We had back-to-back trips this summer. One week on the mission trip to the Navajo Nation was followed by a weekend to do laundry and pack all over again for a week at church camp.
My kids love church camp. It is a fun get-away, with many outdoor activities that they do not usually get to enjoy. Rock climbing, zip line, mud pit, to name a few. Plus, meals are served in a cafeteria, and we bunk in dorm style lodges.
Our church attends a church camp that is organized for a handful of churches in 3 different states. It is pretty neat to see the way they come together for a common purpose. In the two years our family has attended church camp in the past, our church has only had a few folks attend camp each summer.
This year was quite different. This year, we had a bigger attendance than ever before. There were multiple families going, which meant other Moms (ladies from my church) to get to visit with, worship with, and get to know better. I was really looking forward to it. I was envisioning a vacation of sorts, with someone else cooking the meals and cleaning up the kitchen. I would get to kick back, chat with the other Moms and let our kids enjoy the various fun activities. Plus, I was looking forward to the lessons and bible study that was going to be taught. It all sounded so relaxing.
I was in for a rude awakening at church camp this summer.
I was required to grow.
That was not the 'vacation' I was expecting.
Don't get me wrong. We still had fun. We still enjoyed the getaway. The whole experience was really good.
But, the lessons hit me very close to home.
I was asked to be a sponsor for some very troubled teen girls. I do not have experience with teens. My oldest child is 10. I thought I was out of my league. Little did I know, those other ladies from my church, who were suppose to be there to fellowship with me on my 'vacation,' ended up being a team with me, as we ministered to these troubled teens. Each one of us ladies was forced to face our own weaknesses regarding how we minister to children.....and each one of us was forced to watch each other's strengths show us a better way. It was absolutely wild to 3 of us ladies, who were Moms ourselves, to see just how ineffective our parenting style can be with other people's children. We each were stretched to our limit. We each were put in a position to have to speak to each other about our own weaknesses. It was not in conflict. It was not in drama. These are very loving ladies. But, it was still difficult.
One woman shared with me at church two weeks later that she felt church camp really humbled her to the point of feeling awful about herself. One of the young adult ladies we were with summed it up well when she said that she thought we would all be processing the events of our week at church camp for quite a while. All of us are certain that we were shown just how much we still need to grow. Ouch!
To make matters worse, our Pastor announced that his next sermon series was going to be about growing.
I could not contain my thoughts and immediately blurted out, "Oh no!"
It was quite clear that church camp was a way for God to give us a good look inside our own hearts, and show us where we really are in our walk with Him. To know that the next step in our learning is right before us is both scary and awesome at the same time. God is amazing like that.
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