Just to Clarify

This is a clarifying story to something I posted a while ago. I was going to post this right after my post about"becoming friends with the bad boy." But time got away, so I now present to you the whole story.



I accidentally short-changed the kid at the beginning of the week. It seriously was an accident, and I did discover the problem myself, but from then on he was watching out for me.

I turned it back on him and called him the bad boy. Yes, I know, I'm the worst camp counselor. (Now that it has been about 8 months or so since this actually occurred, I don't remember if I said that to his face or not. I sure hope I didn't. : (    )

For the rest of the week, he didn't give me high fives when he entered the dining hall or the worship hall, he constantly said that he didn't like me. ("But secretly, they was overjoyed!" Sorry, it just popped into my head.)

Every time I looked at him, he would say, "I'm watchin' you." He was also kind of a trouble maker, which is why I called him the bad boy. Interestingly, his younger brother was also there, and he was a precious young man. I was able to have a good conversation about testimonies with him. I don't remember it in great detail, but it felt like a mini counseling session. Those were my favorites.

I teased the bad boy kindly throughout the week, but when Friday came I knew I had to make sure we were on good terms. I didn't want a camper to have a bad experience because of me.

So after breakfast on Friday I went outside where several kids were gathered. I stood on the dining hall deck and waited for my young friend to come out. I honestly don't remember all that I said, but I told him to come over and I basically cleared up any problems. I did this in front of other campers, so I hope they could see an example of making amends with people you may have hurt.

Then I asked, "So, are we friends?" and I held up my hand for a high five. He said yes and gave me a high five.

It was a good feeling. For the rest of the day, we were friends, and then, of course, he left. I'll probably never see him again. That's OK, as long as I see him in the Kingdom. (I have been learning a lot about the Kingdom of God in school, so I have been tending to use the term more.)

So, there you have it. I'm sure I'm leaving out details because it has been a hot second since this happened, but it was a good story. A story of making a friend out of an enemy.

Making friends with rough people can sometimes get your hands a little dirty.