The shape of my heart

Hey everyone! This could potentially be the last post before we head home.. so I'll try to make it a good one. We had an amazing last week of camp. I can't even begin to explain all the experiences we have had in the past three weeks, but I can tell you God knows what He is doing and it is a privilege to be part of it. We started out this week with the death and resurrection of Christ. The children had so many questions, many that only God can answer and it is so inspiring. These children that are seven and eight years old were just asking questions that I haven't even ever thought about - there is no doubt God used these children to teach me how to grow in my relationship with Him.

Our week continued with teaching the children about the Great Commission, as well as the story of Paul and Silas. We were able to buy them all picture frames and put a group picture in each so that they could remember their time with us. They really loved them, and I am sure they all took the home and put them in a special place.

Today went by so quickly. We began our day with our last field trip. We went to the water park again, which the children were certainly thrilled about. We spent our morning there and then headed back to camp for lunch. After lunch, the children took their nap as usual, and we set up everything for the big luau. They woke up to a room filled with candy, oreos, etc. and an unlimited supply of Sprite and Orange Juice. After they were all sugared-up, we taught them how to do a limbo (I will just say they didn't exactly get, but they had fun anyway). Then it was time to say our goodbyes.... and boy was that hard. Tears were shed all over the room. Seeing the children cry just made us not want to leave and cry even harder. We can't imagine our lives without these 21 children and our 3 fellow teachers. It's mind boggling to think that less than 20 days ago we didn't know these children and now they are in our lives forever. God has and will continue to use them to mold our lives for His future. We will always have 14 days of each others lives in which we are the only ones who can truly understand what happened.

As we pack our bags and head home... we are all beginning to reflect and find how this experience God gave us will affect our lives we left at home. We pray for open hearts (on both sides) to hear about what happened while we have been away. We pray that these young children will continue to allow God to work in their hearts. We pray that the seeds planted will continue to be watered and get stronger. We serve a great God, a God bigger than our wildest imagination, a God that's so personal He cares about our every need - what an amazing opportunity we have had to serve Him here in China. Pray for China!