so i'm spending my summer at kids across america, serving as dhdl, dining hall discipleship leader--essentially, i run the kitchen but don't cook the food. the girls under me are called "komos," and we're in charge of all the cleaning and serving, but the cooks actually cook the food. let's just say we spend 12ish hours in the kitchen every day--about 4 hours each meal. we have 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 2 dinners each day, serving about 500 people 3 times a day. needless to say, it's an absolutely exhausting job, but definitely rewarding. the kampers are inner-city kids from all over the country, and they come for 8 day sessions. session 2 wraps up tomorrow and session 3 starts on the 17th. crazy. also, 3 kamper sessions equal 1 staff term, so my komos change every term. this first term has gone by so quickly!
i feel like for the last two years i really haven't had to think outside of me and my family. i mean, in grief it's understandable, but going into this summer i think i was just really ready to focus on someone else besides myself. also, after being so wrapped up in the seminary world, i think i was just craving an opportunity to do hands-on ministry rather than just learning about it in a classroom. all of that to say, this position has fulfilled both of those desires....and it is REALLY stretching me. it is draining on every level--physically, emotionally, and spiritually. however, i think it's a good place for me to be, because i'm realizing how little i have to offer on my own, and when i'm running on empty i have no choice but to turn to the Lord. it's been interesting, and i feel like after a whole summer of it, i might come out of it a different person. i guess one of my biggest fears is that it'll just turn into a job and at the end of the summer i'll look up and won't have taken advantage of my time here.
i've been hanging out in the psalms a lot recently, so i'll leave you with a few verses from psalm 73 that i can't get out of my head.
psalm 73.25-26,28: "whom have i in heaven but you? and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides you. my flesh and my heart may fail, but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. but for me it is good to be near god; i have made the lord god my refuge, that i may tell of all your works."
and finally, go download one of my new favorite songs: "bless the lord (son of man)" by tye tribbett & g.a.
