I just woke up from a 20 hour nap!

It is not very often that I am at a loss for words. Especially when writing, I can always come up with something. After this past week I feel like I have so much to say and no way to say it.

Last Sunday afternoon, Luke and I loaded up 11 Rock Island youth kids in the van and headed to Stand Up camp, which is an inner-city camp put on by YFC. We had no idea what to expect, so Luke and I each packed our entire closets knowing that the RI kids would not possibly pack everything they needed. Halfway through the week the entire group was clothed by Luke and I's wardrobe. Ha.

One thing I learned this week is that this camp is not for the faint of heart. Most nights we were up playing "night games" (dodgeball, glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee, glowstick tennis) until 1 or 2 in the morning. I didn't go to bed before 3 the entire week and most night it was closer to 4. So to say I was sleep deprived when I got home yesterday would be an understatement, I was a zombie.

We had some slight behavioral problems, but for the most part I was very proud of the way our kids conducted themselves. They had great attitudes and I can definitely say that we will have 11 new leaders in our Rock Island program for the summer. As most people know, I'm a story-teller and I really could tell 100 stories from this week, but I will just share one small one and save the rest for future blogs.

When we pulled up to camp the first day we immediately noticed we were a little different. 3 of our boys were the only mexicans at a primarily black camp. They noticed this also and wanted to turn around and go home, but we encouraged them to give it a shot.. For most of our kids, this was their first time to be away from home for any amount of time, so we spent alot of time combatting home-sickness. So on Tuesday night I wasn't shocked to look up and see one of our girls standing by herself with big tears streaming down her face. I sat down with her for a while and through sobs she began to tell me how she didn't belong, she was home-sick and felt like she didn't fit in. She is a black girl and I begin to tell her the story of our 3 mexican boys and how they were in the minority but tried hard to be involved in everything, and how if they could do it, she could try also. As I was telling her this those same 3 boys came over to us, they had no idea why she was upset and looked very concerned. They sat down next to us and put their arms around her and asked her if she was okay, they told her if she needed anything to let them know and that she is their family. After a few tears they finally got her to start laughing and the 4 walked off together. As I saw them walk off I was certain of one thing, God sent those boys over there. The kids in the neighborhood are really coming together as a family to watch out for each other and comfort each other when they are sad.

I have been waiting for years to see the day our Rock Island kids would step across racial lines and embrace one another as family. I think it's beginning.