but I have discovered that I am really good at being relational! I know. You are shocked. But it is so refreshing to feel like I am pretty good at my job. For the last 3 summers, I have had jobs at camp that I could do but they didn't really bring me a lot of life or joy. They were supervisory but I was spread thin in time and worked as much with physical resources as I did with people.
This summer, I was asked to head up our Assistant Staff program. These are the 17-year-olds (with a few 18-year-olds) who have not worked for us before. Some have come through the leadership training program, some have not. But they all need a little more support before we release them into independence. So we meet as a group twice a week and I meet individually with them once a week. They seem to love this and I get to know them better as a result. I ask them how it's going and we problem solve but they also set pro-active goals for their own learning and movement to being independent staffers. When I say independence, it means staff who do not have the extra support built into Assistant staff, so our average staff members.
It has been fun to laugh, cry and pray with these young people as they grow in skills and have challenging/exciting experiences. I love getting to know them and sometimes it breaks my heart, but I get to see the potential in them and hear what's in their hearts. They seem to enjoy feedback and knowing how they are doing, something that we struggle to do well with summer staff, as they are so many and we are so few.
So, even though I knew I was good at "talking" to people, going for coffee and generally "being a friend", I have found more joy in my work this summer being able to just be there for these new staff and help support their growth. It is a good slower mode for me, as Spring and Fall are busy because I team lead those seasons.
I am very thankful for this season of learning more about "being" and with less "doing".
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