Pre-Camp Craziness

One of the responsibilities of a Girls of Grace Junior Leader is to be a Junior Leader at Camp as well. My little 1st graders (now technically 2nd graders) aren't old enough to go to camp, so I am going along as an extra Junior Leader. I was put into the upcoming 3rd grade cabin. I am really excited to spend some time with these girls and get to know them better, but I am a little nervous. Camp is such a different experience than the actual Girls of Grace class. At camp, we (the leaders) are with the girls for 96 consecutive hours. Before, we only were with them for an hour and a half once a week. I have not been to Girls of Grace camp since my last year of Girls of Grace, which was the summer before sixth grade. We leave for Camp Comeca in Cozad tomorrow from Lincoln, and we get back Tuesday afternoon.

Another Junior Leader responsibility is to make the girls' bandannas with their names on them. Each grade has a different color of bandanna. Our grade's bandannas are black with white polka dots, and I used neon colored puff paint to write their names with. I am neither crafty nor creative, so this is the best I could do. Plus, my handwriting is pretty bad. My hands were shaking so bad when I made these things. You may notice that mine is missing, this is because I haven't quite figured out how to make my name fit on there with out it wrapping completely around my head. The name part has to stay on the forehead. This is a little difficult with names such as mine that are super long. I thought about putting: Stazia, Stofer, Nasty, or Staiz. (My sister suggested Sassy or Spaz. My older cousin Eric always calls me Spaz, and Izzy and Elle used to call me Sassy. Mainly because I was/still am an extremely sassy child, and partly because they couldn't say "Annastazia".) I really don't like nicknames. People have given me different nicknames my entire life, but I actually prefer Annastazia. I really like my name, and it never gets old because I am hardly ever called by it. Except for when I'm in trouble. If it's my mom yelling then it's "Annastazia Caroline Gregory Stofer!" If it's my daddy yelling then it's "Annastazia Shanna" or Annastazia Ray John", usually followed by a few curse words... it just depends on the severity of whatever I did to cause them to yell.

Anyway, back on topic...The adult leaders asked me to prepare my testimony so that I can share it with all of the little 3rd graders the first night of camp. I have never shared my testimony with girls so young. In fact, I don't think I have shared my testimony to more than 2 or 3 people at a time. I'm a little nervous about this. I mean, I know my testimony upside down, backwards, in Spanish, and in my sleep, but I am nervous about making it understandable and applicable to these 3rd graders. Sometimes I just don't feel like I am "qualified" to be teaching these girls and leading them. What if I slip up or stumble in my walk with the Lord? What if they see that and assume that it's right? What if I'm not a godly enough girl for them? Don't they deserve someone better? I have been praying about this for a long time. I'm just worried that I might, unknowingly, do something to hinder their walk with the Lord or even their salvation for that matter.