What a week!

Blessed by the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise. I Kings 8:56

As exhausted as last week at camp was, I strangely feel rested. I feel more rested emotionally and mentally. Physically.....I was constantly on the run, but exercise is always good, right?! :) Still tired from lack of sleep, but I'll catch up one day!!

I had a great week at camp, I wish I could spend the whole summer working at a camp! The kids were great, they did keep me on my toes, and I had to sternly talk to a few of them, but quite honestly, they were all in all great kids! I had such fun hanging out with them, letting loose, doing fun things with them like.....ziplines, water slides, high rope challenges, archery, shooting, etc. It was fun being one of the "kids" again. :)

The theme of the week was "God is_______", i.e. the One who sees and hears, a Shepherd, a Vine, Love, etc. We were teaching the kids about the character of God. It was so good for me to hear also. I had been feeling a bit of discontent in my life and hearing all about how great my heavenly "Daddy" is to me, just helped me refocus on the fact that God is sovereign in my life. It was so wonderful!!!

I was asked if my story could be used as an example of Psalm 23, about how God is our Shepherd, He will walk through the valleys with us and how our joy can be restored. Even though in my mind I hesitated (I didn't want to have to sit through it!), I said yes. I want the story told to prove what a great God we serve and bring Him glory!!! At first, the story was told without using my name....then at the end, the kids were told that they had spent the week with the person in the story, and I was pointed out. All the kids turned around and looked at me, you could have heard a pin drop! After the service was over, one of the kids in my group (one of the last ones I would have expected) came over and gave me a hug. It was so sweet! At random points of the day, kids would either give me a hug, or mention things like "I never would have thought that, you seem so happy", "did your husband really die?", was my personal favorite. :) I had one boy tell me that he felt sorry for me.....I had forgotten about the talk by now and had to ask why. In the meantime, one other boy says, "don't remind her and make her cry!!" I responded that they didn't have to feel sorry for me, and to remember the reason why the story was told. They were all so cute!! I just pray that they remember the story now and later in life when they have to deal with trials in their lives. God can heal and restore, all the while teaching us more about who He is!

At church yesterday, I had a mom come up and say what a blessing I was to her daughter at camp, but that doesn't matter. She proceeded to point out an ironic thing, her son (a 5 year-old boy Jared taught) thought the world of Jared, even visited him in the hospital twice! She then told me that her son still misses him and that just proved what a great impact that Jared had on her son! That made me get teary eyed, but they were happy tears because he is still remembered and reminded me that God is still using him as an example to others!!

Well, that's all for now, I need to go work-out!!