Blob, Wedding Frenzie and The Word

Yesterday was yet again, a very long day. This one was especially long. We have a family weekend camp here and they had some activities open for the day. I am the only waterfront person at the moment who is actually lifeguard certified, so I was on the blob the whole day. I was up there from 10-12:30 and then again from 1ish-5:00. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had a decently steady flow of people, but got a couple breaks to read and stuff as well, so that was nice. It was a lot of repeating myself, as usual. Telling every person the same thing of what they're going to do. And of course as I am telling them for the third time that they need to land on their butt they land on their feet, and then they tell me they forgot. Oh well, no one got hurt yesterday, so that was good. After a long day on the blob, my day wasn't even half over. One of the property staff guys, Shawn, got married yesterday and the reception was at Lake Champion and all the interns helped out. We first had to serve the family camp people food at 5:30, then the reception started at 7. Mad chaos. So I ate dinner really fast and then we had to do pits, which is cleaning all the dishes. We helped out in the kitchen for a while and then had to run back and change into nice clothes because we were out on the floor for the reception refilling drinks and hors D'Oeuvres and things like that.

This is Matt. me and Crist (EMT intern). I was sitting on Lisa's lap, but you can't see her. Four people on the EZ-go - totally illegal. We were rushing to the reception though!

Me and Lisa in our white tops and black bottoms for the reception!

The reception and everything was really fun. It was busy and we were running around all night, but I enjoyed it. It was the busy, but really productive kind of craziness, which I love. Your running around for forever, but your getting so much done and the things you are doing are actually worth while. Those are the times I kick into my productive mood, and I really enjoy it. It made for a really really long day though.

The new dining hall looked really good though. You can't really tell in this picture, but it was pretty. It definitely got me thinking about a reception at Lake Champion. It is my favorite place in the world. I don't know, we'll see about that.
These are the people who were so awesome and got the gross job of doing pits. Sam, Chocklett, Lisa and Krissa(ropes intern). Krissa just got here last night and now our group is finally complete! All the interns are here.

Once the reception was over we had to do pits again, tear everything down and set it up for breakfast for this morning. There were a lot of people working together and figuring everything out, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Everyone had really good attitudes and we were all working really hard. It was one of those times when you have to get stuff done whether you want to or not, so you might as well make it fun! We were finally done around 12:30ish and then I went in the hot tub with a couple other interns. It was so nice to just relax. I had the day off today, so I was able to sleep in. I am so proud of myself, I slept in until 10. I was excited.

I got up and was able to really spend some quality time with the Lord. I didn't have to watch the time to get to work and it was really nice. I journaled and read my devotional and wrote down scripture. I'm really wanting to dive into the word this summer. I just started a journal of Bible verses and I'm going to write them down every time the Lord reveals something to me through his word. I'm really excited about it and even just this morning found a verse in Psalms that resonated so well with me. It was just how I was feeling yesterday when I decided to do this and what I had journaled about. It is Psalm 119:9-16

"How can a young man keep his way pure?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, O Lord;

teach me your decrees.

With my lips I recount

all the laws that come from your mouth.

I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts

and consider your ways.

I delight in your decrees;

I will not neglect your word."

There is just so much in these verses. We live a pure life when we live our lives according to his word. The psalmist says he has hidden the word in his heart so that he may not sin against God. Memorizing scripture is key. When we memorize scripture those words and those truths are engraved into our hearts and we can lean on them, instead of leaning on our fleshly desires. And I love how the psalmist says that he rejoices in following the statutes and laws of the Bible. They are not restrictions or boundaries; they are true freedom.

Waves on the Water

Well I'm catching up, but it's late and I'm starting to crash. I'm gonna try to finish tonight, but we'll see what happens. Today was a long day. I did paperwork this morning and then Lisa and I cleaned the pool. It literally took all morning. It was really dirty cause we hadn't cleaned it in like a week, but it took forever. Then we had lunch and Bob came back with our other boat! So they're both here now, which is really exciting.

