We are ALL Needed

For just as the body is one and has many members,

and all the members of the body, though many,

are one body, so it is with Christ.

~1 Corinthians 12:12

We are all different. We all have different things that we are good at, that we need help with, that we can help with. We can't do it alone. If we were all the same, how would we get things done? We would have the same ideas, the same talents.

This week at camp, or 2 weeks at camp, would have been different if any one person had not shown up. Each and every person is needed and loved by the Creator, and hopefully each and every one of you felt that love at camp. Many find such friendships at camp that people become like family. But not everyone. My prayer for all is that you have a place where you know you are loved, that you know deep down in your heart that you are loved for who you are. May you find a place to share yourself and be yourself and rejoice in being you!

We could GO SOLO, but it is BETTER TOGETHER!

Call in the Reinforcements

You’re going to wear yourself out--and the people, too.

This job is too much for one person. You can’t do it alone. ~Exodus 18:18

This comes from Exodus 18. Moses had led the Israelites out of Egypt and back toward Midian. He had witnessed so many of God's miracles. He let his father-in-law, Jethro know about them. Jethro watched Moses as he judged and arbitrated between the people. Jethro watched and offered advice to Moses about getting help. About training others and delegating responsibility. He said that the tough questions can still be brought to Moses but as for the rest, others can fill that role.

Sometimes we feel that to get it done right, we have to do it ourselves. Jethro tells us to train others, impart responsibility and knowledge on others. Sometimes it takes that outside perspective to show us how and where help can be used. Moses was in the middle of it, couldn't figure out a way to not be the go-to person. Jethro helped Moses see that delegating would save time and energy to be used for the good of the people.

At camp we have about 5 directors. If we ran camp ourselves, we would wear out quickly, camp would be smaller, and it just wouldn't work as well.  So we hire summer staff: counselors, lifeguards, specialty help and spend 2 weeks training before campers arrive. We try to impart so much knowledge and ability that they can take care of most of the day to day, most of the leading. We are still there, to help with the bigger things, to give more specific help or to facilitate the camp spirit and experience but this way we can reach more campers, have more programs, and watch with joy as relationships form and grow.

Teamwork

Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,
they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging
through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.

~Mark 2:4

We get farther when we work together. If it had been me alone trying to get myself or a friend in through such a crowd of people...it probably wouldn't have happened. We come up with more ideas, have more strength, have more faith when there are more brains and bodies. I've seen studies of brainstorming sessions that go better with more people to bounce ideas off of. The creativity is higher and even better with more diversity in the group. People can come up with solutions where it looked like there was no way. We are meant for community and working together! Going solo? Better together!

This story ends with Jesus saying that he saw THEIR faith (the friends') and then he healed the man. YOUR faith can be what helps another through a tough time. When we pray for others, God hears us.

I have to do this

Esther responded to Mordecai: “Go and get all the Jews in Susa to fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for 3 days. I and my attendants will fast with you. If you do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it is against the law.”

~Esther 4:15-16

Sometimes we have to do things on our own. Queen Esther was the only one who could possibly approach the king to try to save her people. She was scared. She tried to turn down Mordecai saying that she could die if she approached without being summoned. Mordecai told her that this could be why she was in the palace and that living in the palace would not save her if the Jews were to be killed. She plucked up her courage, asked her community for support and acted. She had to do the actual action alone, but she was supported in prayer and fasting.

There are things we do on our own. There are things that are scary or uncomfortable that we wish we didn't have to do, or that someone else could do. Our inner voice tells us to step up, to speak out, to stand up to the bully even if we would rather not. We have to find our community who supports us even if they aren't physically there with us. Our parents, our friends, our church...

When I went to Malawi for the first time to teach (kindgergarten!), I knew no one there. It wasn't a problem until I got on the flight and then I worried. But it was an adventure. Then came the first day of class...and I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. I couldn't do this! They didn't speak English and I didn't speak Chichewa. I knew next to nothing about teaching kindergarten or any early childhood education. I went to the principal after that first day and tried to resign. I can't do this! I don't know what I'm doing! It was chaos!  

