Psalm 71 “Forsake me not when my strength is spent.”
I spent the summer of 1997 as a camp counselor. I was a nursing student and I stumbled across a camp for kids with disabilities that needed cabin counselors. Summer camp was a big part of growing up for me and I needed something to do for a summer so I said yes. I had no idea how exhausting and impactful it would be. Each week we welcomed kids with similar abilities. Campers included those with diabetes, sickle cell anemia, Spina Bifida, Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, cancer and more. These kids were given the opportunity to camp with campers like themselves and they were provided whatever they needed to make it in a cabin in the woods for a week. I recall hiking with electric wheelchairs, feeding kids smores, swimming, helping with showers, brushing teeth, and learning so much. Some of the campers required one to one care for their basic daily needs. Night time seemed to be just as busy as the daytime with trips to the bathroom for those who needed help or those that needed an extra hug. This was the first time in my life that I was taking care of someone other than myself and sacrificing my needs for another. Their needs were great and I didn’t sleep much. I don’t think I showered much either. The exhaustion I felt at the end of a week was comparable to the feeling of being a parent. I only realized this when I became a parent and recognized the same foggy haze of sleeplessness brought on by putting someone else’s needs above my own. The exhaustion was worth it, but I recall praying for strength…. A lot! And I can say, without a doubt, that God carried me through. I look back on that experience through the eyes of a parent now and I know how important that week was to the parents behind the camper. It was a gift that I didn’t even know I was giving.
I was naive and ignorant going into that summer, but God was present and carried me through. It wasn’t a camp for kids with disabilities. It was a camp for kids made in the image of God. They were delightful and funny and I am so honored to have been a part of their camp experience. Little do they know how much they impacted me.
Psalm 71:3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
I love that we can continually come to God with our needs. He is available day and night and is never exhausted by our requests.
Shelly