lessons from camp

Amanda (of Wittingshire) spent a week at Bible camp this summer where for two hours each day she taught a class of Junior High girls. She says of these girls:

About half the girls knew who Moses was and could find various books in the Bible. The rest were, to a greater or lesser degree, at sea.

And they had a lot on their minds. Some of them, I learned, chronically missed their mothers, who had to work long hours because absent fathers didn't pay enough child support.

One girl had a father at home, but he didn't like her to go to church. "What do you want to waste time with that for? That's such a load of bull," he'd tell her....

Another girl announced that her grandma had a new boyfriend, and that they had the bedroom next door, so she had to listen to them at night....

I spent all week praying for those girls, but as so often happens, the people I want to bless ended up blessing me. In this case, it happened mostly because of a girl who was different from the others. She had Down Syndrome.

You'll love Amanda's funny and thoughtful account of her week of camp, and its sequel. Read it here.