keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn

i'm exhausted but rejuvinated. sore and feet aching but wanting to do nothing more than run hard with the encouragement i recieved this weekend.
for the past two days i was at rockbridge serving middle school kids, taking part in what was hopefully the best weekend of their lives. going into it i knew that it would be hard. from other friends being servers i knew that it would be hard to watch the kids come destroy (in about 2 mins) the room we just spent about 2 hours setting up. i knew that i would be tired. i knew that it would be stressful at times. but i didn't realize how draining it actually would be. setting up a dining hall with plates an inch away from the table, perfectly aligned, with cups facing a certain way to the knives, with the salt and pepper on certain sides of the sugar which spout was facing a certain direction. i could go on and on. it was hard to watch all of that hard work be completely demolish by 400 middle school kids who just wanted to eat. but the joy that came from serving these kids that were so in awe of everything they were experencing there at camp made me realize that whether it was 2 hours or 20 hours- it was worth it. one of the coolest things i got to do this weekend was just simply pray for each kid who would sit where i laid a plate, cup, napkin. each kid specifically who would be hearing news that is literally life changing. as i'm typing this i'm getting chills and semi choked up just because of how exciting that is. as i set up each table at the dining hall and thought about each kid sitting in those seats i realized it didn't matter how tired i was or how much time i put into setting up the room but rather that these kids would experience even just a glimpse of the life that they were meant to live. a life that reflects and glorifies their Creator. a life that is not always easy but a life that is satisyfing and purposeful. over 30 kids went from death to life this weekend. 30 kids who's lives are now completely changed. living not for themselves but for something far greater. dang what is better than that.