But if I'm being entirely honest the work I do doesn't feel at all like work to me. (That is, if you define work as something that you do to pay the bills but that you could really care less about - and if that's the case then I pray I never have to work a day in my life). I feel incredibly blessed to be at a place where I know that the time and energy, the sweat and the prayers, that I invest actually make a difference. Sure there are times that I have to do things that I don't enjoy as much as others but in those moments it becomes more about why I'm doing it and not what I'm doing. Reminders of the "why" for me come in various forms - at the final evening gathering around the campfire when guests share how they were brought closer to God during the week, asking a simple "how are things going for you" to a guest and ending up in a beautiful 2 hour long conversation, or being hunted down by the kids I hang out with just so that they can show me the cool bugs and rocks they found - which maybe had something to do with the fact that I shared I have a rock collection of my own. It's the simple yet meaningful moments that make work here feel like anything but. (Side note: I have the joy of allowing kids to feel like the valued treasures that they are and to just have a blast being a kid alongside with them - but can I just say it's an incredibly humbling experience to have influence into a child's life and to know that what you do and say is being internalized?)
Two more things:
1. You never know what you might end up doing during a summer at the ranch. I spent a week becoming a pro at setting and waiting tables and doing other kitchen-y type tasks, and this past week I returned to familiar territory as a tweens leader. I've also gained some new skills this summer, like how to cook scrambled eggs in mass quantities (and I do mean mass), how to make fancy knots, and how to scale 50 foot poles without falling to my death. The knot tying and pole climbing would make more sense if I also added that I'll be working down at the new rock climbing wall and zipline this summer (super excited!) - so in addition to balaying and being responsible for others' lives I have to take my life into my own hands to scale that pole for setting things up. Even though my parents are probably reading this and thinking I'm crazy, I really do love it.
2. I've always wanted to pick up a hitchhiker. But being a female and usually driving alone I've never actually considered doing it. So last weekend I was in a car with several staff headed to a place just few miles up the road and we ran across these two guys with huge packs on their backs, walking down the road in the rain. Without much of a second thought, we stopped and picked them up (again, call us crazy but it seemed like the right thing to do... and it was). They were full fledged hitchhikers, alright (well, minus, the hitch). Turns out they were hikers who took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up miles away from where they wanted to be. Besides saying that they spent a good chunk of time with us afterward, the details of the situation aren't important except for what they told us afterward: in making that wrong turn on the trail they ended up in just the right place to meet us which ended up being a huge blessing to them. I don't include that to toot our own horns but to raise a question: In light of the end result, was their decision on the hiking trail really so wrong? Because for them, and even for us, it sure did end up being the right thing to happen. Hmm. Guess then that sometimes its the "wrong" turns in life bring us to just where we need to be.
On that note, best be getting off this computer now. It's my afternoon off, and it's too nice of a day to spend it all staring at a screen.
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