As a church camp counselor, I am often asked for a lot of advice on a lot of subjects. For the most part, most of the questions I had to deal with were matters of the heart. Since I am a deeply religious person and have been managing church camps for years, nothing really surprises me anymore. I have had church camp participants come to me to confess every sin under the sun.
I thought I had heard everything possible until a few weeks back.
Amy was the teenage daughter of a church couple I had known for years, so when she stepped into my cabin, as I readied my back pack for the day’s activities, I didn't’t suspect anything out of the normal.
Amy stood in silence just inside of my office door. My cabin had a front part for conducting camp business and I live in an attached apartment in the rear, with a connecting door between the units. Amy was very tall, about 5’ 10 and probably weighed about 100 to 105 lbs. Although she was on the thin side, she had model-like qualities with all the curves in all the right places. The sunbeam shining though my open screen door, illuminated her jet-black hair, which hung lazily over her shoulders and curled slightly at the ends.
I quickly pushed aside any evil thoughts of lust. It was my daily prayer to be able to push aside any evil thoughts. I quickly asked,
“What’s up?”
Amy was always cheerful and smiling. The day’s activities included a hike into the woods, setting up a base camp and small tents and then having a short Bible Study around a camp fire. Amy said she didn't’t think she wanted to attend the hike. I asked her if everything was okay and she assured me that everything was okay. I could sense, however, some apprehension and asked her if she wanted to chat.
She took in a deep breath and then forcefully exhaled.
Amy said she was conflicted and had a deep crush on a guy at the camp. I asked her if she had expressed her admiration for her fellow camper and she said she was afraid to do so, because she was afraid he might think she was being foolish or silly.
“Is this guy currently at the camp?” I asked. Amy nodded her head up and down. She said she liked the guy, but that he was always preoccupied with other stuff and that he didn't’t seem to notice her. I reassured Amy that she was a beautiful young lady, very attractive and that she should just give it some time.
“He’ll eventually notice you,” I said. “Sometimes, guys are just blind to the obvious. Be patient.”
Amy seemed satisfied with my encouragement. Amy thanked me for my words of encouragement. I watched as she turned and disappeared from my cabin office. Her shorts were skin tight. I had to catch myself and pray a quick prayer of forgiveness for my lascivious thought.
The fifteen of us gathered for the hike. This was a teen hike, so naturally, the guys all pared up with each other and the young ladies did the same. As we started our trek, I heard a familiar voice yell out from behind us, “Wait up for me!”
It was Amy. She had her hair pulled back and she had on a ballcap. She jogged up to where I stood waiting at the back of the pack.
“I changed my mind,” Amy said as she slowed to a walk to join us.
“What changed your mind?” I casually asked.
“You did,” Amy replied. I was totally clueless.
“You told me to ‘be patient’, so I decided to be patient and come along,” Amy replied. I was happy that my words of encouragement had taken root.
I kept a close eye on the group as we walked the nature trail. I pointed out different types of trees and plants along the way. Amy walked either beside me or right behind me. I encouraged her to step in front of me and allow me to be the rear guide, but she was insistent on following me. When we stopped for a break, Amy never talked with any of the other campers, choosing to stay close to myself.
I was sipping on some water from my canteen, watching the others, when I casually looked at Amy. She smiled and proffered a quick wink. I winked back, just for the fun of it. Amy giggled and looked off in another direction.
Once we had gone a few kilometers, we approached a fork in the trail. I directed the group to take the right fork which would take us down to a river that ran through the camp. There was a camping spot at the river. I told everyone that the spot was where we would spend the night.
Everyone went about setting up their tents and then I tasked the group with gathering up enough firewood that we could keep a good fire going for a while. Once we had the fire going, it was time for dinner: which consisted mostly of prepacked canned goods and an assortment of other snacks that each camper had brought along. I had packed hot dogs and a wire clothes hanger, which I dutifully unfolded in front of the group as they sat around the campfire and ate their dinners.
Several of the kids commented that they wished they had thought to do the same, as I poked the end of the coat-hanger though a hot dog and stuck it into the fire.
Amy laughed.
“It’s not like this is his first venture into camping,” Amy noted. “He came prepared.”
I offered my first cooked dog to Amy. She declined it, of course. I bit off the tip end and made a second offer to her. She took the wire coat hanger from my hand and instead of biting off a piece of the hot dog, she slipped it between her lips and sucked on it for a brief second, while looking at me out of the corner of her eye to gage my reaction, before she took a bite.
I think this was my first clue that I was the object of desire for Amy. I quickly pushed away my evil thoughts. Unfortunately, a spark was ignited and I couldn't deny my attraction to Amy. I was extremely conflicted and prayed for the wisdom to know what to do and how to handle things.
Amy handed me back my coat hanger and I slipped the rest of the hot dog from it, with my fingers. I quickly devoured what was left of the hot dog.
Our Bible study was quick and somewhat disjointed.