it's amazing what spending a long weekend with 93 kids could teach 1 adult, me. the adage "never stop learning" was certainly true-to-form.
God all around me
i've always told my students, "lose a game but never lose the lesson." the lesson applies not only to games and contests, but with material things as well. my wallet and cellphone got stolen the night before the kids arrived. i was calm about the whole thing (what's lost is lost, after all) and actually only felt bad about the small things i couldn't have again.
come thursday night prayers, the prayer leader asked the kids to think about God's presence in the day's activities. leave it to foolish me to ask, "where were you, God?" and He replied. "my child, I was in the blanket that kept you warm last night; I was in the people who stayed up with you and worried with you; I was in the shade of the tree that kept you cool this afternoon. you need not look far. I am everywhere. I surround you." cue the tears (i seem to do this every jya camp!). of course, i never doubted that He was there; it was just so strong to hear it come from Him Himself.
only God is perfect.
simple human error can turn what i thought was a well-planned activity into utter chaos. thankfully, calm, common sense, cooperation, and responsibility were a-plenty, and THAT is the perfection God had in mind, no matter how many colors of paper i used.
kids DO grow up
i hardly heard from the COJ kids this year compared to last year; they've successfully blended in with the rest and have made friends beyond school colors. my own niece and nephew hardly looked for me too, except when there was a frog near their bag or a bug in their tent. i guess i needed them more than they did me. it's a happy kind of sad.
family makes for a strong presence
there's nothing like the sight of family members to make you feel so loved. i somehow know that aly and freddie did not only come for their kids, but for me as well. dinner under the tent that night was nothing different from the family gatherings we share... and we were surrounded with friends we considered "family" as well. then there were the COJ parents and classmates from JOD, and my boss (not to mention her daughter, who now lovingly calls me "ninang", that stuck by me all saturday night). ligaya has become my family.
i signed-up to serve the jya camp and got served instead. there really is no losing when you serve the Lord. i truly am BELOVED.
God all around me
i've always told my students, "lose a game but never lose the lesson." the lesson applies not only to games and contests, but with material things as well. my wallet and cellphone got stolen the night before the kids arrived. i was calm about the whole thing (what's lost is lost, after all) and actually only felt bad about the small things i couldn't have again.
come thursday night prayers, the prayer leader asked the kids to think about God's presence in the day's activities. leave it to foolish me to ask, "where were you, God?" and He replied. "my child, I was in the blanket that kept you warm last night; I was in the people who stayed up with you and worried with you; I was in the shade of the tree that kept you cool this afternoon. you need not look far. I am everywhere. I surround you." cue the tears (i seem to do this every jya camp!). of course, i never doubted that He was there; it was just so strong to hear it come from Him Himself.
only God is perfect.
simple human error can turn what i thought was a well-planned activity into utter chaos. thankfully, calm, common sense, cooperation, and responsibility were a-plenty, and THAT is the perfection God had in mind, no matter how many colors of paper i used.
kids DO grow up
i hardly heard from the COJ kids this year compared to last year; they've successfully blended in with the rest and have made friends beyond school colors. my own niece and nephew hardly looked for me too, except when there was a frog near their bag or a bug in their tent. i guess i needed them more than they did me. it's a happy kind of sad.
family makes for a strong presence
there's nothing like the sight of family members to make you feel so loved. i somehow know that aly and freddie did not only come for their kids, but for me as well. dinner under the tent that night was nothing different from the family gatherings we share... and we were surrounded with friends we considered "family" as well. then there were the COJ parents and classmates from JOD, and my boss (not to mention her daughter, who now lovingly calls me "ninang", that stuck by me all saturday night). ligaya has become my family.
i signed-up to serve the jya camp and got served instead. there really is no losing when you serve the Lord. i truly am BELOVED.
14 comments:
i'm glad ligaya made us family twice over.
AMEN! same here :)
loved the line: "i guess i needed them more than they did me. it's a happy kind of sad"
that was true for parents like me who longed to communicate with the kids through texts and they said they were just too busy.
It's great to read your learnings and reflections when here I am simply chilling out and giving a big sigh of relief that it's all over.
So does that mean you'll serve again next year??? Mwa ha ha.
i think we all heaved a big sigh last sunday! just have to make an appointment at the spa :)
i'd love to serve until i see julian sent off to YA. by then, he'd be in high school! let's take it a summer at a time. i feel all camped out this year (jya was the 2nd of 4 camps, the 4th being a 21-day camp in july) and i might be back in school next summer... but if the schedule fits and the Lord wills... :)
for mama aly...
and then, when you ask them, "how was camp?", they just answer, "fine."
grrr :)
wow i was looking at the time you and aly were conversing...does the staying-up-late-till-the-weeeee-hours-in-the-morning run in your family?
kidding aside...your reflections were inspiring.,,but i am in DEEP gratitude to you for helping me out with the orienteering esp with the !!COLORS!!. haayyy..you were heaven sent. normally, i would try to do them by myself(because i didn't want anybody else to get loose sleep) but i guess your "insomia" came as a blessing..hehehe.
each JYA camp is truly a learning experience. god just reshapes, prunes and polishes me. this happens because of the god-blessed wonderful mystery of children.
thank you les!
aaah yes... the colored paper that could not be seen in pitch darkness! :)
you're most welcome, jr! i know what you mean about working alone. i operate the same way and have yet to learn how to ask for help. i'm just thankful that i was surrounded by people who were sensitive and eager to lend a hand. on hindsight, maybe that's precisely the reason why the Lord made you color-challenged... for you to know that you need not work alone and so others can help you. i was just at the right place and at the right time with insomnia. :)
speaking of which... it IS probably a family thing. you haven't heard about my mom who works sleepless nights. we used to have PC marathons until 9 a.m.
as for the kids, yes, they are a wonder-full mystery... every aldrin, j, and nick. and i think that it's such a blessing that we get to be surrounded by them in the summer, if not the whole year.
every celine, les and jr are blessings to the kids who think they are being served... actually these JYA servants just come for their free dose of the "thank-you-God-for-amazing-me-through-the-kids" vitamin. it's habit forming.
thank you for serving our children, thank you for serving us. may your tribe increase.
It's really a blessing to everyone when they go to camp. Even though i was "saling pusa", i still enjoyed and realized that YA is not at all scary. God also let me realize that i will always be part of JYA and that we all need to move on. Haaay...i also missed that camp even though i was not part of it.
ok lang 'yon, erika! looks like we had some success with YA staffing this year. you might be able to be a part of the JYA staff next year :) you can even be camp directress if you want.. hehe
hmmm...thanks for letting me realize one great reason why God made me color-challenged...very humbling indeed!
yupyup..i agree with the barbiegirl erika...you can be a camp directress someday. in God's time..it will be the past JYAers who will be staffing the whole camp. hmmm..that sounds like a blessed idea.
thank you thank you thank you for being there at camp with out kids... even if you didn't feel the kids needed you there, i needed you there!! thanks for making arianna feel beloved. she continues to wear her bead cross choker and to practice-till- perfect "prince of peace" on her guitar... :)
you're welcome, mommy freckle-face! tamang-tama, arianna can play that at the reunion! :)
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