Tender Mercy 5: Discouraging Camper

This tender mercy comes from Staci Richardson, who is my husband's cousin and a woman I am so grateful to now know! While working at a girls camp over the summer, she prayed for something she needed and got it in a way which was at first challenging. It just goes to show that God answers prayers in mysterious but perfect ways. Here is Staci, and her story...

Sometimes trials can be tender mercies.  My tender mercy came in the form of a stubborn 13 year old girl. 

I had the privilege of working as a counselor at Oakcrest LDS Girls Camp this summer. As a counselor I would have a group of 8-12 girls each week. My responsibility was to love them, to help them feel and begin to recognize the Spirit, and to provide a positive example for them. 

During one of these weeks as a counselor, I didn’t feel that I was being firm enough with my girls. I always tried to push the girls to do hard things and do things they didn’t want to do, because I knew that by doing so they would grow. This particular week I was feeling discouraged because I felt like I wasn’t able to give correction in a loving way. I felt like I was nagging my girls all week to do the right thing and I didn’t like the feeling that I had at the end of the week after the girls left. 

I decided to pray to my Heavenly Father to help me have the experiences the following week that would show me that I can be firm and give correction lovingly. Well, the following Monday came and each counselor got her group of girls. I turned out only having nine, which was pretty small and I was excited to have such a small group. We returned to our cabin so that the girls could unpack. As we were in our cabin one of the assistant directors came with two more girls. Their names were Sarah and Mia, and they had been reassigned to our cabin for the week. Luckily they already knew a couple of girls in our cabin so I wasn’t worried about them making friends. 

Throughout the morning I noticed that Sarah was pretty negative and tended to put herself down a lot. As we got to lunch all of sudden she started talking about how much she didn’t want to be there and she wanted to go home. I remembered back to the prayer I had offered the previous week and knew Sarah was sent to my group for a reason. I knew she was a tender mercy. 

By the time Tuesday came along Sarah was pretty uncooperative and it was really affecting the rest of our group. I finally took her aside and talked to her. I told her that she had to make a choice. She could choose to be happy and have a good time or she could choose to be miserable. I was pretty firm with her but told her how much I loved her and wanted her to be happy and have a good time. I said a prayer with her at the end and afterwards told her that if I heard another negative thing about herself come out of her mouth then she would have to say three nice things about herself. 

I didn’t hear Sarah say another negative thing about herself the entire week. She was still a little stubborn throughout the week but I learned that as long as I was firm with her then it was okay. By the end of the week Sarah didn’t want to go home. She turned into one of the most loving 13 year old girls I have ever met. I know that Sarah was sent to my group to teach me that I COULD be firm and give correction in a loving way. It wasn’t easy, but it certainly was a tender mercy. I hold a special place in my heart for Sarah and all she taught me that week at Oakcrest Girls Camp.