A Letter to the Month of June

Dear June, 

      It was nice seeing you in passing. I realized the other day that you have nearly vanished into a whirlwind of campers coming and going, eager excitement, pure exhaustion, chapels, ambushes, morning clubs and activities. I can’t believe how fast this is going and how rare it is to get a moment to even have time to think about the time that has elapsed. I have two weeks of campers and the west side program is starting to become routine. I’ve been at camp for a month now and we are more than 25% through summer 2013. I am learning the value of living in the moment and enjoying the little things. I have realized that I often either look forward to the next exciting moment or sentimentally recall all the great moments in the past. But I don’t want to wish camp away or not enjoy the current moment due to the fact that I miss last week or even yesterday. I’m having so much fun and am truly enjoying the blessing of this opportunity!

I’ve enjoyed making new friends within the staff but it is also fun to have some familiar faces in the group. Hannah Ford and I camped together ten years ago and it is so cool to be counseling together this summer, we’ve come full circle.

Well I was home for the night and am packing up to leave again bright and early this morning. Yay green and white camp buses!  It was so nice to see my family and to just be home, even though the time was very short. It is so strange to think that in 12 hours I'll be playing ambush with a whole new group of girls. I'm excited and nervous all over again and although the intensity of my nervous emotions are much less than they were the first week and even last week, the butterflies are still there. 

I would greatly appreciate your prayers for the coming weeks, strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow! I love this so much, but it is far from easy. Several people have asked me if I need anything and the only thing that I would really ask for is mail. I have had such encouraging, funny, and delightful letters from so many people over the past few weeks and I truly enjoy hearing from you all! Thank you so much for your encouragement and prayer! I am constantly reminded that I can not do this on my own. Hallelujah! All I have is Christ!

Well June, I should be going and all to soon you will be gone too. Thanks for the tan, the bug bites and the memories, as blurred as they are right now, I will remember you through my journal and blog posts. 

Gotta run, the campers are coming!

My blog post for when the WIFI works

(As you may have noticed by what I titled this post, the WIFI is a tad choppy so I am hoping that it actually posts this time.)

I’m sitting on the front porch of the E.S. Dinning Hall enjoying the warm evening air and the sweet summer sounds coming from all around me. Camp is peaceful and quiet right now, but in many ways it feels like the calm before the storm. In two days, our training will be complete (as complete as it is going to get anyways) and the situations and campers that the last two weeks have been preparing us for will cease being the topics of sessions and will start to be realities. It is extremely exciting, terrifying, amazing, and scary all at the same time. I keep going back and forth between being totally ready and wishing they could just come now and feeling completely unprepared and feeling like I need months more to prepare. We all got a TAWG (for you non-camp people that’s Time Alone With God) this evening and it was great to re-focus and ponder once again the real reason why I am here this summer. When I step back like that and realize that the reason I am here is to first and foremost proclaim the good news of the Gospel to those around me, then all the insecurities, doubts, fears, and worries slip away.

The words to this song explain my thoughts far better than I can:

I've been the one to shake with fear and wonder if You're even here.

I've been the one to doubt Your love, I've told myself You're not enough.

I've been the one to try and say, I'll overcome by my own strength.

I've been the one to fall apart and to start to question who You are.

I've been the one held down in chains beneath the weight of all my shame.

I've been the one to believe that where I am You cannot reach.

And then I remember who is really in control and I stand in awe:

You're the one who conquers giants

You're the one who calls out kings

You shut the mouths of lions

You tell the dead to breathe

You're the one who walks through fire

You take the orphan's hand

You are the one Messiah

You are I am

Such comfort and peace knowing that everything is in God’s control!

Well, it is already time to move on to the next thing on the schedule. They sure do keep us moving around here. I hope to update again soon, but until next time I sure would appreciate prayer. Most especially for the continued focus and passion to share Christ’s love with those I come in contact with, and also for peace and wisdom in all the conversations and interactions I will have with campers and staff in the following weeks. TTFN