Long Lost Love

Chapter 3

It was the second week of Rachel's first youth camp experience. The group of campers were about to arrive. Rachel was excited to meet them and get to know them at a personal level. She made her way to her favorite shade tree, where she grew a habit to spend time with her Heavenly Father. She particularly enjoyed this time of day. The sun was setting; as the cool breeze blew through her hair, it sent chills down her spine. Nevertheless the sun still gave enough warmth to take away the need of a light sweater. Closing her eyes, she inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"Lord, thank you for this day. You are such a loving God. We do not deserve such grace."

She paused.

"I place this group of youth in your loving arms. Help me to see where you are at work in their lives. Work through me so that your will comes to pass."

As the youth stepped out of the bus, with backpacks, luggage and totes in hand, and like a ritual, Mike came over the intercom.

"Welcome campers. I encourage everyone to unpack, get comfy and ready for our first night at Camp His Way. We will be serving dinner at six o'clock sharp. On the menu: Cheese Burgers, fries and veggies. And if you don't like cheese...don't ask for it."

And once again, a wave of laughter came from all the youth. Rachel soaked it in and gave praise. As a warm feeling came over her, she realized it would be another great two weeks.

"Are you ready for a brand new group?" Helen asked as she stepped beside Rachel.

"You think it'll be different this time?"

"Oh, I know it will be. Our first groups were our own, and our second came from our sister church. But these campers don't know us and we don't know them. I think that will be a challenge in itself, if you ask me." Helen responded.

"Are you worried about Victoria?" Rachel asked.

"A little. I trust God will work as He has been"

They both met the girls outside their assigned cabin.

"Hello everyone. Welcome to Camp His Way. I'm Ms. Rachel, and this is Ms. Helen." She motioned over to Helen.

"Hi y'all." She said as she waved her hand in a semicircle.

"We'd like you to unpack, get into something comfy while we go over some cabin rules." Helen looked around the room.

"Does anyone have any questions so far?"

"I do Ms. Rachel." A thin redhead spoke loudly from the corner of the room.

"Okay, but first, tell me your name." Rachel asked.

"I'm Tracy."

"Hello Tracy, what's your question?"

"What happens after dinner?"

She looked at Helen as she asked her, "I guess that would have been the very first thing we needed to address as soon as we got the girls in their cabin, huh?" She looked over to Tracy and to the others as well.

"Well, right after dinner, we'll have worship and a devotional. Then, we'll all come back to the cabin and get ready for bed."

"That's it?" One of the girls asked as she laid her Metallica blanket on her bed.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. We have dinner in about thirty minutes and worship starts at eight. With the devotion lasting as long as forty-five minutes, we really don't have much time for anything else."

"Can't we stay up and play basketball or something after that?" Tracy asked.

"Yeah..." All the others sang in unison.