I Am Created—Junior B Camp

Junior B Camp was such an amazing week! During registration on Monday, a nervous, first-time camper approached the registration desk with her family.

Our camp administrative assistant greeted her. “I’m so glad you’re here, my name is Sunflower!”

“What? Your name is Sunflower???” she said. And somehow, that simple camp name made all the difference. The camper visibly relaxed and settled into the excitement that the first day of camp provides, all because of a smile and a greeting from Sunflower.

Spyro, a former camper and camp counselor, was our speaker this year.

Her theme for the week: I Am Created!

Spyro set aside the time to prepare for camp. She sacrificed hours with her young son and husband. They sacrificed as well so that she could be at camp, sharing God’s word. But despite all of her work, only the bones of her message materialized.  

Spyro knew what she had to do. She arrived at camp several days early, just to put in the work in the quiet environment of our mountain meadow. She poured over Scripture, prayed, and struggled to get each talk to form up just right. They did not. Instead, God gave her an unexpected verse.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…’” -Isaiah 30:15a

This verse came to her with a nudge from the Lord.

“I want you to take time away this week to rest, I have something new for you.” 

Which is so helpful when you are panicking and not sleeping and responsible to share about God’s creative power and mighty love with a group of children who are arriving within a few hours’ time!

What to do? What to do? What to do? How about shopping!!! And so Spyro promptly talked me (Boo Boo) into a trip to our local thrift store for a 90’s era shopping extravaganza!

There is nothing like a good old fashioned shopping spree to help you hear God’s voice! Right? Um . . . right?

Monday: I am created by a creator God!

During Monday’s chapel, Spyro talked about how we are all made by a Creator God.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

Spyro started the chapel session my talking about the question, “Who am I?”

How do people commonly try to answer the question, “Who am I?” All too often, it is by gaining the approval of others.

Spyro indicated the amazing outfit that we had discovered at the thrift store. “Do you know how I would have needed to dress to be one of the ’cool’ kids when I was a girl in the 90s?” They had no idea. “Just like this.”

The campers were amazed!

She asked if fashion and what it takes to be popular has changed.

A resounding yes from the audience.

Spyro encouraged the campers to remember that her value to God did not change, even amidst all of the fashion changes that have happened. She didn’t have those amazing pink shoes and scarf when she was young and now she did. But with pink shoes or without pink shoes, she wanted them to know that she was created by God and so were they! That is amazing all by itself, pink scarf or no pink scarf!

Tuesday: I am created wonderfully!

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:14-16

Wednesday: I am created to trust!

“After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Matthew 14:23-27

Despite all of her preparations, Spyro didn’t feel like her sessions were coming together. She had outlines, topics, verses, things to say . . . but not a deep and abiding peace about each chapel session.

“I was used to some of the effects of Imposter Syndrome, as I had experienced it every time I had spoken previously, but this was a whole new level; the questions and doubts hit with a vengeance and even kept me awake at night.”

Spyro pressed on, doing her best, but the struggle was intense. On Tuesday, one of the staff members prayed with her using part of Isaiah 30:15 without any previous knowledge of how God had provided this verse earlier during her preparations.

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.

By Wednesday morning, Spyro’s battle with imposter syndrome was incredibly strong. She’d barely slept the night before and while the campers were clearly having a blast, her role as their teacher felt overwhelming. Plus, the camp had run out of water that morning and that meant a pause on all showers (see fundraising info about a new well here). She really needed a shower and when a friend offered the use of her house, she headed down the mountain seeking both clarity of skin and hair and clarity of thought.

“As I drove away from camp, my thoughts began to clear; I became ‘me’ again, sitting before God in my spirit. As I slowly made my way down the winding roads, I began to unpack my concerns before Him.

Again, I presented the question:

“God, am I really called to this?”

Spyro loaded a sermon to listen to on the way and then finished her drive to that much-anticipated warm shower.

“Family, hear this clearly,” the preacher said. “…rest is not quitting, rest is trusting.”

Spyro’s experience reminded me of something I witnessed on the paintball field while taking photos.

