Soaking it in

Wow, it is already our fourth week of campers here in the beautiful Redwoods of Mount Hermon.  Last week we had a short week because of 4th of July.  Wednesday I was able to hang out with Uncle Paul, Aunt Pam, and Tyler and meet my 2nd cousins for the first time! It was so great to spend time with them. They were so hospitable and I hope to visit them again soon.

Campers left on Thursday, so our staff was able to have a few days off before campers arrived again on Sunday.  It ended up being a great time to hang out as staff away from a normal schedule and also a time to process the summer so far.  The first day we went to Carmel and hung out at the beach and had a bonfire.  It was such a neat time getting to know the staff in a different context.  We spent the night at one of the counselor's houses in Carmel. My roommate for the night was one of my favorite staff members :). We stayed up a bit chatting and laughing a lot as usual.  The next day we drove off to Moraga, where one of our staff members, Jono, lives.  Another dinner of free food and fun fellowship.  The Lord was really at work in the different conversations I was able to have with some of the girl counselors and He continues to direct my path in how to be a support and encourage them.  I spent the night in Moraga at Sprite's house, which was so great to catch up on how she is doing (since she just recently got back from living over in Costa Rica student teaching for a semester).  4th of July was a fun day.  We went to breakfast together where we joined up with Dave.  Sitting around at a coffee shop, drinking tea, and talking about the Lord together was so uplifting.  The rest of the day we spent lounging around, relaxing, and enjoying just being able to "be" and not "do" anything.

Being away from camp for a bit was something I didn't realize I needed so badly. The Lord blessed me with a break from it all in order to process through some of how camp has been going and also to refill me in order to keep giving from His strength.   I felt an uneasiness in going back to camp on Friday/Saturday morning, but any effort I made to try to figure out what He wanted to be teaching me during my time away or how He wanted to fill me wasn't working.  There was a moment though where I was able just to lay out on the grass by myself, immerse myself in the Lord's presence, and let Him do His work. My heart was longing for Him and He met me in so many different ways.  It was such a neat experience that He had pre-planned and was exactly what He knew I needed.  It may seem silly that it was just a random moment, laying out on the grass, listening to the quietness of the breeze and the bird's singing, but how profound is it when we listen to the Lord as He leads us into those unexpected moments?  He is at work and He is revealing Himself to us in more moments then we probably realize!  Our challenge is to live in this reality, dedicate our moments to Him, be attentive to His voice, listen to Him, obey Him, step into what He is calling us to, trust His love without fear, so that we can experience His greatness and His glory in whatever circumstance He lays in front of us. 

Overall, it was a refreshing break, filled with conversations and times with the Lord that keep pointing me back to Him.  We have lots of campers from years past that are stoked to be here at camp. Being surrounded by people would love kids is such a fun thing to experience. The kids brought so much energy this week, which has impacted all of us who just adore kids and has hyped up all of our energy as well. It is an awesome picture just to watch all of the staff loving on the kids with such a joy and passion.  Walking around camp yesterday and having a conversation with one of the members on staff was a neat moment just to soak in everything that was going on around us.  God has brought us here to this place this summer and it is seriously an incredible place to be.  We were reflecting that we are at a place in our lives where we don't feel rushed, taking one day at a time, and truly are enjoying where the Lord has us at, knowing that the future is under control and there is nothing to fear.  What a freeing joy it is to live in the moment, being open to where the Lord is leading, processing through things of the future when HE sees fit, and in the mean time experiencing HIM here in this place.  What a blessing it is to dwell in His presence!

Out of Control!

First of all, this is a phrase that can be used to describe something as so incredibly cool, it is "out of control!" This is how I feel about my job. I can hardly believe that I get to be here and serve the women's staff all summer! I have been enjoying my time with them, investing in their lives, and spending a lot of time this week listening to all of their stories.  God has been supplying them all with continual energy, enthusiasm, and excitement this first week of camp.

Second of all, I think the Lord is teaching me again that I am "out of control" or rather that He is the one in control of my life and wants to be the one in control of my life. How you ask? Well, right when I had my time off for the week last night, I got a pinched nerve in my back. All of a sudden it started hurting and got worse through the night. This morning it was a challenge to get out of bed and now I am on medication hoping for the pain to go away soon.  This happened to me two years ago at camp and it really was a time where He was teaching me that He is the one in control.  I desire so much for Him to be the one moving and working this summer, so it's been cool for Him to remind me that I just need to trust, release, and surrender to what He wants to do through me this summer.  Such a cool lesson of the day.