With the new boats we first have to drive them for ten hours and then take them back and have them checked out. So after lunch Lisa started on our hours and I cleaned the hot tub. It took a while, but it's clean now! Then I got my turn putting hours on the boat. Rough life, huh? I drove around for like a little over two hours. Just me on a boat in a lake. What I love. I got out on the lake and put my ipod in and just listened to music. It was so great. I sat there and prayed for a while. Just praying over the lake and the safety of the campers, and the boats, and the summer staffers. I'm getting excited for campers to come and summer staffers to get here. I was surprised I didn't get bored. I love driving the boats, but I figured after that long by myself I would get bored, but I didn't. I ended up putting on an old sermon from Crossroads and listening to it on my ipod. I definitely got more comfortable on the boats and was figuring out how to get some good waves going and get a little air on the boat. It was really fun. It was so good to just spend time with the Lord out on the water. There is nothing in the world like it.

God is teaching me that I can't get stuck in a routine. I have to change things up and find new ways to seek him. It has to be something I am constantly active in. My heart and soul are longing to know him better. He is preparing my heart for this summer and I'm getting really excited. Please be praying for his presence here this summer and that camper's heart would be open to hearing the gospel.

A view from the other side of the lake.

Tubing

Yesterday we got to have more fun on the boats! Lisa and I first learned how to dock the boat on both sides of the dock because we were going to be driving tubers. This past week has been work week. Like 70ish awesome people volunteered to come and just work on the camp to get it ready for this summer. They worked really hard and really long hours and were completely awesome. So Thursday afternoon was their free time and we opened up the waterfront and some ropes stuff.

So Lisa and I learned how to drive tubers on the work week people. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. There are so many things to think about! You have to know where your tubers are, while your still driving and changing speeds and trying to get them air while not getting slack in the rope. It was a lot, but it was really fun. It was pretty cold and cloudy so not many people wanted to tube. So some of the other interns came and had to be out guinea pigs.

This is Matt and Derrick. They put wet suits on so they wouldn't be quite as cold. We made them go so many times so we could practice. I was a little nervous, but it was really fun and I think I just need to get used to it.

Having work week people here was fun. It was pretty close to an August summer staff reunion. Pretty much everyone from Maryland came and it was great to see them. Last night after dinner I got the chance to catch up a little bit with Glenn. He is always someone who really encourages me. He is so real and down to earth about his walk with the Lord and what God has been doing in his life. I've kind of been feeling like I'm at a stand still. Champion is a place where I truly feel the presence of the Lord. And while I know God is here, I haven't been feeling him in the same way. I feel like he is distant. I know he isn't, but I feel like he is. There is part of me that misses the utter desperation of going through tough times. It stinks while your in it, but when things are going just fine, I find myself not seeing God as much in my life. He is still there working, but I don't think I'm as desperate and I forget to be constantly seeking him. Talking to Glenn last night was a great encouragement. He is one of those people that makes me want to know God better and talking to him last night started that fire in my heart that I've been praying for. It was really great and definitely an answer to prayer. God is at work.

Study Study Study

Okay, so I'm actually still not done catching up. (I'm gonna go day by day) So as a waterfront intern, one of my jobs is to drive the boats for tubing. This is something I'm excited about because as a camper here, it was where I lived. I absolutely love to go tubing and am really excited about giving campers that experience. But in order for me to be able to do this, I have to have a New York state public vessel license. This is not just any ordinary boat license, it's for driving commercial boats. And the test is really hard. I had to know a whole notebook of information, and after finishing school, taking another test was the last thing I wanted to think about. Because this is a hard core commercial driving license, it wasn't a typical boating safety exam. I had to know all sorts of things like bulge pumps and what size boat needed what kind and how many, all sorts of lifejackets, bouys, fires as well as what size boat needs to have a fixed bell on it. Anyway, it was a crazy test on a bunch of information we don't need to know at all, but becasue New York has the craziest laws ever, we had to take it. Monday after NYC I went straight to Bob's house (my boss) and we had a study session. We did the same on Tuesday. It was really overwhelming. You know how I am with tests. They consume me, and I HAD to pass this one! I studied a lot. On Wednesday Brian (on Guest Services), Bob, Lisa and I all went to Albany to take the test. It was about a 2.5 hour drive. Well, we ALL passed! Which is seriously a miracle. I can officially drive a tug boat or commercial ferry. Wahoo! It was really hard, and I didn't do well on it by any means, but I passed, and thats all that counts. This was on our way to Albany.
So we came back happy and got to drive the boats! Bob, Lisa and I went out on the lake and drove around a little bit. It was so much fun. I love being on the water!

