His Healing by Perfect Love

Chapter Six

It was the morning of the first day of camp and the sun had risen high in the sky. Birds chirped, buses were arriving, and Georgia could feel the excitement in the air around her as the various adults and counsellors rushed to get into their positions to greet the kids. Joe and Julie were busy in the hangar tent where all the kids would congregate for their welcome. And Georgia and Sophie stood expectantly in their position wearing the green camp T-shirts they were supposed to wear. The shirts were colour coded she noticed, according to the ages of the campers. Green was for the seven to eight age group, blue was for the nine to ten, red was for the eleven to thirteen and yellow was for the oldest kids at camp. The cut-off age at the camp was seventeen. The groups were given names too and Georgia was pleased with them. She loved organization, it made her relax because she suffered from general anxiety if situations got out of hand. Joe had given the name BRAVE to her group and she couldn't agree more. She was brave for coming all the way to Canada on her own and she thought that the little ones who got through two months without their parents deserved to be called brave too.

And on that thought, two blue coaches filled with children came to a stop at the side of the road.

"They're the ones who came in from around the world." Sophie told her. She grabbed a handful of her blonde hair and flipped it behind her back. "Joe usually sends transportation to collect them from the airport or their various hotels."

"That's amazing." Georgia looked at Sophie. "I'm crazy nervous if I'm being honest with you."

Sophie smiled, her teeth shining brightly. "We all feel nervous at some point honey." She rested her hand on her stomach. "Taking care of kids is a lot of work, especially when they're not yours." Sophie was expecting her second child soon and Georgia was amazed at how she managed to be away from her three-year-old for so long. At least she said her husband, Tom, was great at filling in when she wasn't there. Being a mom was a gift and Georgia couldn't wait to have her own kids someday. But she needed to find a man first. Her thoughts were just drifting back to Alex when Sophie spoke, "Here they come."

Some campers were arriving in their parents' cars, while the others jumped out of the buses, carrying heavy-looking duffle bags. They were all dressed in plain coloured T-shirts which Joe had advised them to do until they received the official printed ones from camp. Georgia breathed a sigh of relief. She was about to go and help when she felt a soft tap on her hip. "Scuse me, can you help me?" Georgia looked down to see a little boy with afro curly hair. He was wearing a green shirt and plaid cargo shorts and hugging a brown teddy bear to his chest.

"Caden!" A woman came running across the pavement towards them. "Caden, don't do that to me!" As she reached them, Georgia realised that she was the boy's mom. Recalling what she had learnt in training for situations like these where the parent was more anxious than the child, she stuck out her hand and said, "Hey there momma! I'm Georgia and it looks like I'll be this little guy's caretaker for the summer."

The mother took a step back and looked at her. Her brown skin glistened in the sunlight and her soft eyes were moist with tears. Georgia's heart sunk and instantly went out to the crying parent. She placed a hand on her shoulder, meant to calm her down. "Don't worry mam, Caden will be safe here with us."

She engaged the boy's mother in conversation for a while longer as the other kids gathered behind her, their excited chatter greeting her ears. Georgia counted twenty of them tops. As she looked at their little faces, butterflies danced in her stomach and anxiety threatened to choke her. But she closed her eyes and whispered. Lord, I know you led me here for a reason. Just help me and see me through. The wind picked up and right there, Georgia felt the peace that came from knowing the Lord cover her like a blanket.