Here are some fun pictures from training week!

Lisa came to visit on Saturday!

I brought all the girls to the chapel and had a special time being vulnerable and open with each other on fears of the summer. It was such a sweet time.

Here is our Program staff dressed up to hide around Santa Cruz

for the staff to find us on the scavenger hunt.  Most of

us blended in though, which tells you something about Santa Cruz :)

Beaker, Timon, and Me...haha, scary huh? I was a french goth :)

Rascal (lifeguard) , Plummy (Primary Director), 

Magic (Music), Cheddar (Nurse), and Daisy (Me!)

Fun Happenings: Program staff had to do skits all week. I am not a big fan of being in skits, but since we wrote them we had to present them this week. Haha, the "poncho, jump on it" song skit was my favorite :)

Cool Story: We went to the beach on Saturday and as we were leaving, fireworks started going off at the boardwalk. It was so fun to sit on the beach and watch a firework show.

Prayer Request: Next week we have such small numbers! 26 girls and 31 boys. That means we will have 4 counselors that will not be able to counsel.  We will be sending them up to Conference Center to have to work as dining serving staff for the week. Luckily we will house them here at Redwood. Pray that they will still feel apart of the community and that the Lord will be using this time for them to be bonding together. They are going with open willing hearts.

One week down, a whole summer to go!!

Here is a quick video I took with my phone showing my first night in the cabin :) Luckily the guys came and saved the day and killed them all! Since then, there has only been a few more spiders, one or two slugs, and a few snakes (just kidding, no snakes :)

Things have been going great! Counselors arrived yesterday and we are busy doing Counselor Training this week.  We have a surprise night tonight planned for them to get to know Santa Cruz.  All of us Program Staff will get to dress up and hide ourselves around downtown Santa Cruz.  It actually is a nice relaxing few hours as we wait for them to follow the clues and find us.

For those of you that don't know, my partner for the summer, the Men's Staff Counselor, is Graden. His camp name is Space Cowboy, so I will probably be referencing him a lot.  We are a team this summer and I am already so thankful in how the Lord has been working in our dynamics as the Staff Counselors.

This week we will be training the counselors in ALL they need to know and be prepared for for the summer.  We have a staff of 9 guy counselors and 13 girl counselors.  We woke up at 5:30am and went to the tide pools.  I was challenged to touch an anemone (an amenonenome..hehe) so I did!! Ahh! It was all sticky and made my finger feel numb.  We saw starfish and the end of the sunrise. Then we went up to Pondy (the highschool camp) and had a morning of reflection, alone time, worship, and a hike up to the cross at the hill.  It was such a neat time as a staff.  We ended the time all putting a hand on the cross where we went into a time of thanksgiving, praise, prayer, and singing to our Father.  What a neat time bonding as staff.  I gave my testimony at lunch and it was neat to be able to share with the staff some of what the last year has been like and where I am at now.  

The Lord has been good and is so at work in this place.  Thank you for all your prayers! I will post pictures soon!

Cool Story: One morning I woke up to my alarm. I set it to wake up to "sunrise" setting, which is simply the birds chirping.  I went to go shut off my alarm, and it was not my alarm!! The sun was rising outside and the birds had been awakened! It was the coolest thing because it was way before my alarm was actually going to go off.  Definitely made my day and was a way the Lord was showing Himself to me :)

Prayer request: 3 Counselors are arriving late on Thursday, so they will miss most of the Counselor Training week.  This will mean we will have to figure out time to train them quickly when they get here.  I am a little unsure how this is going to go.

Going back to my Mount Hermon home!

Well, this week is my last week at home and I am spending the day getting ready and packing up all my stuff.  It has sure been a whirlwind and I can hardly believe I will be driving up to my new home for the summer on Sunday!  The Lord has so much in store and I feel on the edge of my seat. I am anticipating such great adventures ahead and I can hardly wait!

Last night my biblestudy girls threw me a surprise going away party and it was so incredibly sweet! They made me feel so special and I am going to miss them dearly.  Here are a few pictures from our time.  In the second pic, the ice cream cake started melting because the jacuzzi was so hot  :)