Missing A

A left for children's church camp on Wednesday morning. She was so excited. I mean extremely excited and I was thrilled for her to embark on her four-day, three-night adventure at her first sleep-away camp. We loaded them up, said a group prayer and they were off. All was well... for a little while. They would be driving three hours away and stopping for lunch. After A was on her way, we had some errands to run and headed home.

Rewinding a bit...before we dropped A off, we stopped to pick up a phone card. We were told cell signals were very low and not a good option but they had one pay phone with long lines. I knew she would endure the lines to call so we picked one up.

Back to story... A called about five hours after I last saw her and was upset, in tears, and just wanted me to know how terrible her cabin was. It was apparently dirty on the floor, the mattress was obviously used and the level of nasty there was more than she could take. She said all the girls were complaining... how lovely...(praying for the moms that are there).

I did not feel like we had given A the idea that it was some sort of resort but her expectations were apparently high. She said they would be going to dinner soon and then I knew they had worship and bible study until late that evening before she would be back to the cabin. So...I waited and waited. She did not call that night so I was hopeful.

I woke up feeling a bit anxious about A and her being far away for the first time with no family. I waited for the phone to ring.. and it did.. just not her... ALL DAY LONG. I really did not get a lot accomplished while I waited for her to call. ... and then it happened about 5:30 p.m. ... SHE CALLED! I was so excited she even commented on my excitement. Then I was all questions... how was she? did she sleep well? was she having fun? .... and then I let her talk.

She said she was having a blast. She did say in the middle of the night she was homesick and one of the moms was awake and she asked if she could move to a bunk close to hers (I was getting misty-eyed at that point), and she was having FUN! She did sound tired and I imagine that lack of sleep and exhausting fun was catching up with her. I was so thrilled she called and then said she may call later!

So I waited... and waited... and she did call back late last night. D answered the phone then so he was able to speak with her. She talked to him for a few minutes and then ME. I was thrilled to hear how much fun she was having.

They have a little gift shop there and we made sure she had some money so she could get herself something. I was a bit suprised when she told me all she had gotten for US at the gift shop. She is such a sweet girl and I miss her so much.

Here is a picture of her all ready to go on the journey to Children's Camp!