She sent me back to my house with the directions to journal, pray and remember that I had support in prayers from people at home, strangers who pray for the school and teachers, parents of the students and so many more.  So I did. And I went back the next day. Class was better (ish), still chaotic, and I still felt like I didn't know what I was doing, but I got to love on some students and do my best and help them to move forward.

Support comes from all around. From friends and family and complete strangers. Be the support of others. Feel your support!

I can't do it alone.

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been there for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

The sick man said, "Sir, there is no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. By the time I get there, someone else has gotten in."

~John 5:6-7

The sick man was there waiting for the angels to come down and stir up the waters. He believed that if he could get in first he would be healed, but also knew that he wouldn't be first. Jesus reaches out, asks him if he wants to be well. Jesus could have come in and healed him without asking. Who wouldn't want to be well. But that isn't what happens.

My first summer, I used the same lesson each week. This summer, I was out quite a bit camping and left the message to be given by others. Sometimes I got to hear it, sometimes not. I also found that even my message changed some week to week.

I talked of how Jesus reached out to those who others would have ignored. It was believed that the sick were being punished for some transgression and therefore unclean. It teaches us to reach out to others who are on the fringes, whom others overlook. We can offer help.

I spoke of community and how we may not know or like everyone in our community. That we can help some but probably not all of them. The Bible has directions about loving your neighbor as yourself, and who your neighbor is. It doesn't say that you have to like them, but treating others as we would want to be treated would mean that we are nice, polite, helpful to others.

Others spoke of asking for help. The sick man reached out and said that he can't do it alone. There is no way that he would be able to get to the water to be healed without help.

From my life, I remember a time when I had a flat tire. Before cell phones. But that is ok because I knew how to change a flat...so I got the tools out and began. But I didn't get far. I couldn't loosen the lug nuts. I pushed, pulled, I even stood on the wrench holding on to the top of the car, I jumped. Nothing doing. So I had to cross the highway to the rest area and call highway patrol. When he arrived, he had no problem loosening the lug nuts and changing the tire. I just had to reach out...

Community is key. We do better when we work together. Communication is necessary. It is something we should all keep working on. Reaching out offering help and asking for help.

Going Solo? Better Together

It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.

Share the work, share the wealth.

And if one falls down, the other helps,

But if there’s no one to help, tough!

If two sit together, they can keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

~Ecclesiastes 4 9-12

I often use stories and act them out with campers. On Sunday night, welcoming them to camp I read this passage to introduce the theme. Before the gathering I would get some sticks from the surrounding woods and ask for volunteers to try to break 3 at a time using only their hands. Some weeks this illustration worked and some weeks it didn't. It depended on the kids and on the sticks, but I think that the point was made. Breaking one stick is often easy but 2 or 3 is harder (though not impossible).

Some weeks I brought up the movie Solo (Star Wars) as this was the inspiration for the theme and the fact that Han Solo often wanted to do things on his own but had much more success when he worked with others.

I am reminded of many of the children I babysit for and how they want to "Do it myself" even when it takes longer or is less successful without help. How we are all looking to be independent and feel that it might be weakness to need or ask for help. But to be reminded that we are made to be in community. That we need help just as others need help. That we both give and receive help in order to thrive. 

Camp is a place where we see that we need help and can ask for it. We are trying new things, challenging ourselves and campers. Maybe we can get to a place where we don't need help, but then there will be the next challenge.  Help and community, we can help each other up. We are stronger together!

Summertime

I was back to full time at Camp Grier for my fourth summer.  A summer full of fun and kids, outdoors and bugs.  I got to go down the Tuckaseegee many times. Out rock climbing in NC and KY. Hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Mountains to Sea Trail to vistas and waterfalls.

8 weeks of camp, 2 weeks of staff training. about 30 staff and maybe 600 campers. What fun!

The theme for this summer was Going Solo, Better Together.

the opening page of the journal put it this way:

We humans are independent creatures. We often want to do it all on our own. We get frustrated when we can't. This week we will look at some people who wanted to do it on their own, but could only do it with the help of others, and some people who were all alone and knew they needed help. We will try to recognize that together we are stronger and can do so much more.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

~Helen Keller