bunch of 14 campers from only 3 towns. They were ages 9-16, which means that one camper drove himself there and another asked me to tie his shoe. Several of them were also related, which gave a fun dynamic as well, as middle grade boys jockeyed hard for position in the older kid group, so as not to be thought of as little kids themselves.
It reminds you a little of how the disciples acted- hey Jesus, can we sit at your right hand and your left hand? Are we your favorites?
But, while the older kids were not unanimously accepting, (it's hard when you're too big to be little but too little to be big- and once you've left that stage yourself you block it out of your memory!) there were also some lovely moments of leadership and role models going on. I had the joy of introducing three of our oldest to the program coordinator so they'd have a familiar face when they apply for Junior Staff next year. Camp is full of people for kiddos to look up to, ones who are just one or two life steps ahead of them. God is always drawing us toward community, so we can learn from each other.
Of course, sometimes we learn the hard way. As I write this, the world seems to have forgotten to look for the good in each other, that we are all children of God. Earlier this week, while taking the van back to Cherie, I made the mistake of listening to the radio- about an hour and a half of increasingly bad news. But when I hit about Lewis, another station began to compete with the news- and I kid you not, it sang out "I will trust You, Lord; I will fear no more." Oh, how we need that reminder- not that we should bury our head in the sand and ignore the problems in the world- but that having that foundation of trusting God, we're equipped to go out and let our little lights shine.
