RFK Camp Big Ideas

This week was my 16th year of Royal Family Kids Camp.  Because they rotate through 5 themes (interrupted every 4 years by the Olympic theme), this is the third time I have experienced the year in which the Bible story is Joseph.  It is, hands down, my favorite theme.  That's not to negate the years in which we teach campers about Esther or David or Daniel, but there is something about the Joseph story that resonates with these kids because Joseph was part of an extremely dysfunctional family - I mean, his brothers made him a victim of human trafficking, for heaven's sake.  It is also because it is my favorite collection of Big Ideas (that's the name for each day's takeaway from the drama, the story, the object lesson, and the puppets).  All of the Big Ideas are great, but there is just something special about the collection of Big Ideas in the Joseph year.  They are important for our campers because of their life experiences, but I'm writing about them today because they are important for EVERYONE.

God is Trustworthy, Even When Things Are Hard - The connection to our campers is obvious here, but this year, it struck me more than ever what an important message this is for all of us.  During the pandemic lockdowns, I wrote to each of my students.  I wrote this exact thing in the cards I sent (although I think I added the word faithful).  Life is often hard, and being a Christian doesn't always make it easier; in fact, Jesus warned us that most of the time, following Him would make things harder.  Yet, we know that God is sovereign, which should be comforting because it frees us from the need to understand everything.  We can trust that he knows how the puzzle pieces fit together when we can't see the top of the box.

God Helps Me Make Choices - Kids from abusive backgrounds have few choices.  They didn't choose to be removed from their homes.  They don't choose to be moved in the middle of the night from one placement to another, and they certainly wouldn't choose to have it happen 8 times in two years, which one of our kids has had.  I'm not sure they even choose to come to camp.  However, like everyone, they will be faced with choices in their lives, and they need training in making them.  To that end, we have structured camp to give them tons of choices - about food, activities, what colors they want to make things, whether they want to swim in the deep end of the pool, and a million other things.  But we also talk to them about their biggest choice, whether to respond to God's Word.  And while we encourage them to do that, we know that only God can draw them to that choice.  This is true for all of us.  As we decide how to respond to God and his Word, he will help us make those choices. 

God Has Great Plans for Everyone - Before leaving for camp on Saturday, I asked a friend to pray for us and messaged him with some specifics.  One of the things I put in that message was about the cognitive effect of abuse and neglect.  It puts our kids in a constant state of alert for danger.  When your brain is in a perpetual state of fight or flight, there is little to no capacity to think about the future.  When our ancestors were running from a sabertooth tiger, they didn't think about what they would do the next day or what story they would tell around the fire.  They worried about surviving the moment.  While I thought a lot about the future as a child, hoping first to be an astronaut and then a vet, a pharmacist, and a physical therapist, until God finally showed me that I was going to teach physics, our campers don't necessarily have the cognitive capacity for that.  The activities we do for them often involve planning and overcoming challenges.  We want them to have a mental imprint of building something out of wood and then designing how to paint it.  We want them to look back on being nervous about riding a horse and then having the feeling of accomplishment after having done it.  We want them to discover a potential skill in engineering or artistry or sports and then have conversations with them about how they might use that skill in the future because we want them to think about having a future.  

But just yesterday, I was having an online conversation with a former student about God's plans.  He had posted a rather nihilistic image about how we work 8 hours to live for 4 and how we work 6 days to live for 1.  It was concerning to me that he thought work wasn't part of his life.  He responded that not everyone has the luxury of enjoying their jobs (like he didn't know that I spent some time cleaning arena bathrooms for minimum wage). What I told him is what I tell all of my students.  Whatever God puts in front of you to do each day IS your life, whether that is work or recreation or reading a book; and how we do it is an act of worship.  God has great plans for everyone.  Sometimes, those plans are big things, which is what we usually think about; but sometimes, those plans are about having a conversation with a co-worker, participating in a workout, or having dinner with a friend.  My friend Ben will appreciate it if I use this question and answer from the Westminster shorter catechism - Q: What is the chief end of man.  A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.  This is what gives all of life and work and play dignity and value in service to God, whether you enjoy your job or not.  

