Kitchen Musings

There's a chance that I may be in the kitchen the entire summer.

I almost cried when I found out.

But, as I recalled the rest of the conversation with M, the head cook, I realized that God could use me just as powerfully in the kitchen as anywhere else.

Apparently, the Boss hires kids to work as counselors, then he takes a look at the lot he's hired and sticks some of them in the kitchen. So these kids come thinking that they'll be doing one thing, then they get the Surprise! that they'll be doing something they didn't want to do or sign up to do and were not told that they were going to be doing... as M says, it's not fair to the kids, and it's not fair to him, because then he ends up with a bunch of disgruntled employees who do half-hearted jobs so they can escape to break-time.

I'm less and less impressed with the Boss's methods of handling the camp. Could just be personal preference, but the whole waiting-till-the-last-minute-to-let-people-know-things routine is going to get pretty old, pretty quick. And, rather than hiring people to be kitchen staff, he just sticks random people in the kitchen? Mer.

Anyway, as I thought about the impending kitchen situation (while sending desperate pleas up to God, Don't put me in the kitchen this summer! Please! PLEASE!!), I realized that God has given me a natural influence and the ability to excite and motivate others. (At least, according to other people...) I could use those gifts in the kitchen this summer... if that's where I'm placed. I'm still kinda hoping that I won't be, even though it's getting better being in there- I'm not desperately fighting overwhelming urges to go home anymore. But if that's where I end up, I won't be as devastated as I might have been last week.

Oh, it'll be hard... but good, I guess. Having a day off really helped to recharge me, and I realized that it's not an all day every day thing. I get days off, and it's only an eight hour day. Three meal times. That's all.

It really helps when I just focus on one meal time at a time. I don't worry about the rest of the day. I focus on where I'm at, and getting through that particular block of time. It seems to be a good way to handle it.

And I like the people I work with, too. That helps. As more time passes, I'm able to joke around with them more and more.

So I'm not wildly pacing the perimeters of the camp... yet. We'll see what the summer brings. God knows best.