I just got back from four days as a Cabin Leader at Valley View Bible Camp. This was the first time I have ever been a Cabin Leader and growing up I only ever attended camp twice (and not at this camp). I could only be down at camp for 4 days because of work, but they were very interesting days....
Me and Melanie were the cabin leaders for the youngest girls cabin, the Grade 2 and 3's, so they were all around 8 or 9 yrs old and there was 9 of them. It was a challenging week dealing with injuries, home sickness, fighting, tiredness, swearing, and numerous potty runs. At least the girls were not into boys yet.... We had lots of challenges mixed with a few really special moments that made all the frustration just melt away....
One of those moments was during the hay ride. This probably made my week and every time I think of it I can't help but smile. We piled about 10 or more little girls (Juniors - Grades 2-5 ish) onto a flat bed trailer with square bales in the center, to be pulled by 2 horses. Most of the girls were sitting by the edge and were warned to hold on tight...but it was much bumpier than we expected, and one of my cabin girls lost her shoe part way. We followed a trail out of the camp and up into the hills, I was sitting on the very corner holding on for dear life, but despite my efforts we hit a big bump and the 'wagon' tilted so that my butt slipped half way off....as I was holding on, trying not to fall, I felt 6 little hands grab onto my sweater and the girls were telling me " ITS OK, WE'VE GOT YOU, YOU WON'T FALL!" LOL. I know for a fact that if I had slipped off they would've all come with me!! There is no way 3 little 8 year olds could have held me on, lol. Plus if I would've slipped there were MANY cactus' just waiting to break my fall!
So thank the LORD I got myself back on and no one else fell off either. It was just too cute.
During quiet time one of the girls asked us "Does God have a magic globe like Santa?" and another one while playing in the mud pit exclaimed "This is just like swimming in chocolate milk!!" They were not allowed to say they wanted to go home because they were saying it all the time, so instead they started saying "I want to go cow's moo" LOL.
It was such a rewarding week. The whole experience kind of reminded me of my time in South Africa... All you want to do is go home and rest but at the same time you don't want to leave because you have become so attached to the kids. Most of our girls were not from church backgrounds, we are trusting that God has planted seeds in their hearts, hopefully most of them will come back next year :D
