The Lord Establishes Our Steps

I never imagined myself serving in children’s ministry. Not until I had the opportunity to serve at Sonshine Day Camp. Although I grew up going to church and attending Bible camps, teaching Bible lessons to children was something that felt extremely far from my introverted persona. However, looking back, I can see that God has been using this internship to grow my faith and teach me to rely on Him rather than my own abilities.

One lesson that definitely impacted me was teaching Proverbs 16:9: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps”. Throughout camp, there were times when I felt a little lost: “Will this internship go well for me?” “What if I’m not explaining this clearly enough?” It was just easy to focus on whether or not I was “good enough.” But this verse reminded me that although I could prepare and plan, God was the one directing my steps, my journey, and my lessons. My responsibility was simply to faithfully serve him, trusting that He would work through me, even when I felt uncertain. 

An experience that stood out to me during the internship was getting to know one of the timid campers. He was shy to stand during worship, participate in Bible, and rarely speak unless you started the conversation. But one day, I invited him to play basketball, and although he was definitely the better player, it became an opportunity to build a great friendship! As the days went on, he started coming up to me on his own to tell me about birds he had seen or what he had eaten for dinner, and even initiated games of tag and rock paper scissors! Seeing him become more comfortable reminded me that sometimes the biggest impact comes through the smallest acts of kindness.

As I reflect on the summer, I greatly give thanks to God for how He has been working, not only in the lives of the children, but also in my own. I will forever be grateful for this opportunity I had to serve at Sonshine Day Camp, and I am very excited to see how God continues to work in the lives of these children and my own as well!