60 - beauty

#100happydays

day 60 (June 25)

Wednesday campfires at Luther Park this year are combined between cabins but separated by gender.  I like this idea, as campfires can be a great place to open up and have quality, deep conversations.

The ladies of MAD camp (4th - 8th graders) and PALS (high schoolers) gathered around a fire out at the farm center for smores, songs, conversations, and affirmation.

On our walk over, Shani led our gals in a rousing call-and-response song that lasted the whole hike.  (I hadn't heard the song before, and I'm TOTALLY going to use it for a song game and voice assessment with my students next year!)  We met the PALS out there and let the fire create some more coals before roasting many marshmallows.  I brought my guitar along, but other than helping pick the location and leading a night-hike back to the cabins, I didn't know what we were going to do.

My amazing, talented co-counselors led a great omega about inner beauty,
a topic perfect for young women (heck, women - or people - of all ages).

Each of us had a piece of paper.
On one side, we wrote words that describe what we see in the mirror.
On the flip side, we wrote our own name.
Then we passed the paper around, and everyone had the chance to write something that THEY see when they look at us.

I share my paper NOT as a means to brag or gloat
because really, I'm quite humbled by many of these comments and don't necessarily always agree with them.
But,
I do my best to take the compliments and recognize them as affirmations that I am a beloved child of God.
I share this snapshot to show the enormity of different positive ways that others see a person.

Whether or not you see it,
believe it,
or internalize it,
you are loved
and
you are beautiful.

Best of all,
you are beautifully created by a God who loves you more than you can imagine
and who is constantly making us new.