this week started off a little chaotic with no electricity or water meaning no showers, no fans, no chargers for our phones. We were pretty nervous about how the first couple days would go given the circumstances but we were excited to know that the following week of camp God would be at work. I was in particular more excited to see the kids i connected with from last year. we had created a really strong bond with each other and was so excited to continue to strengthen our relationship. the first day was absolutely perfect. the kids came out of the vans and cristi and madalin, and alex immediately came to hug me. it was crazy how much they changed, they’re all taller than me now! the same thing happened tuesday and the feeling was actually unexplainable. just being able to hug them, worship with them, play soccer, jump on the trampoline, dump massive buckets of water on each other, and even just sitting with each other getting past the language barrier with laughing at how bad we are at Romanian or English. I was thrown a curveball tuesday night when both cristi and madalin texted me saying that they were not coming on Wednesday. I was a little sad but I knew I was going to see them Thursday and friday so wasn’t too bummed. So wednesday happened and i branched out towards some other kids and hungout with Alex a lot. Then Wednesday night I got another text from the two boys saying that they wouldn’t be able to come for the rest of the week. this was definitely the lowlight of my week because i was so excited to be with them for the whole week after not seeing them for a whole year. i also never got to say goodbye. and i don’t know fully what God has in store for me yet so I have no idea if i will come back next year or even see them again. i sat and thought about it and realized that praise God that they came the first two days instead of not at all. and praise God that i am able to connect with other kids for the remainder of the week. the next couple days i spent most of my time with alex and a couple new kids. these kids are truly amazing. they almost always let me go thru the door first, reminded me to drink water, squeezed the excess water out of my hair and shirt. like how is that possible? for these kids to go thru what they have gone thru and still think of others. during the remainder of the week alex and i got very close. we played a lot of soccer and this boy loves to play soccer, he never ever got bored of it. we even picked out clothes for him out of donation boxes and let me tell you, he will be looking very fashionable for the next few days. he made me a bracelet at the crafts table and picked out a “best friends” bracelet out of the prize box for me. this 13 year old boy surprised me so much this year. on friday when i said goodbye he started tearing up. then of course i started to tear up and he just gave me the biggest hug and said “it’s okay sage” which didn’t help at all because that made me cry even more knowing it would be yet another year or maybe never that i would see him. it blows my mind how little these kids get poured into and how much they pour out. these kids are everything and it just feels so right to be here with them. truly beyond grateful for being able to come back for the second time and build off those relationships. Jesus is so so good, thank you Lord