Out of My Comfort Zone [part 1]

So yes, I am aware I haven't posted anything in almost a year. I could lie and say I didn't have anything to say, but that is FAR from the truth. There have been plenty of things to say since this past September. But I want to start this new June 2015 blog post afresh. You might have noticed that I've edited my blog and "spiced" it up a bit. It was time for a change.

And speaking of change.

This past week, I was taken out of my comfort zone. I had the opportunity to be a camp counselor to 14 junior high girls (junior high is rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders). And let me tell you... I WAS NERVOUS. That was something I had never done before and was sure I never would do! Except there I was, facing a week of being a camp counselor, a color team LEADER, and had the title of responsible adult.

Yikes.

Me? An adult? Please, I'm only 20. And I don't even look 20, according to two of my campers, both which informed me of that fact 15 minutes of me walking into my cabin. Ok, maybe if I act all confident, people will think I really am an adult and confident and completely together and chill.

My brain was totally not chill. My mind was racing a million miles a minute and a bajillion thoughts were running all through my brain within the first couple of hours. "Ok, I know about 15 people here out of 200. Since I'm an adult here, who do I hang out with? The adults? The campers? Myself? OH MY WORD WHERE DO I GO. Breathe. CONFIDENCE IS KEY." Thankfully I had my good friend Rebeca there too to help me! Mostly, I was worried if any of my campers and color team was going to like me.

The first night we all went with our color teams and played a game which I have forgotten the name of. But it involved putting panty hose over your head and sticking a RAW egg underneath. You were given two halves of a pool noodle and then given permission to whack other people in the head with the noodles to get their egg to break and they would lose. I was a team leader of TEAM RED and we beasted in that game. In the end, one of our leader's and my pastor's wife still had her uncracked egg (how she managed to get away with that, I will never know), and my other team leader Chris demonstrated the proper way to dispose of an uncracked egg... he smashed it ALL over my head.

On a side note, the first night I brought out a box of snacks that the wonderful Mrs. Tammie had supplied me with for my campers. My campers gasped, looked at the box like it was a pile of gold, proceeded to pounce upon it, and then proclaimed me the coolest camp counselor ever. SCORE.

The next day was Tuesday, the start of our first full day at camp. We started with a message that the preacher for the week, JM delivered. The theme for the week was Filtered. We have so many filters around us and we put up so many filters for other people. JM challenged us every night to not put on a filter, or put God in a box. Do you see God as a little old man? Do you see God as anything besides what the Bible says He really is? Sometimes we have this mold of what we think God should be, and we put a filter on God.
     Then we split into our color groups and had game competitions. Ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, volleyball, spoons, spikeball, and bean bag toss were some of the competitions that were going on. It was super hot outside so the games didn't last that long! Then I had about a 30 minutes break before I headed to the pool to lifeguard for the senior high swim hour.

Lifeguarding is no joke. I hadn't officially lifeguarded in 2 years, but once I got to the pool, I immediately snapped into lifeguard mode and got all serious. There is no time for messing around when it comes to watching out for people's lives. Thankfully, that first day was uneventful and I made some new friends while guarding!

The rest of the day was filled with laughter, food, fellowship, an incredible worship service, and an awesome late night game that involved the counselors running all around and "tagging" campers with pool noodles to keep them from getting balls to add to their basket. I think it was some version of pac-man. It was exhausting running all around and keeping up all my energy and pretending like I was not tired!

Now, don't get me wrong. The first two days were great. I was challenged, pushed to my physical limits (I'm sure I died a few times), laughed too much, and questioned myself. God was working in me, and I'll be honest. That Tuesday night of worship, I couldn't engage in it all the way. Sure, I felt the Holy Spirit's presence and knew God was in there, but it was like Satan was fighting within me and saying "no, tonight you are too tired and besides, you have heard all of this before". But little did I know what was going to happen on Wednesday and the message God was preparing for me for that night.

This was part 1. The next part is even better, or so I think. It's when God really starts getting my attention and saying "see, this was part of my plan, and I had to pull you out of your comfort zone to do MY work".

Until part 2, smile, love people, and rejoice in God's plan for you :)