In case you hadn't heard, our SpringHill gardener moved on to a new adventure last month, and I took over as the gardener. This is way out of my element. I have had vegetable gardens, but I would never say I have had a pretty garden. My plants grew in spite of the weeds that I neglected to pull. Often the weeds appeared healthier than my plants. I have had good intentions of having a flower garden on a few occasions, but have never quite succeeded in my plans.
The last gardener here did a great job. She left things in great shape, so I just had to keep up.
My gardens are growing well. Most of the flowers are still alive, and I am keeping the weeds at bay.
One of my first days gardening I approached the founder's house, and their were two staffers who were on break sitting on the porch. They were praying. Praying for the safety, protection, and growth of the campers and staff. As I listened to their prayers, it moved my heart.
As I move about the camp doing my gardening, I have noticed that people don't really notice me. They see me, but they don't stop their conversations, or quiet their voices, they just continue on in their phone calls, prayers, or conversations. It has given me wonderful opportunities to observe what God has been doing at SpringHill this summer.
You see, the founder's house was here when the Camp was just a dream in Collie Decker's head. This man walked the land he owned and planted trees dreaming of making his 515 acre farm into a Christian camp. When he died his wife Pearl refused to sell the land to the many buyers that came. Finally one day Clarence Balmer came and wanted to make this land into a children's Christian Camp. (This is a huge simplification of the story) Many, many prayers were prayed for this camp in the Founder's house before it ever was founded, and today those prayers and work continue.
A few weeks ago it was Family Day. The summer staff were able to invite their family up to spend some time with them and enjoy the SpringHill Campus. That day as I watered I over heard a councilor telling her parents about how God has worked in her heart over the summer on surrender, and trusting Him. It was a beautiful testimony.
Another day I heard a one on one councilor (a councilor for one of our special needs campers) talking to a friend on the phone. She started by telling the person on the phone, that she was tired. Her camper was not used to sleeping at camp and was having trouble breathing in the night, so the councilor was up about every 3 hours to help the camper. But then she went on to talk about her camper. She talked about her beautiful eyes, and how she was just so precious. Listening to her speak with such love for this sweet girl touched my heart.
Last week, I was again watering at the founder's house, while a councilor got a call from his mom. He said, "Mom, something awesome happened last night. I got to lead one of my boys to Jesus."
God is good, He is Faithful.
So blessed to be a gardener for the King.
No comments:
Post a Comment