This is why I have so much admiration and respect for the girls with whom I work with at camp. I work at a wilderness camp for emotionally disturbed teens. They are what most would consider, Òa hopeless cause and some real messed up adolescents.Ó These girls refuse to fall prey to that stereotype. They come to camp in order to learn the skills with which they can make better decisions with in the future.

Many of them come from tough home situations. If you can think of something that could go wrong at home, these girls have most likely experienced it. They are commited to change. They are no longer going to allow their environment to control them, but are taking steps to control their own destiny.

Take Suzie for example. She came into camp in shackles. She had come out of the detention center and into camp in order to find new ways to control her anger and confusion. She used to kick her mom, unable to make sense of even a simple sentence. She was so easily influenced by negative peers that if they told her not to tie her shoe, she would trip over the string all day long.

Almost ten months later, as she is approaching the end of her camp stay, she has a strong relationship with her mother. She canÕt wait to get to go home with her in order to spend more time with her. She stands with self-confidence and pride and talks in front of large groups of strangers. She is sure of not only her own self-esteem, but also that others are feeling pride in themselves as well. She stand up for what is right and teaches other to do the same.

She has been taught the skills to make positive decisions and has taken them to heart. Her positive attitude and encouragement of others is reflected in all that she does.

Many of us can relate our relationship with Christ to this same scenario. Building a firm foundation in Christ is like Suzie coming to camp. Before we accepted Christ we were hopeless. We had no hope for the future or for why we even existed. We were easily influenced by the secular world and allowed ourselves to be taken down the wrong path. We took advantage of people and allowed our environments to control us.

Upon receiving Christ, we have found a set of values, guidelines to love by, a sense of pride in who we are and why we are on Earth. We can in turn spread that pride to others and share the Good News about Christ and what He has done for us.

As far as control goes, I consider Christians extremely blessed. We never have to take the driver's seat. We just have to hang on and enjoy the ride as we let God control our destiny and steer us down the narrow path.

So, make your choice, you have one life is it going to be a miserable one or one with a peace form the Lord above?

}Kathie Knitt, The GC Ministries

The GC