Hey everybody! So, this past weekend I had the honor and the privilege of counseling an amazingly awesome child at Comfort Zone Camp in Northern NJ. This is a camp specifically designed for grieving children that have lost either a primary care giver, sibling, or a close friend. This is a truly amazing organization and I feel really blessed to be a part of it. They are always looking for volunteers and you don't even have to have had a close personal loss to apply. All you need to have is the right motivation and attitude and you're all set. To learn more please visit:
www.comfortzonecamp.org!!!
I have been sincerely touched and forever changed for the better by those brave children. They have taught me to really appreciate my family and friends so much more than I have been. It's amazing how much we take for granted on a daily basis. Over the weekend I really learned to stop and smell the roses, to make sure to go out of my way to tell my family and friends how much I care, and to not be so hard and judgemental of people, because you never know their life situation. Most importantly I learned that life is not guaranteed to anybody. None of us are promised tomorrow. I am slowly learning to live each day to the fullest and to never take the people that I love and my good fortunes, blessings, talents, abilities, and gifts for granted. I hope that you learn or at least try to do the same, because I promise it will change your life in a way that you never thought possible! I'd like to share with you a passage from a devotional my mother gave me recently called, Streams in the Desert for Graduates by L.B. Cowman.
"You can see the rain, but can you also see the flowers? You are suffering through these tests, but know that God sees sweet flowers of faith springing up in your life beneath these very trials. You try to escape the pain, yet God sees tender compassion for other sufferers finding birth in your soul. Your heart winces at the pain of heavy grief, but God sees the sorrow deepening and enriching your life. No, my friend, it is not raining afflictions on you. It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Holy Spirit. And they are bringing to your life spiritual enrichment that all the prosperity and ease of this world could never produce in your innermost being."
Have a blessed day!
P.S. Let me see you sizzle is part of the best camp song from the weekend! You have to see the dance! Good times...
Hi Alice!!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I stumbled upon your blog!!
You forgot to mention that you got paired with quite possibly the best "little" buddy ever on the planet earth!! And that she got placed with the most amazing "BIG" ever to be alive!!
I knew you were an amazing and wonderful person, however, I had no idea just how amazing until I started reading your blog. Tears!! You are so perfect!!! (((hugs)))
The pairing of you with my daughter was truly "Heaven sent". She had gone to another grief camp before and loved it but she said that this one was truly "life changing". I know for a fact that it had something to do with YOU!! and the Counselor Beth and all the people involved with this amazing organization.
I can't wait for "Parent's Camp"....I am so there!! That is, if I can get over the fact that there are BUGS!! EEEKK!!
When I saw the picture of you and Haley the day we picked her up......words can not even explain the bond I saw and the truly beautiful connection of you "TWO". All I know is that "THANK YOU" just doesn't seem to be enough!!
It's been so hard since my husband's death that I feel like I have not even been the proper mother to help my daughter get thru the most horrible thing imaginable to happen to any child, the death of their parent. It's horrible to even admit that because of all the overwhelming responsibilities that were thrown at all of us so suddenly last Christmas, since his death. I am so thankful that I found out about these grief camps. Most importantly, I am so thankful for you!!
Haley always wanted my husband and I to give her a sister. We could not do that for her! However, once Larry got to Heaven, look who God sent to her!! You!! An angel!!
Thank you Alice for being there for Haley! Thank you God for pairing you two together!
Thank you for reaching out to her still. I know, I can speak for her, it means the world to her. More than gift you could ever buy! The gift of your heart and of your time was priceless to this little girl of mine!
As life goes on, and as time goes by........never forget that you touched my little girl's heart and life forever!
You should see her now. She is at Musical Theater Camp and is performing next week everything they put together these past few weeks. She is so much more confident in her singing and acting, etc... I can't wait to see if it shows once she is on stage performing!
Peace and love,
Ginny Goerg
aka Haley's Mom <3