As I reflect on the week at Sole Parent Camp, I am reminded that God is at work every day if I just open my eyes to see. And it’s in the ordinary things that I see God’s grace.

On one day everyone is outside on some activity, and I am about to join them, but I see a mum sitting alone, and I take my cuppa and sit with her, we talk about the weather and her children, ordinary small talk.

Then she sighs, and I ask how the year has been. She looks at me, weighing up what to say next and I wait. Then she says “can I ask you about something?” I nod and listen. She pours out her heart with the struggles and pressures of her life that she has held in for so long with no one to share her story with. She tells me the story of someone about to lose control, and I see a woman who is holding it all together. She feels weak, and I see strength. She feels selfish talking about herself, and I see someone who has sacrificed a lot for her family, and I tell her as much. We continue to talk for a while, and I pray for her. What’s important for her at that moment is less about what I do or say but about being there with her to hear her story and to see her as someone loved by God.

Every day we come across people in need. We just need to have eyes to see them. See them as people created and loved by God. We don’t have to do anything complicated; we just have to be there. Everyone deserves to have their story told, their voice heard. I see God revealed in ordinary ways in the people that I meet at camp and I thank God for the opportunity to journey alongside them.

Robyn Rainford
Baptist Camping Chaplain