dependence

I've never had to enter a week of camp with questionable health before.  This week, by the time the kids came, I wasn't as sick as I was last week, but I still had a bad cough/cold...which I expected to get better quickly.  Except then it didn't.  And at night, I couldn't sleep because of coughing so much, which didn't do a whole lot to help my energy levels.  So I was concerned, because I wanted so much to do everything I could for my kids, and yet I knew for sure that my own strength was quickly fading.
Every morning, when I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept at all, after spending hours of the night coughing, I couldn't do anything but ask God to be my strength.  Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken."  And this week taught me that this is true.  How else is it possible that I had more than enough energy to keep up with a cabin of seven- and eight-year-olds?

I also came to realize the way being around kids at camp energizes me.  Some would say it's exhausting to be responsible for a group of children (and spend most of your time surrounded by many more) for a week, and in a way, it is.  But I also know that their excitement and joy for life becomes my own.  Being surrounded by them, by their playfulness and hilarity and all-encompassing love, is more of a blessing than anyone who hasn't experienced it can understand.

So, all in all, I am thankful for the chance to believe in a strength that is greater -- and I'm ready for whatever challenge comes next.