Monday, July 5, 2010

Camp Blessing Texas - 2010

My first great adventure this summer was my week serving at Camp Blessing Texas, a camp for kids with special needs. I volunteered there last summer, had an incredible experience, and was looking forward to another rich time. I was also excited because this time I was taking two friends to experience the week with me- Adam McIntire and Zach Selindh.

It was, as expected, an amazing week. My camper was my little buddy, Spencer, who I had last summer and have gotten to know over the last year. Spencer is a 9 year old with autism. It was awesome to see how much Spencer has grown over the past year- using more words, giving more eye contact, showing more emotion. To the best of my knowledge, Spencer had an absolute blast during the week, and so did I.

One of my favorite memories from the week was the handshake that Spencer and I had (see picture below). It consisted of a bunch of alternating high-fives and fist-bumps, followed by me "head-butting" him in the stomach and saying "Boom!". He would always respond by smiling and saying "boom!" back.
So awesome. Another favorite moment is when Spencer figured out that I was willing for him to run at and jump on me and for us to fall to the ground. We did that for hourrrss and there were lots and lots of smiles and laughs.

In the end, the biggest blessing about spending time with Spencer is the way that Christ reveals himself to me and teaches me important lessons. Lessons about contentment, simplicity, joy, and trust. Matthew 19:14.

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