Joanna looked around herself. The camp seemed so big! Teens were running here and there. The only girls she really knew were Sara and Jewel standing beside her.
“I told you camp was fun,” said Sara enthusiastically. She was a year older than the other two, so she had been there the year before.
“I just don’t like carrying suitcases all the way to the cabin,” complained Jewel.
Sara laughed and shouldered her back-pack. “Come on! It looks like they’re having lunch soon.”
The girls trudged up the road to the cabin they would share with another youth group. “There it is.” Sara pointed. Joanna and Jewel looked the cabin over. In a clearing with several other cabins it stood proudly. Although it was rather old, Sara acted like it was home. Nearby a small bathroom sat in the bushes.
The girls entered the cabin. The other girls already there were laughingly fighting over the bunks.
“Hi,” said one girl, seeing them. Her red hair hung in two braids down the back. A few freckles were dotted over her face. “I guess we’re sharing a cabin.”
“Hi, Ruby!” Sara was quick to answer her.
“You remembered me? Who are your friends?”
“Joanna and Jewel.”
Ruby quickly introduced them to her twin sister, Rose. Then she showed them the other girls-Amy, Ruth, Pricilla, and Rachel.
The girls had their bags in the cabinets quickly. “That’s the ‘bell’ for lunch. We’d better hurry,” Ruth said suddenly. So they hurried to the dining room.
Lunch over, the teens gathered in the chapel. The camp director read the rules, making his own comments. Then he dismissed the boys to swim, and handed it over to the activities director, Bro. Maxwell.
“Well, first we have to make teams,” he said slowly. “All, right those 18 and older stand up.” With that he proceeded to make six teams. When he finally got to Joanna’s age group, she stood up excitedly.
“What team did I leave off on? Two? Then, you in the red shirt, you’re on team three…” Joanna held her breath. What team would she be in?
“In the pink and white…” Joanna jerked to attention. “Me?”
“Yes, team five…”
Joanna walked to team five. After all the teams were picked, she felt glum. None of the girls on the team were familiar to her.
“…teams four and five-volleyball…”
Joanna left the chapel as soon as they were dismissed. “All, right,” said the team captain, “let’s meet at over by the trail that leads to the court. If you have to get something, get it now.”
The other girls agreed eagerly. Joanna stopped at the cabin to change to her runners and hurried after them.
The team was soon in position. Joanna watched the girls on the other side of the net. They were ready. The ball bounced back and forth. Joanna’s team won two games out of four when they had to quit.
Joanna trailed behind. She watched the other girls talk like old friends. “They all have friends. I don’t. Why wasn’t I on a team with Sara or Jewel?” Joanna thought bitterly as they headed to the cabins.
“Wake up, sleepy head,” teased Jewel, throwing a pillow at Joanna.
“Stop it,” she protested, laughing.
“Get up, then,” insisted Jewel. Joanna grabbed her Bible off the cabinet and began to read.
Ruby was already starting to dust the cabin. She swiped the rag over Ruth’s face. “A-a-a-a-a!” screamed Ruth.
“Sorry.” Ruby grinned. “You were collecting dust, just lying there.” Ruth said nothing as she sat up.
Joanna watched enviously. Ruby had lots of friends. She would talk with anybody.
Ruby grinned mischievously as she pulled the covers off Pricilla.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Making your bed,” replied Ruby, and moved off toward Jewel. Jewel was hunting for her clothes in the cabinet. “How’s my team mate doing today?” asked Ruby.
“Great,” said Jewel, and the two began chatting.
Joanna couldn’t bear to look any longer. ”Why does Ruby have all the friends?” she said to herself.
The day passed quickly. At swimming time, Joanna watched Ruby splashing everybody. “Stop it,” sputtered Sara. “Or I’ll dunk you.”
“Try to dunk me,” Ruby challenged, pushing through the water.
Sara splashed over to her and grabbed her shoulders. “In you go!” she cried triumphantly.
Ruby came to the surface grinning. She moved over to find another unsuspecting victim.
Sara and Jewel joined another group of girls. They began to talk.
Joanna swam a few laps across the swimming area and then stopped to rest in the cool water. She could hear the other girls laughing and shouting. “Lord, will you give me a friend?” begged Joanna silently.
That evening after supper, Joanna sat down on her bunk and lifted the Bible off her pillow
Slam! The cabin door swung shut. “Coming, Jewel?” called Ruby impatiently.
“Soon.” Jewel snapped her suitcase shut.
“Joanna, why don’t you come to play softball with everybody?” Ruby invited.
Normally Joanna loved softball, and would have jumped at the opportunity for a real game with two teams. “Well, no,” she said after hesitating.
Ruby and Jewel didn’t seem to care. They raced each other out the door and down the trail.
Joanna continued to read. Idly she flipped the pages when she finished the chapter. Somehow, her eyes were drawn to a verse she had highlighted. She read it quickly, then again, more slowly.
“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother,” she read aloud. “Proverbs 19:24”
“I’m not alone,” Joanna mused. “Jesus is always with me.”
“That’s not the point,” something seemed to tell her. “Read the first part.”
“I am trying to be friendly,” Joanna argued. “I never said anything to hurt anyone.”
“That’s it. You aren’t trying to talk to others.”
Joanna sighed. “Lord, help me to be friendly. Show me somebody I can talk to.”
Joanna left the cabin with a happy heart. She headed toward the chapel.
Joanna sqinted in the bright sun at the field in front of her. “We’re not doing well,” she said out loud to no one in particular.
She sat down on the grass and watched as a dark-haired girl about her age came panting off the field. The girl beside Joanna jumped up and ran off to play.
“Hi,” said Joanna timidly.
“Hi,” muttered the girl.
“I’m Joanna. What’s your name?”
“Amy.”
“Oh,” thought Joanna. “She’s from our cabin and I never realized she was on my team!”
“How old are you? I’m thirteen.”
Amy smiled a little. “Me, too,” she said.
There was a silence. Then Joanna asked her some more questions. Amy began to warm up and talk. By the time Joanna was called into the field, they were fast friends.
“Get a goal for us,” Amy encouraged her with a grin.
Camp was over. The last of the teens were running here and there gathering luggage. Joanna sighed happily. Sara was right. Camp was fun.
“Hey, Joanna, before you go I want your address.” It was Amy.
Joanna smiled as she wrote it down for her.
“I’m going to miss you,” said Amy wistfully. “Just think, I thought I would never make friends with somebody.”
“I thought that too,” Joanna told her. “Can I write something beside my address?”
Amy looked surprised. “Sure.”
Joanna took the paper back and wrote carefully.
“Proverbs 19:24,” Amy read. “I’ll look it up.”
Joanna grinned. “That verse really helped me. It’ll help you too.”