I heart N.Y.

So on Monday a bunch of the interns had off, so we took at trip into the city. It was a long day of a lot of walking, but it was so much fun! We woke up early and left. We had thought about taking the train, but ended up taking two cars. We parked for free pretty far outside the city just on the street and then took the subway around all day. We first went to the World Trade Center area and saw the construction. We stopped off at a Starbucks and then went and walked by the water. We had great weather!
You could definitely tell we were tourists! We were taking pictures everywhere and constantly had our trusty map out.

The guys did a fantastic job getting us around the city and figuring out what subways we needed to get on.

Me, Sam (who I did summer staff with last year, and is the maintenance intern), and Krista (a cook intern)This was as close to the Statue of Liberty we got, but some of us are hoping to go back at some point this summer and go up in the crown, now that it is open again. We'll see if it happens.

All the girls that went! Ana (retail intern), Ali (hospitality intern), Kaitlyn (baker intern), Me and Krista.


Next we got back on the subway and went to Times Square. It was really fun to just walk around. It was Memorial Day, so there was lots going on and fun things to see. We also got free hot dogs for lunch, which was great. (not a fan of hot dogs, but definitely a fan of free) Then everyone bought "I heart N.Y." shirts for three dollars and we wore them the next day.


We went into this Toys R Us and it was huge. There was a ferris wheel inside, but it was too expensive to ride. We all felt like kids again!

These guys were pretty sweet. They had some really fun partner stunts.
Our FREE hot dog!

After Times Square we went to 5th Avenue. We went into FAO Schwarz which was super crazy, and into the Apple store which was underground, but the entrance was made of glass. FAO Schwarz was huge and had every toy imaginable.

This was made out of Jelly Beans!

Puppet Show!

The guys played the jumbo piano. It was really funny and entertaining! Matt (ropes intern), Derrick (Mountain Sports intern), Charlie (video intern), and Sam.

Next we went to Central Park and walked around for a while. Then we completely crashed. We had been on our feet all day and just hung out for a while. Then we went and got some New York pizza for dinner and headed back. It was a long day, but so much fun and great intern bonding time!

There were some other good pictures on other people's cameras, so I may try and add those later. But it was a great day. We had excellent weather and everyone had really good attitudes the whole day. I was a little hesitant about going because of how things tend to work in big groups, but it all went really smoothly and we all stayed together the whole day. Everyone was really easy going, which was fantastic. It was a fun day in the big apple!

Happy Anniversary!

Well, it's been a while. Things here have been super busy and I have lots to catch up on. But first things first. Last Friday my parents celebrated their 27th Anniversary!!! (I think, if I did my math right). My parents have been beyond amazing examples to me and my siblings. Their example of love for one another magnifies their love for the Lord and what relationships grounded in Him are supposed to look like. Through them and their marriage, I have learned so much. So much about parenting, working together and Christ's love. I have seen what good days and not so good days look like and that giving up is never an option. I have grown up with the amazing security of knowing that my parents will never get divorced. I still remember the night they sat us down and promised us that never, under any circumstance, would they ever get divorced and there has been such comfort in my life knowing that. They have been such a great example of love. The love that they share is something that can truly only come from God. I hope one day I can share in this amazing love. I know my husband will appreciate all that my parents have taught me. I love you mom and dad! Happy Anniversary! (sorry it's so late)

(yes I totally copied Janelle, and no, I'm not nearly as good with my words)

Drowning in Grace

Today was long. I'm exhausted. Physically and mentally. It wasn't a terrible day by any means, but it was kind of rough. The rough part actually started last night. I wanted to see how Track Nationals was going since it started yesterday. I looked at the girls pole vaulting and saw that the cut off was actually 11'10 1/2, not 12'1 1/2 like I thought it was going to be. They took 19 girls and I just got bumbed out. Immediately the "if only's" came flooding in. If only I had known to put the bar at that height at conference I would have for sure made it with that last jump. If only I had known. And to top it off, it means that I was 2.5 inches away. Just 2.5! I wanted it so bad.

