will

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this past summer God placed will in my group for some crazy reason. i found it rather interesting since i hadn't had any guys over the age of 17 or under the age of 40 in my group all summer, with the exception of rusty, the first week. will caught my interest from the very fist time our group met...from his crazy tee shirts, to his words of encouragement, i knew that we'd get along well. later that night, i was reading their information cards that had questions about their lives. the adult cards were different from the student cards, but they contained questions like
what i like most about my life right now is
what i like most about my friends is
do you consider yourself a christian
one thing that would have made my childhood happier would have been
you get the point. anyway. will's answer to what would have made his childhood happier is what really caught my attention. most people answered the question with answers like "if my parents didn't yell." or even "if i had more friends." but will's answer said "playing more sports and learning to play an instrument." it caught me off guard. and then it made me think..."he's an original." i'd received hundreds of the same cards throughout the summer...and not a one said anything about learning to play an instrument or to even play spots. another thing that i noticed about his card was that he hadn't picked children's ministry to be his first choice...he'd picked creative. too bad God knew what he was doing when he placed him in my children's track. the boys at my site needed some guidance and i'd been asking amy all summer long to place more guys in my group. i think the last week, she finally got the hint. watching my group go into this center and show the love of Christ to these kids they'd never met. i watched it over and over as the summer progressed. to watch will interact with those kids and take them under his wing and just love them made me truly happy.
i learned a lot that week. i learned how hard it was to let go. how hard it was to look toward my unknown future. but will was there to listen and offer some words of advice that i'll never forget. i was complaining because i had no idea what i was going to be doing just a few short days after camp was over. and he said "as long as you're living out God's will for your life, you're never really going to know what comes next." how true it is.
so that last week, i made a new friend. someone who still listens to me complain and someone who listens to me when i'm happy. someone who understands. i just wish he didn't live so far away!
thanks for everything, will!