The two paintball teams trapped each other in bunkers and were stuck, just shooting and shooting at each other but never hitting anyone, never moving forward. We suggested to both teams that they could break out of their rut by having one team member provide cover fire while another moved forward to get a new angle on their opponents in the bunkers.

The teams talked it over for such a long time that at first I didn’t think anyone would take our advice. Then this amazing girl stepped forward. Even though she was out of paint, she agreed to go. She snuck up to the last opposing team member while a boy on her team provided cover fire and 20-footed their opponent to win the game!

Sometimes what God asks of us doesn’t make sense. Like rushing down the hill straight toward the opposing team, trusting your teammate to have your back when you don’t have any paintballs left. But he had paintballs and could lay cover fire to keep the opposing team hiding behind their bunkers. She didn’t have paint, but if she got within twenty feet of her opponent, they would both be out of the game. Her team won because she left the bunker, trusted her team, and did the crazy-hard thing.

When Spyro stopped her frantic preparations, trying to force the messages to coalesce through pure grit and studiousness, the Lord burst upon the scene!

“Family, hear this clearly…rest is not quitting, rest is trusting.” —YouTube pastor

 “My jaw dropped as the words God had spoken prior to the start of the week came back to me. For the next twenty minutes, I listened . . . in complete awe of God’s sovereignty. Minute by minute He unpacked layer after layer of the harmful expectations that I had built up in my mind over the last couple of years. 

Over the next four hours, He and I spent time together as He soothed the fears and called me to sweetly repent.” —Spyro

“The week was not over. I stepped into being present and let go of control; I made bracelets with campers (I owe you string, CMBC- like, a lot of string), went on walks with counselors and had a blast doing Girl’s Night dance parties and playing night games.” —Spyro

In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…

“Through His leading, I learned what was mine to prepare and His to take care of; I carefully avoided preparing messages until I knew that I wasn’t preparing out of a frantic need to have them done. When I finally sat down to write them, He walked me through how to do it- how He had made me to do it, and how my mind works…not from a place of panic but from a place of quiet confidence and trust. They came together in thirty minutes.” —Spyro

Thursday: I am: Created to be loved.

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’

In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Luke 15:4-7

This was the day that Spyro shared the gospel.

Friday: I am created to love!

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.

The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”

Luke 10:36-37

There were so many wonderful moments during this camp for both our campers and our staff as well!

One of these was when Scruffy showed up to lead a hike but only two campers and two staff showed up.

But that didn’t stop them! They hiked anyway and then begged to be allowed to jump into the pond on their way back to camp.

That spur of the moment swim ended up being one of their favorite memories from the whole week!

Or when the campers mobbed GaGa Ball and crammed thirty or forty kids inside for a game of “Ultimate GaGa Ball!”

Or the day the campers asked for a second pond day!

As I was sitting in my living room, writing on my couch, I was struck once again by the power of what God does with a simple week of summer camp. I could hear the campers shouting and singing as they tromped down the dirt road next to our log home on their way to the pond . . . for the second time.

One of the most powerful moments of the week was on Friday night as the campers gathered around the campfire in the meadow to share about what God had done in their lives during the week.

So many kids shared, sometimes four at a time.

Sometimes they were too nervous to share, but a friend walked up with them as support while they tossed their stick into the flames and took a moment to thank their counselors, the kitchen crew, and share from the heart.

“I learned I don’t have to try to be popular.”

“I learned that He is with me, no matter what.” 

“I learned that it doesn’t matter what I look like, I am still accepted by God.”

“I learned that I am created wonderfully, and we are all miracles.” 

“I learned that the best way to make a friend is to be a friend.” 

“I learned that God created me to love.”

“The fire grew larger; the flames taller. The sunset waned and the stars slowly began to appear. Surrounded by whispering trees and the flowers of the meadow, I was overcome by the little testimonies adding to the beauty and goodness of their Creator.” —Spyro

God does incredible work with nothing but a few hearts willing to risk and to trust and to turn it all over to Him. When we are weak, well, that is when He is strong.

Boo Boo and Spyro, too!