I wish I could back and spend one day working at a job from my youth and it would be... Summer Day Camp at the YMCA!
(note: this is actually a picture from our church's VBS last year - I'm on the bottom right- because all my day camp pictures are hard copies and I don't have a scanner)
It's true, I was a summer day camp counselor for three years. I always felt that being a day camp counselor wasn't as "hard core" as being a counselor at an overnight camp, but honestly, I don't think I missed out on very much.
As a day camp counselor, I got to play, hike, climb, dance, ride, experiment.... and send the kids home at the end of the day. It wasn't always the cat's meow (temper tantrums, potty issues, snitty bosses, taking six-year olds on a hard hike), but it was pretty much a hoot hanging out with kids all day. I still laugh at some of the things kids said and did. One of my favorite parts about being a high school Spanish teacher is that we often get to do elementary-like things- so it's no surprise to me that I would find it fun to go back for one day. (But seriously, just one day. I'm a high school teacher for a reason!)
What is weird is that now, several years later, some of those same daycamp kiddos have turned into high school students and have been in my Spanish classes. They think it's weird to transition to calling me "Senorita" instead of "Miss Beth," and I think it's weird that those two stages of my life have collided.
On a semi-related thought (you'll hopefully track me in a minute), God did some nice talking to me today about Wishing. I was wishing that things were different at work as I was driving home, just wishing. Wishing is harmless, right?
I was wishing that I could teach some different classes next year. I was wishing that perhaps some changes would be made in our department. I was wishing that jobs would change.
Just wishing.
And then God reminded me that that kind of wishing does me no good at all (unlike the fun and silly wishing going on at Wishful Wednesday). The kind of wishing I was doing actually sounds a whole lot like discontentment.
Yikes. Discontentment. Not a great thing to be focusing on and living with.
And discontentment is friends with some people I don't want in my life, like envy, bitterness, and pride.
So my goal is to choose contentment- to keep working on not dwelling on the "what ifs," "if onlys," and "I wish's," and to instead focus on the positive, the beautiful, and the blessings.
Good reminder, God. Thanks.
(But I still like wishing for fun things, like someone to buy me a cup of coffee or the miraculous restoration of my kitchen!)
Such true words! Content is far better a place to be than anywhere else. Though I often wish for fun things, too. Like a supper fairy to fix dinner and wash dishes, too. :)
ReplyDeleteA lot of people picked their camp counselor jobs. I wish I could have had that experience!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful teen job! I'm sure you were a very good one too:) Our daughter loves going to her summer camps and one of the best parts (she tells us) is the counselors!! Good God reminder too btw! Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by:) Have a wonderful day!
ReplyDeleteyou're right, beth-thanks for the reminder. discontentment has been riding along with me sometiems, too lately. and bitterness keeps joining in the back seat. it reminds me of my friend debbie's words: you go where you are looking. her dad told her this when she was learning to ride a dirt bike...on a mountainside. if you look down the mountain, you will go there. but if you look in the direction you want to go, remarkably you will go there, too:) mucho love-o!
ReplyDeleteSummer camps were the best!!! I absolutely couldn't agree more about it being such a green teen job!
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