And so the madness begins.

So the first week of campers has come and gone.. and it feels like it's been a lot more than just a week. I can safely say that days are a bit longer when you're here at Camp Oak Hill. There's so many different things about camp that are different than real life, that it's kind of hard to believe it's all really going on.

This week's been amazing for many different reasons though.

For starters, I have 13 new best friends. The guys that were in the cabin were all really cool kids and all a bit crazy in their own way. Although I was one of three counselors for our cabin it was hard sometimes keeping up with all of them. Being kids that were going into the 6th grade it's hard to expect them to be angel children but they weren't far from it. I honestly feel bad telling the other staff how good my kids were cause I feel like they get annoyed.

My prayer is that the time Matt and Casey (other two counselors) and I got to spend with them is not something they forget and is something that God uses to affect their lives. I'm not saying that I wish they wish they could be like us... I'm saying that I hope they saw Christ in us and want to be like that.

Another cool part to the week was rotations. I was running the field rotation for the week so I got to meet every kid from each cabin. It was an awesome, yet humbling experience being the one to lead field though. I didn't realize how different each group of kids would be and how different the games I'd try and do for each one would have to be... definitely showed me that I have a lot to learn still when it comes to kids.

Also, dealing with a crying camper that didn't get the place he wanted in line in kickball because he got cut is a lot harder to handle than it seems.

The other thing about this week that I've loved is hanging with the rest of the staff at the end of the week. Yesterday and today have been a blast and been because of how cool and personable and loving the rest of the counselors are here. I love hearing comments like "the staff last year didn't hang out like this" because it makes me feel like God's the one bringing together the staff this year... not because of anything the we've done.

One thing I need desperately is patience and wisdom. Although the kids I had in my cabin were awesome there were definitely times where I was in desperate need of patience to stick through certain problems. Not only that, but also I've needed wisdom more than my own to handle situations that are super awkward [obviously talking about middle-schoolers here].

I know that as time goes on and I get more and more tired it's going to get tougher. But my goal hasn't changed yet and neither has the One who gives me strength to reach it.

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called children of God; and such we are..." -- 1 John 3:1

-Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)