Handed the Mirror | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Handed the Mirror | Previous Challenge Entry
By Joanna Dietz
05/21/26
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I can’t remember exactly—I think it was Tuesday morning. But what I know for sure is that camp had barely started, and I was already finished.

This week would mark my second chance to dorm lead at the Bible camp I had grown up at. As a little third grader, I had dreamed of the day when I’d become the dorm leader, caring for my own cabin of third graders. In the summer of my junior year of high school, my dream started to turn into reality when I attended a two-week-long camp designed to train future dorm leaders.

The next summer I had my first taste of dorm life. Under the supervision of two more experienced dorm leaders, I served as a trainee during girls camp. And, boy, did I pull out the stops—those campers loved me! Although a trainee, I secretly believed that between the other two dorm leaders and me, I was the favorite of our campers. Engaging, funny, and not-too-hard-to-look-at, what else could you want in a dorm leader?

Now, a year later, I was truly going to realize my goal of being an awesome dorm leader. No longer a trainee, I was back at camp as a junior dorm leader. I was ready: ready for a second round of girls camp and ready for a second round of being Miss Popular.

But then someone got in the way.

As I had done a year earlier, another girl was serving as a trainee. Together with the senior dorm leader, she would be serving alongside me for the week.

And she had her game face on.

Soon after the campers arrived, I realized I couldn’t match the compassion and enthusiasm with which she interacted with our girls. As a result, neither could I enjoy the rapport she was building with them.

So, sensing I had lost the match, I found myself sitting on my bunk, crying, on that Tuesday morning of camp.

I was being ripped up inside. Coming to camp, I had unconsciously been expecting to indulge in the delicious pleasures of being loved and admired. I had greedily looked forward to knowing I had once again achieved the status of favorite dorm leader.

But my “competition” had stolen what I coveted for myself, rendering me angry and jealous. How was I going to make it through the week! How could I bear working with . . . her?! How could I bear second place?

I was hurting.

And so I began to pray.

You might be guessing what happened next.

Well, I didn’t hear a voice. I didn’t see a vision. And God certainly didn’t send Gabriel. But He did bring a verse to the forefront of my mind. The first part of 2 Corinthians 12:9 reads like this: “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’”

Yes, I agreed I was weak—I was a mess! But what a comfort! To know that God was accessible, right there to help me, stooping all the way down to where I wallowed in pride and disappointment.

I did make it through the rest of camp. I admit it was not without its times of struggle as I interacted with the “competition.” But the storm of emotion had dissipated, and the blessing of a busy camp schedule did not allow time for sulking.

I can’t say I walked away from that week with a smug feeling, knowing I’d be remembered by my campers as the coolest dorm leader ever. But as I reflect on this experience, I see I walked away with something better: insight into my own heart and my need for God.

I had come to Bible camp to serve. Yes—indeed I had. But not the campers. Blind to my own motives, I had come to serve myself! I had befriended my campers, hoping in return to receive floods of admiration that would bolster my ego and self-esteem. But God had handed me the mirror: my service had been selfish.

God graciously had prevented my self-centered wishes from being satisfied. As a result, my heart was exposed for what it was and is, allowing me to see just how weak I am.

Yes, I came away from that week with something far better: God had showed me just how much I need Him.

A true story.
Bible Quotation from NASB1995

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