Dear Diary,
I left camp overnight to go visit my sister Becca and my mom in Redmond Or. I don’t know if you remember this or not, Becca and her husband Charlie have two little girls Risa (5) and Viera (2). We all had a very full and fun girls day together; going out to coffee, antique store browsing as we dreamed up house décor designs, the farmers market, an hour at the splash pad for the girls, and Mexican food for dinner.
My first favorite part of the day was when both of the girls each let me do their hair. It felt like special auntie/niece experience, I love the little moments!
My second favorite part of the day was shopping for a few different care packages to take back with me to camp:
Finishing up shopping for Dave’s birthday on July 15th, our friend Jess’s birthday is July 20th, and a WC teen working here at camp who has some tangible needs that started becoming obvious in the first few days we were here.
I’m going to just use initials for names when I write about WC or Summer Staff (SS) teens because I’m fully aware that this is still the internet. I don’t want to exploit their stories in a way that connects names and experiences to strangers they don’t know. That said, some amazing things are happening and I need to share snippets of here. If for no other reason, I don’t want to forget the story God is writing this month.
D.G. is technically a homeless teen who came to camp last month with their area and God moved in their heart. This kid is hilarious to me, so quirky and unique, for instance a favorite joke/entry into engaging with conversation is to regularly say something about how they’re an Alien, haha! To which I almost always try to egg-on by saying something like, “Okay, mista Alien, how’s it going in space today?” or something equally ridiculous.
While I was in Redmond my mom, sister, and the girls went to Ross with me. We got to shop for D.G. getting some basic clothing necessities, some new shoes to replace their current 3-year-old worn out pair, a new durable backpack to store all the new items, a couple pairs of shorts to offer some variation to the sweat pants they have been rocking in the 85 degree weather. As my nieces helped pick things out, I kept hoping this will be a memory they remember when they grow up. When I get back to camp we will add an insulated Young Life water bottle and a few other things that will serve this student well as they go back to the challenges of real life at the end of this month.
The part of this story that I want you to hear though isn’t that I got to go shopping for a WC kid, I want you to hear how God is moving in peoples hearts. I have witnessed such incredibly deep generosity from people. When we brought the concern to our WC Program Director (idk if that’s Eddie’s actual title or not but he is the dude in charge of all the WC teens). Eddie immediately said, “Yeah, let’s see what we can do!”. Within 24 hours, he had a couple anonymous financial adult supporters sorted out here on the ground at camp who made it possible for me to go to Ross and find some quality brands/items for this kid. They are going to give D.G. the bag of ‘Many Things’— as we’ve been lovingly calling it— in a day or two (7/9/22). My hope is that D.G. will feel the love of Christ lavishly in that moment as Dave (WC Boss) & Eddie (WC program director) hand over the bag with everything in it, letting this kid know, “This is yours now.” Simple and sweet.
Yesterday, we sang a song by Elyssa Smith called, ‘Make Room’, at all camp worship in the morning before the campers arrived. It’s been on replay in my mind ever since, it goes:
“Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better
Your way is better
And I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
I will make room for You
To do whatever You want to
To do whatever You want to
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I’m chasing now
This is my surrender
This is my surrender.”
Maybe, this is what happens when we make space for Yahweh to move? The more room I’m making for God to do whatever he wants to; the more he is shaking up the ground of all my tradition and continuing to break down the walls of my “religion”. I feel like so much has been brought to life the last few days since we started assignment, I can’t wait to see what happens next in this story, and how it will give continued glory to the Lord.
You guys, my Jesus is compassionate, and steadfast in love. Praise be!
All my love,
Melissa
Compassionate Odyssey 