I have to keep telling myself that God is so much bigger and God is so much wiser. I have to repeat it to myself over and over again. As much as I know it is true, sometimes I don't really believe it. As many of you may know, pretty much everything I do, I do logically. I think things through, analyzing everything, and go about doing things in the most efficient and productive ways possible. There is a reason for everything. I tend to carry this into my relationship with the Lord. Yes, there is a reason for everything, but I am not the mastermind behind it; He is. He is the one who understands how it all works out, and the hard part about this one, is I don't get it. I just wish I could see the reason I didn't make Nationals. It was right there. I know I can clear 12', I can definitely clear 11'10 1/2. Why didn't things work out? I don't know, and it's not my job to know, but I do know that I hate not knowing. Last night and today were kind of rough. I don't think its showed, but my mind has been running. I have had to constantly remind myself that one, it is not my job to understand, and two, that I have to trust Him.

This morning Lisa and I cleaned the Blob Tower and got things all organized. Again, it was quite needed. We fixed all the helmets and blew up some tubes for tubing this weekend then went to brunch. After that I did some stuff in the office and then went up to the prop room above the club room. I was up there with Ali (an intern) and Brian (a property staff) and we cleaned and organized it for I don't even know how long. Three or four hours I think. It was a mess and we hung clothes up, organized them, and then organized all the other random props as well. It wasn't too bad, but it was really dusty and I couldn't stop sneezing. After that, I went and cleaned the pool. We got a new vacuum type thing, which is so amazing compared to sweeping, which we've done in the past. It still took a while, but was much less frustrating. Lisa and I worked on the pool for a while. We just filled it the other day and have been working with the chemicals and everything, but as of today, it should be good to go for the summer, which is great. As we thought our day was ending we got sent to go help out with housekeeping up in the cabins. We had a group leave today and more people came tonight. So it was a fast turn over and college age boys do not know how to clean showers. So Lisa and I cleaned all the showers in one of the cabins, which was a less than thrilling job to do. It was disgusting. You wouldn't believe how gross boys showers can get in less than a week. (At least they showered, right?) Anyway, I think it was good bonding time, Lisa and I were disgusted together and just kept laughing. Then we had dinner and now I am crashing. I have been standing all day and am whipped.

God definitely showered me with His grace today. There is absolutely no way I would have gotten through it without Him. Girls vaulting at nationals was today and as I was cleaning dirt and hair out of boy's showers, there was a part of me that just wanted to say, "really God? this is what I had to miss nationals for?" I don't really think that is the reason, I have no idea what the reason is, none of it makes sense to me, but it is definitely humbling. I need a servant's heart this summer. I have to become nothing, and God has to become everything. It is not about me. I want to serve these campers and show them what the love of an amazing Savior can do. When I turn towards this kind of mindset, realizing that what I am doing here is furthering God's Kingdom, then my athletic performance becomes so small. I have the opportunity to be a part of high schoolers lives completely changing. I have the opportunity to share the most amazing news in this world with thousands of high schoolers! How amazing is that! There is no comparing when it comes to lives being drastically changed and people entering God's Kingdom. The Lord continues to amaze me with His kindness. That He would shower me with so much grace as I am wallowing in myself. What an amazing Savior we have!

Lake Champion

I am here! It's been quite a journey which the Lord has taught me a lot through, but I am here, at probably my favorite place in the world. I got to Lake Champion two days ago and I've loved every second of being here. My beyond fantastic dad sacrificed many hours and a sore body to get me here. He first drove from Virginia to Michigan to come get me. That ride is a killer. Then the next day after my exam, he helped carry many boxes as I packed up and we got in the car to come here to New York. We drove about half way and spent the night. Then he got up, got back in the car for a third time and brought me to camp. We took a detour for some fantastic ice cream and I got to camp around 2:30ish. We unloaded my things and then he got back in the car for a fourth time to go back to Virginia. I think he went and picked my mom up in Richmond and then drove home. What an amazing dad! He spent three days driving to make things work out for me. He is so great.


