Well this was our first week here in St. Petersburg and can I just say that this may possibly be the hottest place in the world? Aside from sweating off about 15 pounds the week was a complete blast and blessing. The kids got here and we were outside for my part of registration, which is when the little ones choose their track times, and Micheal, Colby, and I were sweating like nobody's business. We got the kids through registration and then got to meet them all before supper. I met some of the guys from Bethany Baptist Church and came up with a new game called Spazz. It is a combination of basketball, football, soccer, and bowling.
After playing for Spazz and getting cleaned up for supper, the opening celebration began. It was awesome. A lot of the kids already knew the motions to O Happy Day so it wasn't as awkward when Lindsey and I started jumping around like maniacs on stage. Whenever that was over I got to meet my bible study for a little bit, and that was interesting to say the least. I had about every kind of child you could have in my classroom but I was really excited about camp and so were they; it was really nice to see how we all worked together even though each of our individual personalities were completely and totally different. Not only did we do bible study but we did the party and church group time. My church group was one from North Jacksonville and I was so excited to meet people somewhat close to my home.
The week began hot and muggy, as we soon learned that every day is like that here. Bible study went great and so did recreation, but the real fun came at track time. My first track I had people that didn't really seem to care to play soccer, but when I got them playing games and having fun they seemed to end up kind of enjoying it that day. My second track was similar except that the kids already knew a lot more about the game so they became super competitive super quick. My face however did not like the sun, and neither did my shoulders... Needless to say a hat and rolled down sleeves were worn from there on out. The last day of my track time we played a real game and the kids ate it up. They were having so much fun and I loved that they wanted me to play with them. However an outdoor track can't be complete without some type of injury. Thankfully my track didn't get them but Flag Football definitely started feeling the hurt. The first day, Ben came limping over and his knee was beginning to swell and after suffering two serious knee injuries I knew that wasn't good. It turned out to be a bruised meniscus and a stretched MCL. Nothing to take lightly but at least nothing was torn. The last day I look up and Lindsey is jogging to me with a kid holding his nose. Could it be a regular bloody nose? Of course not. It had to be a twenty minute fountain of a bloody nose. And when I say fountain, I mean that the moment that I pulled the cotton ball out of his nose another whole GOB came out with it and continued to pour. The poor fellow took it like a champ though. He kept saying this was common and he would be fine. I appreciated that from a kid his age.
Thursday night worship is always an emotional one but this week it was taken to a whole new level. The kids AND adults responded in a way that only God could be in charge of. Part of my testimony is played in worship that day and after that a minister from one of the churches approached me and asked me to talk to one of his girls that lost her dad three weeks ago. I said I would do it, exited the auditorium, and then broke down. I went to meet up with that church group and I ended up giving my whole testimony including Marshall Coile's impact on my life and I could pick out just from looking at the church which girl I needed to talk to.
After I shared, the church group prayed over me and gave me the BEST group hug I've ever had in my life. I found that girl and we talked. She mostly cried but she just needed that time to cry and someone who has been there to tell her it was going to be okay. While we were talking I realized that just like Esther was prepared for a time to save her people, maybe my dad died just for that moment right there where I saw that girl begin to look for the good in her father's passing. It was just a moment that I'm never ever ever going to forget. It was literally one of my top five most special moments in my life and I know that I couldn't have gotten the opportunity to talk to her if I wasn't given the opportunity to work camp.
Please pray for next weeks cycle. We are relaxing this weekend so it won't be as hard for us to pick up our energy but any prayers for that are greatly appreciated. Also pray for the kids. They all come with problems and they always need love.
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