Royal Family Kids Camp

Last week I spent my week at Royal Family Kids Camp. If you are not familiar, Royal Family is a camp designed specially for kids that are currently in the foster care system. They come up to the camp for 5 days, packed full of activities, swimming, games, fun, music and bible story times.

Foster care, you could say, has been a reoccurring theme throughout my life. My parents were foster parents before I was born, and actively took kids into their home until about 12 years ago. Three kids stuck, and they are now my siblings, having been with us since they were infants. A few years ago, I had the privilege of working for a foster care agency in Kansas were I assisted a social worker in case management of foster and adoption cases. Now, I am blessed to be able to minister at Royal Family Kids Camp. I know that God has placed these experiencing in my life for a reason. It definitely has given me different perspective on these very special kids.

I caught myself standing back and observing a lot last week at camp. Observing the kids behaviors, their mannerisms, their interaction with the other kids and with their counselors. My heart was heavy all week, knowing that these kids have experienced things that no child should ever experience. I did, however, see transformations in the kids just over a 5 day period. I saw bright smiles replace skeptical looks, I saw scowls replaced by laughter. I saw introverted kids make amazing connections with their counselors.

There are 52 weeks in each year, and I know that for a lot of these kids, 51 of those weeks are pretty close to a living nightmare. I also know though that for one week each year, we can give those kids a refuge, a place to be a kid - to run, play, swim, create, and make a friend with an adult that loves them just because.

I am already looking forward to next year. Until then, I'll just be praying for each of the 32 kids that I met this summer.