RFKC--Day 2/3 A week that will change my life!

RFKC--Day 2/3
Howdy friends and family! The last two days have definitely been interesting! The campers are settling in well and starting to enjoy camp!
Some of these kids are so hungry for attention (and food) that they will go to extreme measures to get either of these! I got the privilege of experiencing that...
My job at this camp is to lifeguard and be a relief "big camper". While in the pool Tuesday, one of the girls was playing and swimming along happily and then she began to swim away from the others. I watched her carefully and she seemed to be ok. She was snorkeling but gradually her swimming became less active. I kept a close eye on her when her swimming just stopped. She was face down in the pool--and for any lifeguard, that is a heart stopping moment.
I quickly alerted another big camper who was near her in the water and she tapped her on the head thinking that she would pop up and respond. No luck. By now my heart started to pump a little quicker. The big camper tapped her again, only to be answered with no response again! I quickly threw off my glasses and shirt (yes, I had my suit on underneath) and jumped in. As I turned her over, she had a glazed look in her eyes and I was praying that everything would be ok. I very calmly called her by name (and for those of you who know me know that I can get very excited about certain things)and told her that she needed to respond and answer me. With the other girls watching, she looked up at me as I was swimming her to the side still 'dazed'. I quietly told her that she was ok and that she could stop acting at any moment. As I pulled her out of the water, she said to me, "I'm fine, what's the big deal?"
Talk about heart wrenching. This young girl was so hungry for attention that she went to drastic measures just for one on one time.
Over the course of the next 10 minutes I told her that she needed to sit with me on the side of the pool so that I could 'observe' her and make sure she was ok. (In other words, I gave her a time out!)I talked with her about why she did that and her response was simply, "I want attention!" I told her that there were so many other ways to get attention and that wasn't a good choice. As the day went on, I made sure to try to compliment her on the little things or just say hi to her when I saw her. My heart went out to this girl.
Wednesday brought new opportunities to get to know the kids. Funny thing is, the Lord brings these opportunities at the craziest times! For me, the opportunity was while driving go-karts with the shorter campers! I was driving around with a little girl and she wanted so badly to be able to drive--so I gave her that chance! I ran the gas pedal and she ran the wheel...talk about insane! That was my moment of insanity! She screamed and giggled while I held on for dear life! As we were finishing the last lap on the course, she let me take control of the wheel and laid her head on my shoulder and said, I don't get to live with my Mommy any more. I miss her. But you made my day really fun! As I pulled into our slot to park, she just continued to snuggle up to me...and once again, I had to hold back the tears. There were no words of advice to give, nothing to say, just a shoulder to provide and a side hug to give--nothing needed to be said. Today was about making moments matter--even if it was in the go-kart. The cool thing for this little girl is that the photographer captured that moment and she will have it in her scrapbook that we are making for her.
From my moment making opportunities to yours, have a great day!

A week that will change my life...Day 1 RFKC

Howdy friends and family! I am writing to you tonight from a 2012 Royal Family Kids Camp—This afternoon as we were wrapping up our afternoon activities, we asked one of the campers to pray over supper. A little boy volunteered. He did a typical prayer, “Lord, thank you for the food and the fun day we had and Lord, thank you for letting me survive my first birthday and keeping me alive during the surgeries I have had. Amen”
Talk about being caught off guard! I was sitting next to the director and the nurse and neither of us had dry eyes. It’s so hard to imagine what some of these kids have gone through. The director shared with me that the little boy had to have a plate put in his head before his first birthday because of what his Mom had done to him. My heart was truly broken.
This evening before bed, I had the privilege to pass out the blankets that Joyce donated and we tied. I went with the camp Grandpa and Grandma to hand them out. The look on one little girls face was priceless. She grabbed her blanket and asked, “Who gave this to me?” The camp Grandma looked at her and said, “Miss Jen made it for you with another lady from her church.” She hugged the blanket tightly to her chest and said, “No one has ever given me anything like this before! Thank you! I love it!”
As we passed out the blankets to the other kids, it was so hard to hold back the tears that were filling my eyes. For some of these kids, it was just like Christmas morning. They were so excited to get something that was all their own.
As I was wrapping up the night, one of the privileges that I have is to be relief for the big campers and spend time with the little campers. While we are in the room, we get to read them a story, tuck them in and play worship music for them to go to sleep on. The other leader in the room asked one of the little girls if she would like her to tuck her in. She said no and turned her back away from that leader. The leader tried several times to tuck her in and each time she was answered with “No.” A few minutes later, I came by and asked her if it would be ok if I tucked her in and she said “I guess so.” She was very quiet and shy and I told her that I was so excited to see her when she woke up in the morning. She turned over immediately asked me if I was serious and I told her that I was. A huge smile spread across her face and she said that she couldn’t wait either.
From my widened, emotional picture window to yours, have a great week!