I’ve been home for about 3 hours after a week spent with children who have been through more than any child deserves to go through. These past 6 days I’ve been a “Cousin” at Royal Family Kids Camp for young children in foster care. Just a few hours removed from that whole experience, I can honestly say that it was one of the best weeks of my life. The week was physically and emotionally draining. It was an experience unlike anything I had really ever had before. I’ve never been any kind of counselor or leader at an overnight kids camp before, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Being as shy and introverted as I am, I was a little worried about how I’d handle myself with this kind of social event. The week had its ups and downs, but overall I came out of that camp having learned and experienced a lot. Today, we all said an emotional goodbye to the children with whom we had spent a whole week, day and night, getting to know and love. As I sit in my room writing this, still processing everything that happened throughout the week, I’ve realized a few things.

1. Sometimes, it’s about obedience, not the results. Moses spent most of his adult life leading the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert towards the ultimate goal of the promised land. Years and years and years he poured into this endeavor. Yet he never stepped foot into that land full of milk and honey. He died before he could see what God would accomplish through all of his hard work. Still today, there are certain things God calls us to do of which we will never see the fruits. A camp like Royal Family Kids is one of those things. With all of the rules and laws regarding the foster children who attend this camp, it’s very possible most of us counselors will never see our campers again. We most likely won’t get to see what kind of effect this week had on the child’s life. We won’t get to see the fruits of our labors and the memories we created. But nonetheless, our labor is not in vain. God has called us to care for the “least of these” (Matt. 25:31-46). We do that in obedience to our King, not so we can feel all good inside when we see how awesome we are because of what we did. Leave the results up to God. You’ll rest easy at night knowing that even if you don’t see the results, you have done your duty, and the outcome is in God’s hands. That alone should be enough.

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“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is in the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” – Jeremiah 17:7-8

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2. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Listed second amongst the fruit of the spirit is joy. We are commanded to rejoice every day (Phil. 4:4, Psalm 118:24). Life can get hard. We all have trials and heartbreaks and pain. But the Bible assures us that the Christian life is one of joy. We aren’t to be grumpy people. How can we be? Just look around you. Look at the beauty and majesty of even the simplest things in creation. It’s amazing. Look at what love and mercy God has lavished upon us in His Son. We have every reason to rejoice and be happy in this life. Christians are not to be miserable. The joy of the Lord really is our strength. At camp this past week, my camper was a 7 year old boy who was possibly the happiest kid I have ever met in my life. He was excited about everything. He was constantly laughing with a smile on his face. And it was often over the simple things: dancing, singing, playing little games, a silly joke, food, etc. As I watched this kid just enjoy himself it showed me everything that I don’t have. This isn’t because I’m a miserable human being. I’m a relatively happy guy. But I’m a guy with a really quiet, reserved, introverted personality. I don’t show much outward excitement for things. It’s just the kind of personality I have. This kid, however, showed me a small glimpse of something Jesus may have been getting at when he told his disciples to “turn and become like children”. Be happy, Christian. Live a life full of joy. The Lord is on our side. We should be the happiest people on earth – despite whatever circumstances we may be in.

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“Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” – Psalm 47:1

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3. It’s really hard to give love, but at times it can be hard to accept it, too. I learned that it’s just hard for me to accept love sometimes. This may sound like a humble brag, like “oh look how humble I am because I know how bad I am so I won’t accept love.” But the opposite is actually true. Any refusal to accept love is one of the most prideful decisions a man can make. Whether it be God’s love or the love of another human being. As I started growing more attached to my camper for the week, it became so hard for me to realize and accept that this camper cared about me too – that he appreciated me and that maybe I did do something good for him. It was hard for me to come to grips with the fact that he loved me, in whatever way a 7 year old boy can in a weeks time. It wasn’t until the very end of the camp, as the kids were doing a small presentation of singing and dancing when I came to grips with this fact. I was late for the performance, and as soon as I arrived this kid came to me and said over and over again “Me was looking for you.” Huh. Despite my constant struggle of feeling like I wasn’t helping this kid at all and my constant belief that I wasn’t good enough, I finally realized that this kid did love me. It’s a nice story and a good lesson, but it’s far more heartbreaking when I realize this is a theme of my spiritual life too. It’s hard to accept the kind of love God is offering. With all of our failures and letdowns, it’s just tough to believe that our God could love us at all. Sometimes we just don’t want to accept His love – maybe because we just don’t feel good enough. This kind of attitude may even make us feel good inside because we’re being “humble” and “broken” over our sin. But in all truth we’re not. We’re being prideful, self-centered wretches. God has declared His love for us through the cross of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:8). The most humble thing we can do is accept that.

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“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” – Psalm 42:6-7

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4. Idle hands really are the devil’s workshop. It’s good to go home tired. We were made to work from the very beginning. Work is good. The past week was insanely busy. Spending 24 hours a day with a bunch of seven year olds is tough work, especially considering many of the backgrounds these kids have had. It’s hard work, but it’s good work. Camp really made me realize that one of our best tools for fighting evil and fighting sin in our life is by doing good. It’s really hard to sin when you’re busy doing good. This isn’t to say that I had a sinless week because I spent it helping foster kids. Far from it. Sin was still very prevalent in my life throughout camp. Some of the day-to-day temptations were gone, though. Some of the sin patterns I fight each and every day just sort of faded in the distance as I worked my butt off doing something good in the world. We aren’t saved by good works, but we are called to do them. This is just another reason why. It’s a tool in our arsenal for our war on sin.

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“Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building u, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear…Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:28-29, 31-32

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5. Getting away from everyday life is awesome. For a whole week I had no regular day-to-day worries, no phone, no news, no drama of the world. It was just a week about those kids, and it was a great feeling. Sometimes it’s good to get away. Many of the things that seem so important to us in the moment fade into the distance as soon as you get away from them. There are more important things in life than the NBA Finals, the latest hashtag trending on twitter, the Kardashians, the presidential election, and even the next episode of the Walking Dead. Stepping away from everyday life can really help us see that.

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“I am restless in my complaint and I moan, because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked…My heart is in anguish within me…fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, ‘Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wonder far away; I would lodge in the wilderness…” – Psalm 55:2-7

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The emotion and experience of a camp like this is really hard to explain. You can’t really get it unless you do it yourself. The kids who came to these camp have all been rejected. Many have been abused, and some are going back to a life that is just infected with pain. Saying goodbye is hard because you know that the light you saw in their eyes throughout the week may soon be snuffed out by the terrible situations they are going back to. It’s hard to know that these beautiful children whom you grew to love are going back to a life that is unjust and unfair. The goodbyes that were said earlier today were filled with tears by both the campers and the staff. It’s just hard and it sucks. But God is moving. He is working. He is not silent. His light cannot be put out. So as I sit here at home, not knowing how these kids are doing or what kind of life they’ve each gone back to, I’m left on my knees in prayer. The power of the gospel heals. It reaches into the darkest parts of the world and brings hope. These kids are not alone, and they are not without hope. God is there, and He cares for them more than any one of us ever could. So we pray, and we hope. Because God is in control – there are no safer hands than His.