God Helps Me Forgive - I don't need to write much about this one.  While our campers have some deep wounds from things that should never happen to them, we also know that unforgiveness leads to bitterness and resentment.  Most of us don't have injuries in our lives as deep as theirs, but we all have people in our life that we need to forgive.  We also know that we cannot forgive in our own strength or out of our own sinful nature.  Only God can put forgiveness in us.  This was communicated to our campers by those in charge of the program, but it was also communicated to the staff in our devotion time with the directors by telling us a story of forgiving her father by praying, "God, I don't feel this and can't do it.  Please put forgiveness in me."  She asked it for years until God finally did put that forgiveness in her.  

God Can Bring Good Out of Bad - At the end of the story of Joseph in Genesis 50 is one of the most well-known lines in the Old Testament, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."  It can be hard for us to see how anything good can come out of bad situations, yet we know it does.  We all have a story we can tell about a time when things didn't happen the way we wanted them to, but now we are glad for that.  It doesn't mean we are glad the bad thing happened, but it means we are grateful that God can make good come from anything.  His plans are bigger and deeper and greater and more complex than we can ever fathom.  

I can't share photos that include campers' faces, but this picture is okay.  This is a child wrapping her flannel shirt around a cold adult.  It was a sweet moment of love and care that wouldn't have happened if situations were ideal.  When looking for how God brings good out of bad, it doesn't always have to be big things.  It can be moments like this one.

So, to bring this full circle, it is best if we remember that he is sovereign and we are not and that we would make terrible gods.  Then, we can trust him when things are hard and have the capacity to make choices and forgive and fulfill His plans for us, knowing that he will work things for his glory and our good.

One Student - Many Influences

This weekend, GRACE held our annual senior dinner.  I'm pretty sure I write about it every year, and I may share the same insight each time.  That is because each year, I am grateful that students have more than one teacher in their lives.

At our senior dinner, each student is spoken about by a teacher who signed up specifically for them.  Because we are limited to 200 words, each speech must cut to the heart of the matter, reflecting the character of each student.  While I love giving my own speeches, what always impresses me are the speeches of other teachers about students that I teach as well.  I get to hear stories about them that make me smile and some that reinforce what I already know.  But, the ones that always strike me are the ones that tell me something I didn't know about that child.  A student who is driving me crazy has a teacher who sees perseverance in them.  A student that I may view as a clique leader is seen by another teacher as a loyal friend.  The same may also be true in the reverse.  I may find a student delightful that another teacher would have described as foolish.

This night always reminds me why it is so good that students have more than one teacher in their lives.  Back in the days of the one-room schoolhouse, when students had the same teacher from kindergarten through high school, they only learned one philosophy of the world, one view of education, and only had one voice recognizing who they were.  While there is much that is flawed in our current system, I maintain that it is good for students to have as many as 45 teachers in their K-12 school experience.  That's 45 voices speaking into their lives about who they are and what their potential is.  While some of those teachers will not see the promise of that student's life, others will.  While that child may not respond well to the teaching style of one teacher, another teacher will spark a love of math or reading or art or history that will last a lifetime.  

A student doesn't have to experience education in one way.  Some teachers allow students unlimited retakes, instilling a sense of grace in a student that may inspire them to do more with that second chance.  Other teachers are strict about deadlines, teaching students the importance of following through on commitments.  A student needs both of those lessons, and they cannot get them both from the same teacher.  Some teachers are focused on making learning fun; others teach students that something doesn't have to be fun to be valuable.  These are both great things for students to experience.  We sometimes sacrifice common sense on the altar of consistency, but students need to see that adults can have a variety of philosophies and still respect and love each other (because they are, for sure, not seeing that on social media).  As we approach teacher appreciation week, appreciate that teacher that challenges your student in a way others have not or makes them see things differently than other teachers have.  Honor the teacher that makes your student uncomfortable because they have to change the way they think.  

A few years ago at a Learning and the Brain conference, Dr. David Daniel delivered a keynote in which he talked about the art of applying the science of learning to our classrooms.  He said, "Don't run from complexity.  Honor it."  

Teaching students how to adapt to people with different views honors the complexity of education, the complexity of students, and the complexity of the world.