7 Days {edited}

Twenty-two

The next morning was bright and sunny, a perfect day to be outside. Already, I couldn't wait to get out on the lake!

At breakfast, there was a special announcement from Brett. "Hey, everyone, hope you're having a great time here at camp." There were cheers all around the room, including from me. "I wanted to let you all know that today you can go to the chapel during game time-but only when your team isn't playing. We'll be making Encouragements today. That's all. Have a good breakfast, everyone!" Then he put the megaphone down and we all went back to our breakfast.

"What are Encouragements?" I asked Blake, who was sitting next to me again.

"They're little notes you can write to people, just to be nice," he explained. "We do them every year."

"Oh." It was a cute idea. A way to show your love for all the friends you'd made at camp.

Since my team had the second shift on games that day, I took Emily and Jordyn with me to the chapel. Later, the green and blue teams would be facing orange and black in a game of softball. Cami couldn't come, though, because the pink team was up first.

"Who are you gonna write notes to, Rain?" Emily asked me.

"Well, you guys, of course. And maybe a few others."

"What about Blaaaake?" Jordyn said, practically singing his name.

"Um, what about him?" I replied, acting nonchalant.

"Oh, come on! You know you like him! You told us all yesterday."

"What? Rain, you didn't tell me," Emily spoke up.

"Well, I...I, um...didn't really..." I stuttered.

"Aha! She soooo likes him!" Jordyn teased.

I groaned internally. If only they knew the truth...

- - -

About twenty minutes later, we had all our Encouragements written, and we started dropping them into little paper bags the staff had made for each camper. I'd written sweet little notes for Emily, Jordyn, Cami, and our small group leader, Sarah. The one I was most scared about was Lincoln's. I didn't tell my friends I'd made it. So when they weren't looking, I dropped it quickly into his bag.

This is what I'd written:

Thank you so much for helping me this week. I wouldn't have been so open to Christ if it weren't for you. I'm so glad I gave my life to Him. Your understanding of where I'm at in life really encouraged me to pursue God, and I can't thank you enough for that. I hope you've had a great week!
Love,
Rain

Yeah, yeah, I'd signed it with "love." But that's how I signed everyone's, so why should his be any different?

"Well, we'd better get back to the field. Our teams will be playing soon," said Emily.

So we all hurried to the game area. Sure enough, the teams were about to switch out. "Good luck, guys," Emily said to me and Jordyn. "But I'm totally going to win!"