.speechless.

It takes a lot to make me speechless. I either have to be exhausted (beyond the point of slap happiness), exxxxxxxxtremely mad, or just in shock. "Just in shock" would be the polite way to put how I'm feeling now. Just about two hours ago, I found out that one of my favorite campers from this summer passed away from ALL (a form of childhood leukemia). He was 16, a junior in HS, and had been diagnosed for just over two years. I got a call from a counselor in my cabin during his week and we cried for awhile and then I got on Facebook to see that all of my campers from our Leadership cabin that week had posted things on their statuses about our friend. After seeing everyone's statuses and hanging up the phone with my friend, I was just in complete shock. This awesome kid who I had spend a solid 6 days with just 6 WEEKS ago had passed away. Such a shock.....
I knew that when he first came to camp in 2009, the doctors said he had less than two years to live. Seeing him at camp in 2010, I wouldn't have guessed anything was wrong. He exceeded every goal he set for himself (including trying watertubing, being a junior cabin counselor for a day, and hiking a combined 3 1/2 hour HIKE in a matter of 18 hours WITH his ankle brace on). I suppose I was really able to bond with him during watertubing and the leadership all-nighter on the last night of camp. I was in charge of watertubing and I remember having to talk him into just TRYING it; he ended up LOVING it and going multiple times and being SO excited to tell his parents about what he did. And then there was the all nighter.....
This camper had been talking ALL week about wanting to tell his story, so during the all-nighter, I promised to listen. He flat out told us how he knew he was sick, the whole process of starting chemo, living through leukemia while trying to be a regular teenager, coming to camp in 2009, still fighting leukemia...basically everything about his life from June 2008-present. The BEST part of all is that through his whole story he kept talking about how he knew that his faith was the only thing that would get him through this situation. He had his heart set on being a youth pastor and he knew that God had given him this challenge to be a light for Him and to use his testimony to change the lives of others when he was a pastor someday. Hearing his testimony made me speechless...what a strong, unwavering faith even in THE TOUGHEST of times! The most ironic thing, is that his last Facebook status ever says "I'm at home resting...." I'm am SO thankful that he loved the Lord and that He used this camper to touch so many lives while he lived here on earth. I have SO much respect for this camper and even though he will be missed here on earth, I can only REJOICE because I know that he is no longer suffering, but he is in HEAVEN!!!!
At the same time, I am reminded at how truly precious life is. You never know what day could be your last. Such a hard, but real lesson to remember. <3