Bolton

Love Bolton. I was looking forward to going to Bolton since I went and visited their church about a month before camps. Walking into the room Sunday night was like coming home. It was great seeing everyone again and meeting new people who were excited for the week of camp.

Bolton’s community really encouraged me and gave me the confidence God knew I needed to get through the summer as head coach. It’s a lot harder than I thought it was before I started. At first I was nervous going back to the churches that Coach D had been at for three years, because I didn’t think I would be able to fill his shoes and meet the church’s expectations. But, Bolton welcomed me back with open arms and encouraged me to embrace the role as head coach.

This year Sonya and I stayed at Nancy’s house. One of the first things she said to us was: “You guys are here to serve the community, so I am here to serve you.” She served us the whole week. She always made sure we had everything we needed or wanted. She prayed with us and for us every morning, and was always ready to listen to us and help us.

Seeing returning campers come back was amazing. Emily and Hunter were back. One of the first things Emily said to me was: “I remember you Coach Liz. You’re third on my best friend list.” (Yes, I felt very special!). Jacqueline, Lexi, and Tasha were at camp this year, so even though I wasn’t staying at their house, I got to see them everyday which was great. Tasha definitely gets the smallest camper award, but don’t tell her that because she doesn’t think she’s very small :)

I got really excited when I sat in on the youngest group small group when we were talking about growing and how we need to remember that we always need to keep our eyes on Jesus and not get tripped up by other things. With their child-like faith, they were able to apply the illustration to our lives so simply. For the illustration, we had three people in a race: Julia, Emily, and Coach Reuben. Coach Reuben had to run backwards and couldn’t look at the finish line. Since we were using three people, Coach Reuben told Julia to let Emily win. Julia was a champion and pretended to fall right at the start, letting Emily get the head start she needed to win. As we were recapping what happened during Coaches Corner, they told us that Coach Reuben wasn’t able to go anywhere because he didn’t know where he had to go. Even thought Julia had her eyes on the finish line, she tripped and fell because Satan was trying to pull her back, keeping her away from the finish. Emily was able to make it to the finish line because she was looking at the finish line and keep going, not letting anything stop her or get in her way.

So often at camp, all I think about is the campers. My mindset is to put the campers first. We run these camps for the kids: that’s whom I’m building into. But I never actually thought about how these camps affect the assistant coaches as well.

This was Jessica’s second year as assistant coach. She is amazing with these kids. Always helping them out and convincing them that they want to play all the games because they are so much fun. We talked more than we did last year. They were great conversations, but I didn’t really think too much about them. I just figured we were talking more because we knew each from last year. Little did I know. A couple of weeks after we left Bolton I received this email:

Jessica here, i was helping you guys at the soccer camp in Bolton with the Bolton Alliance Church last week.I first off just want to say thank you so much for all the work you guys did last week. You are all so amazing, and the time and effort you put into the camps is awesome. Second, i wanted to thank you for being such an encouragement to me (as well as all the other campers)

For the past couple of years i have been having problems with my faith. Not fighting against it, but more surpressing it. I dont have a lot of christian influence and just getting to be around you guys even for a week really opened my eyes to how much i miss being with people of similar faith. it actually brought tears to my eyes when i realized that i wasnt feeding myself spiritually anymore. I just wanted you all to know how much you've impacted my life and for that i am truly grateful :).I am continuing to pray for all of you that God will help you stay encouraged and that you will be intentional each week as you travel between camps.

Liz, i hope you had an awesome birthday relaxing at home and i pray that Nates leg will get better. I also will be praying to keep you all safe. God Bless and good luck with your future plans

Growing in her faith,
Jessica

God has a plan for us and is using us even when we don’t know it.