Week 5: The Half-Way Mark

Week 5 at camp started out tough for me. It was the middle of the summer by now and I found out that I was not the only one who was starting to have a hard time. I'll be honest that going into that week I was feeling so tired out by then that I cried before the campers showed up. My physically tired body was letting me know that it was having enough. Several of the girls that I was working with gave me prayer and encouragement and then I cleaned up my cabin and put a smile on my face.

My campers that week were 5 girls ages 7-10. That's right, Intro Campers again. I was rather nervous about how this round was going to go after how hard the last one was but I was trying to be positive about it. The girls all seemed really excited and happy to be there and had huge smiles on their faces as the evening progressed. But when night time came on it became a nightmare. They were terrible sleepers. For the first two nights of camp that week I got repeatedly woken up by them for a variety of reasons. By Tuesday evening I was feeling so burnt out. I was trying to be happy and cheerful for them and to not let how tired I was show through. But I felt like I was doing a terrible job.

 On my off time I called my mom and told her how frustrated and tired I was feeling. She tried to comfort me but also reminded me of the fact that I had signed up for this and shouldn't complain about it. She then asked me if I had prayed about it. That stopped me in my tracks. No, I really hadn't prayed about how I was feeling or doing. After I hung up with her I spent the rest of my off-time talking with God about how I was feeling and about my frustrations. By the time I had to go back to my campers I had an overwhelming sense of calm within my heart. I felt much more cheerful without it being forced and from that point on my week was so much better! My campers got settled in and quit waking up so much in the night. I got a night of peaceful rest and woke-up feeling renewed and refreshed. I ended up having a fun time with those campers that week. They were all great children and made me smile. Apparently by God's grace they also really enjoyed having me as counselor and told me flat out that the loved me, wanted me to be their counselor next year, and that I was the best counselor ever. That encouragement couldn't have come at a better time. Wow, it's amazing how God always sends just what you need to hear when you need it most! :)

After the campers went home my sister and I invited some of our new friends from camp to come over to our house and we had an awesome girls night of fun and fellowship with them. We crashed on the floor and sofa's of the living room and watched movies late into the night together, ate pizza, painted nails, gave eachother much needed massages, and some of the gals got hair wraps done. It was one of the most fun weekends of the summer! We got to relax, recharge and get to know one another better. It was the awesome way to end the week and celebrate the fact that we had all made it half-way through the summer. ~Anna