4 Days to Camp!

On Thursday of this week I leave for Camp Barnabas!!! I am amazed at how fast this Summer has flown by. It seems as if I was just counting it down and I was down to 31 days. Here I sit with only a few days to go. Gosh, I am excited!

I have been taking time each day to prepare my heart for the fourteen days I will be out at camp. I will go for a week, come home for about 48 hours, and go back. This will be my first year that I will serve for two weeks.

For those of you new to my little corner of the world, Camp Barnabas is a camp for Special Needs Children and Adults. I go out to serve as a Cabin Mom, and this will be my fourth year to go. It is definitely my Mission Trip for the year. Most people think, "Oh, camp, that will be a lot of fun!" And while it is a lot of fun, it is a lot of HARD work. It is the most physically, emotionally, and spiritually challenging two weeks for me out of the whole year. Hence, it is a mission trip for me!

The first week I will be in a cabin with Autism and Developmentally Delayed kids. The past two years I have been in a cabin with a lot of Down's Syndrome kids, which is ALWAYS a highlight for me. I don't teach kids with Down's during the School Year, so camp is very special to me. I am hoping to be with a few of the girls I was with last year, but in praying about the trip, I know that God will put me with the cabin that He wants me in.

The second week I am there, I am going during the deaf and blind week! I have ALWAYS wanted to be there for it, but due to school commitments I have never been able to go. I have been brushing up on my sign language too! I can't wait to see what a different week looks like out at camp. Since I'm always there during Autism/Down's Week, I will be anxious to see what it will be like with different campers! It is going to be GREAT!

I have been spending a lot of time preparing my heart for Camp this year. I have given a lot of thought lately to the depth of life. The more I ponder, the more I want my life to be one that makes a difference. I want God to use me in the ways He created me to be, so I can serve Him.

I know that the "I'm Third" theory is a theory that I don't always walk out here at home because it's just Jay and me. I don't have to worry about anyone but me. (By the way, for those of you who don't know, it's God first, others second, me, third.) So, it is always the first meal at camp where I am challenged to think of others first. I wish I could say I carry the theory out the rest of the year outside of camp, but I don't ALWAYS do that. So, I have been preparing my heart to serve others.

I plan on spending the next few days prayerfully preparing for camp. It will be a lot of fun swimming and such, but it will also be putting others' needs first to the best of my ability.

*grin*
Life.
Is.
Good.