Day one consisted of meeting the other interns, unpacking, eating dinner, finishing some things up for school and a bon fire which the guys made. It's been really great getting to know the interns and just hanging out before our summers get crazy.

All the interns live in Hawk's Nest. The guys rooms are on the first floor and the girls are all upstairs. We have 5 rooms and two girls in each room. We also have a bathroom, a "kitchen" which has a refridgerator, sink, toaster and microwave. It also has our laundry in there as well, and we also have just a room with couches and a phone that I've enjoyed for my morning devotionals. There is a large hang out area on the first floor with a bunch of comfy couches where we all hang out a lot. It's really fun, I love living in community!

This is my room, I share it with a girl named Annie. She is an AM cook, so we'll both be getting up early in the morning. Gotta love those 5:45 mornings at camp! All to serve those campers with excellence. I can't wait for them to get here! Anyway, this is our room, my bed is on the right. I brought my foam padding for my bed and my comforter and I'm so glad I did! The beds here are pretty hard and it gets really cold at night. Their really narrow beds too, but I've been sleeping fine.
Yesterday was my first day working and we got a lot done. I worked the whole day with my boss, Bob, who is really great. We took the dock over to the adult guest house and got everything situated over there. We secured the dock and cleaned the canoes and brought them down and did some other misc. things. Then we put the blob in, which was much more work than we expected. The lake here freezes over in the winter and so they have to take everything off the lake. All the docks and boey lines and everything. So we blew the blob up and got it in the water and spent like three or four hours getting the blob and boey line situated. We were in a little motor boat and Bob would drive the boat towards an anchor that we attached to the blob (3 on each side) I would grab the rope and with all my strength try to pull the anchor off the bottom of the lake while he put the boat in reverse so we could move the blob. The anchors are 5 lb buckets full of concrete, so it was quite an exhausting job. That is mostly what work consisted of yesterday. We then had dinner and afterwards I played my first round of frisbee golf ever. I know, crazy. I've been at Lake Champion so many times, and I've never played. It was really fun. Then we all came back and hung out at Hawk's Nest and played games. Lisa also came yesterday. She is the other waterfront intern and I'm really excited about working with her. I think we'll get along and work really well together.
Today consisted of lots of cleaning, more blob manuvering, lifeguarding and getting a bit burned. Lisa and I completely cleaned and organized the pool house which was very needed. We got things all cleaned up and ready for the summer. After lunch we monkeyed around with the blob again trying to get things set up right and then we opened it for some of the campers that are here. The people here aren't here for Young Life camp, their a different group just using the camp. (Young Life campers come at the beginning of June.) But I was up on the blob tower lifeguarding, doing my typical job and loving it. It was fun to have the interaction with the campers and get back in the swing of things for guarding. I got a bit of sun on my back while I was up there, but I had sunscreen on and it doesn't really hurt. We had dinner and played a round of frisbee golf again. It was fun, but not as fun as yesterday cause me and my partner didn't win and I played terribly, but oh well :)

I love this camp. Whenever I am here I just sense the presence of the Lord. The people are all so great and everyone is just so loving. I'm really excited to see what God does this summer. It is all in His hands and He has to be the one to work all the details out. I am learning to trust Him and trust in His ways, since they are so much higher than my ways. I also was reminded this morning that I have to be dependent on Him for all of my needs. He is way more than enough for me, and I never have any reason to doubt that. He is my everything and I want my life to scream out His glorious name!

New Blog

So my new favorite thing to do is read people's blogs. I love hearing about other's journeys in life and reading about it brings me along for the ride. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, but didn't know what I would write about. I still don't know what I'm going to write about or who in the world is going to read it, but oh well, right? As I've increased my blog reading, I've started to realize how much I enjoy it when people blog everyday. I know it is a lot of time and effort, but when I'm done with my breakfast and devotions in the morning, I love to get caught up on my friend's (or even people I don't really know) lives. So when thinking about starting a blog, I have to consider if I have enough time to make it worth while. I'm not possitive I do, but after some encouragement from my community group, I've decided to go ahead with it. I'm not sure what I will be writing about, but I hope God will use it in some way. I'm still trying to figure everything out on how to do this, but hopefully it will work. That is all for right now.