Catching Up...T bar M!

I'm back! I'm so sorry about the ridiculously long blogging break. So many times I would sit down to post, and then simply not even know where to start. I'm not even sure if anyone still reads this anymore, but I decided that I would post anyways.

At the end of June, I headed to New Braunfels to spend the last part of my summer working at T bar M! I had an incredible time. I was excited to find out that I would be back in my old cabin of Cut-n-Shoot. The last summer I worked at T bar M (summer 2005) I was also in Cut-n-Shoot. It brought back so many fun memories!

"SESSION 6...Get your kicks!"
The session 6 Cut-n-Shoot Cuties were L.O.C.'s. L.O.C.'s are "leaders of camp". They are the oldest kiddos at camp and are challenged to lead by example. Our girls lived up to the challenge very well. It was so neat to see the Lord begin to develop in them a heart of service and leadership. These girls were so funny...and LOUD! There was rarely a moment where we weren't laughing. We won "Cabin of the Week", but the thing that I will remember the most from Session 6 is that 4 of our girls became believers. What a blessing!!!

"Session 7...Slice of Heaven!"
I agree with our little catch phrase for the week. Session 7 really was a little slice of heaven. We had 8 and 9 year olds, which was a HUGE change from the week before. I spent so much of my time this week saying, "Hey, where's your cabin?" and "Hey, don't you think you need to wear some shoes to specialty?" I was constantly counting heads to make sure we had all of our girls, and I was pooped at the end of every day. But seriously, I am NOT complaining. These girls were so sweet and just loved being with us. I never had to look too hard to find a hug or a sweet smile. I loved it!!

I had a really sweet moment with one of the girls in my cabin during this session. "B" came on the first day and didn't want to wear her glasses. She really needed to wear them, but she was so concerned about looking different from everyone else. I told her how much I loved her glasses, and that I would wear my glasses all week with her if she would wear hers. She agreed and looked totally adorable in them. That gave us an instant bond, and I was sad to see her leave at the end of the session.

"We love the OCHO...muy muy much-o!"
I had such a special connection with ALL of my girls this week. I got so close to my sesion 8 girls. These girls were 10 and 11 year olds, and man, we had an INCREDIBLE time together. Everything from singing "Popular" from Wicked....to Hannah Montana....to getting soaked in the rain and making tons of necklaces....to our "mandatory 'snuggle' sessions" everytime we walked to the Chuckwagon. As a whole, these girls were servants. They were always looking for ways to serve us (their coaches), other cabins, and even each other. It doesn't get any better than that!

What an UNDENIABLE summer! God taught me an even deeper dependence on Him. I learned how to love even when its hard and how to surrender even when it hurts. God is so faithful, and I am so thankful for the good and the hard times that I experienced during my time at camp. My prayer each week was that my campers would leave camp changed. I wanted them to walk out of the camp gates on Saturday morning as a different person than when they arrived. I can honestly say that I did that...I left T bar M as a different person than I was at the beginning of July. God does big things through camp...not only in the campers, but in the coaches as well. I am proof of that!