Breathe

Being a grown-up at camp for middle-schoolers is a rather magical thing. (Also entirely exhausting, but we’ll save that for another day.)

Of the various grown-up populations at middle-school camp, two in particular require an extra measure of inherent childlike joy and wonder – along with a willingness to expose oneself to all manner of ridicule and mess – in addition to limitless wisdom, maturity, and grace.

Exhibit A: The Leaders. These two particular leaders are husband and wife who willingly sleep in separate bunked quarters for a week (one with a group of squirrelly, aromatic, hair-gelled boys, the other with a group of giggly, chatty, accessorized girls – and yes, I admit those are loaded generalizations that are certainly not equally true of every individual member within said aromatic [read: smelly-ish] and chatty [read: what you will] groups).

These leaders – like every other leader here this week – will never get rich doing what they do. They will never get famous doing what they do. They will never advance along the path of commercial success and achievement doing what they do.

Rather, they will be plastered with mud, smeared with shaving cream, dusted with flour, dangled from ropes courses, flung from inner tubes, buried in sand, kept up late, woken up early – and they will Love (if not like) every single moment of it because in the process they will have earned the singular privilege of sharing their lives and hearts with a group of squirrelly and giggly folk that are rarely considered worthy of such time and commitment.

These leaders – like every other leader here this week – are my heroes. I am in awe of who they are and what they do.

Exhibit B: The Program Peeps. These two particular program directors are educated, experienced, gifted men who could each pursue any number of socially approved and culturally sanctioned paths to success. (They are also over 6′ tall, a fact that will enhance your interpretation of the photo below.)

These program people – like every other program team this summer – will never get rich doing what they do. They will never get famous doing what they do. They will never advance along the path of commercial success and achievement doing what they do.

Rather, they will dress, dance, sing, and speak like fools (beloved fools, to be sure), sacrifice their vocal chords (along with their dignity), expend every ounce of creativity with which their Creator endowed them, get up early, stay up late, eat on the run, stand in the sun, organize the chaos – and they will Love (if not like) every single moment of it because in the process they will have helped create a space in which the similarly exhausted and expended leaders (see exhibit A above) can share their lives and hearts with a group of squirrelly and giggly folk that are rarely considered worthy of such time and commitment.

For every grown-up in the wide world who doesn’t get kids and doesn’t get life and doesn’t get Jesus there is a God-fearing kid-loving grown-up in the even wider Kingdom who does.

Thank God for that. And for them.