A Change of Plans

     When I was about 10 years old, I started going to church camp for a week every summer. Our camp was called EvUnBreth Acres, and it was in Buckhannon , West Virginia -- a small town in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains and a beautiful location for a camp.There was a peaceful lake with rowboats and a  big chapel with blue stained glass windows. The year I graduated from high school, my pastor volunteered to direct a camp there, and when he invited me to go back to camp as a counselor, I was glad for another opportunity to spend time at one of my favorite places. We had a great week, and I hoped I could go back again after my first year in college. I was about to go off to college at West Virginia University in the fall, and planned to become a physical therapist. I had dreamed of working in the medical field ever since I read the "Cherry Ames, Student Nurse" book in junior high school.
     I don't exactly remember how it happened -- it's been a LONG time ago --but after my freshman year, I got a summer job as counselor again -- this time as a paid job ($35./ week!)for the whole summer.  I'm sure my pastor had something to do with it -- thank you, Rev. Bragg! Anyway, it was one of the best times of my life -- there were many times when I felt so close to God -- during morning devotions outside under a tree, sitting in the chapel with the blue light streaming through the windows, rowing across the lake for a Galilean service -- and I cried when the summer was over. 
    Something happened that summer, though -- I knew that my dreams of a career in physical therapy were fading, and I would be changing my major to education. I can remember the moment when I realized that the camp kids were looking to me for leadership, and suddenly I had the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and become the leader. It was a wonderful feeling to know that I could influence those children, and I knew that God had just changed my career plans. Little did I know that a large part of my teaching career would be spent home-schooling my own children as we moved to Germany and back with my soldier husband.  I am so grateful for the Godwinks at EvUnBreth Acres -- my life was changed in more ways than one -- but that's another story...