Variety is the season of life

Camp is wrapped up for the year. Yet I find that it continues to impact my thinking. As we watch the Lego Movie uninterrupted with grandma in the quiet of our living room, I realized that "my kids" at camp were not Emmet, Wildstyle, Vitruvius or Unikitty. "My kids" were Batman, Badcop, and Benny with the possibility of a future Lord Business or Metalbeard thrown into the mix.

The lego movie would have been pretty bland without those totally unique personalities, and camp was no different. My last day I turned a corner to see two of "my kids" in tow of an unsmiling leader. Face paint was smeared across one and the other had the I'm-in-trouble-face set. We had to scrub the remnants of a Raphael paint job off of to see if there was swelling or bruising from being hit brass knuckles style by a hot wheels car wielded by the other.

The victory was that Raphael hadn't hit back. A little guy who has struggled all summer with anger management, and when I asked him how he had responded he sniffled back that he told the teacher. The leader nodded and a little part of me rejoiced that through the red and green tears he had held back the swinging fists.

But for every victory there is a set-back. As I asked the other camper what had happened the story started out "I hit him because it isn't fair that he has a cool face paint and I don't." Ouch. It also turns out that behind the jealousy there was annoyance at play styles with the cars, and after one encroachment too many that jealousy poured out in a violent way.

So we talked. We talked about how it isn't right to hit. We talked about patiently waiting for things (that includes your turn for face paint). And when I asked if he thought he could do that, I saw a head nod. I didn't expect more. But it was enough for me on that last Friday. So I had them sit there and I went and got my brushes and the last remnants of green facepaint.

When I sat down, I did two little faces instead of one. "Can I be Leonardo this time, he has a cool sword." "Yup" I answer reaching for blue instead of red. "Oh, he's my favorite too!" I see eyes widen. In the end I have two Leonardo's walking back to the room talking about blue being their favorite color and how cool it would be to have swords at camp.

Please no - hotwheels are dangerous enough, I think,
but I think it with a smile.

I miss my noodle-whacking, time-out-sitting crew a lot right now. But just as they added the variety to camp to keep it hopping, the quiet time now is needed in preparation for the next season of life. Seasons are real, they are good. For some reason God knows we need them. I may not want to be here right now in the change-over process, trying to think about school supply lists and figuring out calendars and start dates and open houses, but I need to be.

Seasons are so much easier when you embrace them instead of fighting them. I cannot turn the clock backwards or add months to the summer, so I need to look for the good in the next season. A season right now of both rest and transition. I need to allow myself the rest and I need to prepare for transition. Sometimes it is simply a matter of learning to wait - something I have never been incredibly good at.

Let's face it - there is very little waiting at camp.
High energy, high volume.
It exuded action and fun.

But I cannot do that all of the time, nor could our little ones.

School & structure may not be as enticing as the camp season. But it is needed.

There is good in change,
growth in change,
God is in change.
God is in control of our changing seasons.

A Time for Everything
1There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9What do workers gain from their toil? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^a no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.    Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

After all - if one should wait patiently for face paint, perhaps one should wait for changing seasons as well.