Week 10: COR… Counselors Occupied Rigorously
Yes, as you can probably tell by the title, this was a busy week. We often joke about COR (Counselor on Rotation) standing for Counselor on Relaxation, but that was not the case this week. We did the most varied jobs that i’ve ever done while on COR. Here’s a partial list of what we did: sorted soda/pop/coke can from the trash, security, supervised the boat docks, moved picnic tables, restocked soda machines, inventoried air conditioner filters, scrubbed algae off of 25 boats, deep-cleaned the guys floor of the JBC dorm 
, cleaned trash cans, set up for games, set up water for after the games, prevented guy/girl mingling in the dark after evening games, deep-cleaned Willie & Sarah’s new house, and helped Willie and Sarah move to their new house.
Most of those things are normal COR responsibilities, with the exception of the cleaning the Partin’s house and helping them move, but they don’t normally all happen in the same week. But as it was the last week, they wanted to get as much done as possible. Normally there is some time set aside for us to sleep on COR, but there wasn’t any of that this week. So why was i helping Willie and Sarah move? Well, one of the families at the camp, the Del Porto’s, are moving to Arizona to help with a camp out there. Also, Willie and Sarah are starting to outgrow the trailer they are living in right now. So it was decided that they should move into the house where the Del Porto’s were living. They moved out in the first half of the week, so on Thursday after supper we went over and deep cleaned what was the Del Porto’s house (vacuumed, scrubbed floors, washed windows, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, etc). We actually ended working through the service, as we have an early service on Thursday. Then on Friday after supper with a couple of the full time guys (Rand, Ranger Rick, Matt Herbster, Matt Tracy, etc) we moved almost everything from their trailer to their new house. I must say about 10 guys with about 5 pickup trucks is an exciting way to move. So Willie and Sarah are moved into a larger house now, which is good as i believe Sarah is expecting again (i forget exactly when). I believe the Taylors are moving into the trailer that Willie and Sarah were in. They just had their first little guy, Braden, a couple weeks ago.
As I didn’t have campers this week, i got to be a prayer partner for one of the other counselors on my team. It was neat to see God work in the life of one his campers in particular. On Thursday night he came out and got a lot of things right (music, friends, attitude, etc) and then on Friday I got to counsel him after the service and he surrendered to full time Christian service. That was pretty neat.
When I was a camper, one of my favorite things about camp was Christian Life Seminar. Christian Life Seminar (CLS) is service where one of the camp staff (Rand, Matt, Willie, or Scott this year) preaches/teaches on an area that teens particularly struggle with. It’s a very practical session. During CLS the counselors have off for choir practice or personal time and sometimes required nap time depending on the day, so CLS is also know as Counselors Like Singing, Sleeping, Socializing, Surfing (the net) etc. On Tuesday Rand preaches a message to the Sr. High called “Global Warming, Aliens, and Dinosaurs.” The point of the message is that just as God’s Word has answers about these seemingly difficult questions, It has the answer to other questions teens face like Why don’t adults like my music? Why do I have to be careful how I dress? Why is there so much suffering in the world?, and etc. The Junior High get to hear Willie’s message called “Is God Pleased with What I Play?” talking about video games. On Wednesday CLS is combined and Rand preaches a message called “Pet Sins That Become Killer Monsters.” Just as our pets beg for attention and don’t stay small and cute, the same thing happens with “little” sin habits. It could also be subtitled, Just one Puff, Just one Sip, Just one Kiss as the “pet sins” that Rand deals with are smoking, drinking, and immorality. Thursday there is no CLS as the church groups get together for their family reunion time of testimony and snacks. On Friday, Matt Herbster preaches to the senior high on “Why You Should Go to a Christian College” and Scott preaches to the junior high on “The Truth about God, Tragedies, and Natural Disasters.” Just as I always did, many of the teens seem to enjoy these services and they provide great material for counselors to ask questions about later (since we weren’t there and they don’t know we’ve already heard them).
Well, as I write this final note for this summer, I’m back at BJU. My GAship resumes Monday morning, and my boss has already communicated to us that she is looking forward to seeing us at 8:30 tomorrow. And so another semester begins. I’ll be taking Hebrew and New Testament Introduction this semester, both of which are known as difficult classes, as well as a preacher boys class. I would appreciate your prayers, especially in regards to Hebrew. I’m looking forward to learning it, but dreading the process at the same time :). Thank you so much for your prayers for me at camp this summer. It has been so amazing to see God work in my life and in the lives of my campers for yet another summer.
