Christian Retreat Center (July 10-15)

            This week I was a counselor at CRC for teen week. I wasn’t sure how things would go going into the week. I have been a counselor at CRC a few times before but I was a little uneasy about how just coming in for one week would be, not knowing all the counselors and not being a part of the counselor training week when they really bond as a team. As soon as I got there I felt a peace. As I was driving in and as you come to the pond with the water reflecting the surrounding trees, I was just reminded that I serve a big God…there was nothing to worry about. I was paired with a counselor who I had never met before, Emily, we were introduced and about five minutes later Jeremy assigned her with me to cabin 5, but it was like we had known each other before. We got along so well. Emily was a huge blessing to me throughout the week and I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to serve with her.

            After our staff meeting we headed up to our cabin to wait for our 10 campers to come. One by one they came into the cabin with big smiles on their faces, picked out their beds for the week, and got settled in. Once all of the girls arrived we headed down to the ball field for some get to know you games and our week had just begun. Going into a week of camp you never know what to expect, this was definitely one of those weeks. Our cabin was diverse; we had girls who were born in Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Salvador. We had a group of four Hispanic girls who mainly spoke Spanish. Emily and I had both taken Spanish in high school but not enough to communicate well with these girls. This made it hard to start off the week. As I mentioned in one of my last blogs that it takes time to build relationships, well that was again very evident here. There was a huge barrier between our 10 girls, four of them spoke Spanish and a little English and 6 of them only knew English.

            The normal for our cabin was for there to be a group of 6 and a group of 4. Emily and I tried to do our best to interact with both groups but with our inability to speak much Spanish, it was difficult. We even tried giving a devotional on unity and how for this week, we as a cabin were family. This devotional helped break the ice. One of the Hispanic girls, Jennifer, came over and started joining in with what the other girls were doing. It was so cool to watch how they interacted with each other. It just reminded me of the body of Christ and how we each have different abilities but when we all work together, we for one unit. Though out the rest of the week our unity as a cabin got better, it wasn’t perfect but there was effort on behalf of the girls, by the last night the Hispanic girls were teaching the rest of the cabin songs in Spanish! After a rough beginning, I’d say by the end of the week I had bonded most with the Hispanic girls; Jennifer, Nancy, Ashley, and Katherine. I loved the girls in my cabin and these four won a special place in my heart…I only hope and pray that they continue one in their lives with Jesus Christ by their side and realize that even when life is crazy, He’s the one thing that will never change.

            I’d say the thing that I learned this week is not only patience but just realizing that even in what seems to be a chaotic situation, God is always there. This has been a crazy summer, so many new things and some familiar ones. But it doesn’t matter if I go into a week a little apprehensive because I’m not quite sure what to expect, all I need to know is that my God is with me. I just need to be faithful in the little things, taking little steps of faith. He’s going to catch me when I fall, so why should I be afraid? My God is so awesome!

            I love CRC! This was my third time back at CRC to be a counselor and it just made me realize how much this place has changed my life in the short amount of time I have been involved. There is just something about being on staff here that I love; you become a family, I was only there for one week this summer but they accepted me into their family. These are the people who you know you can trust, they are the ones that you go to when you’re struggling, and these people are prayer warriors and are the best encouragers when you’re weary from a tough week at camp. Although camp lasts for five weeks and we leave and go our separate ways till the next summer, we always have that tie, that common bond of serving the Lord together at CRC.