It is officially summer! We have 5 more weeks of camp and it is so weird! Young life was here for a month and they left on Sunday. It was sad to see them all leave. I really loved having the summer staff here this year. They were so much fun to be around. It feels like summer is just starting now and it's already halfway over. I must say it is bittersweet. The staff this summer has been phenomenal. We have gotten pretty close and it is a fun group of people!
As a staff we are going through the book Love Does by Bob Goff. (I mentioned this in the previous post) We have been having amazing discussions each week with the chapters. We read a chapter about words and how important words are to people. He told a story about how when he was growing up he was on a baseball team and was awful. One game he hit a home run and hit coach sent him a card at the end of the season saying how it was a great hit and he was a real ball player. Those words, he said, stuck with him.
I am learning more and more that I am like Peter in many ways. I have strongly identified with the story where Jesus calls him to walk on water and step out. Jesus called him "the rock" (no not like dwayne johnson) when Jesus knew Peter was going to deny him. Maybe, he was calling something out of Peter when he did that. I know for me if someone genuinely encourages me it makes me believe it, if only for a bit.
I can remember nice things that people have told me. I also remember the negative things. Sometimes the negative I remember even more. Its strange how much words can shape our lives. I also think that the words we say to ourselves are just as powerful. The things we tell ourselves over and over again become things that we believe. In the back of my head all mu life I have heard the words,"you are not good enough." After hearing it for so long...I started to believe it. Those words shaped how I viewed everything. t has been in the past few years I have been blessed with friends who have spoken encouragement into those lies and have helped me see that I am good enough. God speaks truth through His Word and through people around us. A simple, "God is going to do great things in your life." (by someone I really admire) has shaped how I feel about my future.
A simple encouraging word can shape a persons life forever. Who are you going to encourage today??
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
just do it
First week of campers here at camp this week. It's been a pretty hectic time! But all in all it has been good to finally get in the swing of things. The summer staff this year is pretty awesome I must say. Although, I am missing a few from last year. We, as a staff, are going through the book Love Does by Bob Goff. I highly recommend it!
Each chapter is a different story from his life with an amazing twist to it. One of the first chapters we read he talked about how love just does. (hence the title of the book) Love is an action, love is a verb. (cue in dc talk song here....) But sometimes in order to life a life of love we need to just do. In the introduction Donald Miller, who writes it, gives a really good picture of what Bob is going to portray in the rest of the book.
"...love does things. It writes a letter and gets on a plane. It orders pizza and jumps in a lake. It hugs and prays and cries and sings."
I love that! How many times have we just not done something because it scares us or it seems to crazy or to big or outside of ourselves?? Well, each chapter of this book tells a story of stepping outside of that and taking action and letting love do things. Loving is scary! Doing something for someone else with no motive...who does that anymore?!? Each story that we have read so far Bob is doing things. The first step is to just do it. To step out of that typical-ness or normal and comfortable and live a life of love. And not just live it but to live it in a way that it becomes a part of who we are.
We were all going out to do something one night and one of the summer staff wanted to sleep, so one of the girls turned to him and said, "When you are old and you look back on your life are you going to say, 'oh man, I really regret that time I didn't get enough sleep.'? No!" I liked that. I know there are times I wish I did more, I wish I helped out a certain person, got to know a classmate or co-worker better, or really took time to share my faith with someone else. So what is the answer to all that.... don't sit around and wish you did...just do it!
Each chapter is a different story from his life with an amazing twist to it. One of the first chapters we read he talked about how love just does. (hence the title of the book) Love is an action, love is a verb. (cue in dc talk song here....) But sometimes in order to life a life of love we need to just do. In the introduction Donald Miller, who writes it, gives a really good picture of what Bob is going to portray in the rest of the book.
"...love does things. It writes a letter and gets on a plane. It orders pizza and jumps in a lake. It hugs and prays and cries and sings."
I love that! How many times have we just not done something because it scares us or it seems to crazy or to big or outside of ourselves?? Well, each chapter of this book tells a story of stepping outside of that and taking action and letting love do things. Loving is scary! Doing something for someone else with no motive...who does that anymore?!? Each story that we have read so far Bob is doing things. The first step is to just do it. To step out of that typical-ness or normal and comfortable and live a life of love. And not just live it but to live it in a way that it becomes a part of who we are.
We were all going out to do something one night and one of the summer staff wanted to sleep, so one of the girls turned to him and said, "When you are old and you look back on your life are you going to say, 'oh man, I really regret that time I didn't get enough sleep.'? No!" I liked that. I know there are times I wish I did more, I wish I helped out a certain person, got to know a classmate or co-worker better, or really took time to share my faith with someone else. So what is the answer to all that.... don't sit around and wish you did...just do it!
Friday, May 10, 2013
new adventure ahead
Hello! I am currently back at camp working. We have a group of women up here this weekend and the summer staff heads up next week and then we start summer! It snowed up here about 10 inches yesterday. I was not prepared for that. When I packed for the summer I did not think I would need my winter clothes...luckily I had some boots and under-armor up at camp from the fall. But I am excited for warm weather and to get back to my pool and get tan. :) My sister is coming out with me this summer as my other lifeguard which I am so excited about as well!
More news: So a few months ago, while on the road, I received an email from Axis asking me back for the next semester. Starting in the fall we are going to be having three teams and interns will stay not only for a semester but for an entire year. After a lot of prayer and seeking advice from my parents and friends I have decided to continue. I feel like God is telling me that He is not done with me yet and still has a ton to teach me. I was finally becoming comfortable with the presentations at the end of the semester and I plan on spending the summer working on them and studying more. I am excited to see what the next year brings! Thank you so much for your support and prayers throughout this semester!! keep checking back here for updates throughout the summer if you seem to like following my random ramblings about life and, now, about my summer job. More ramblings to come soon :)
More news: So a few months ago, while on the road, I received an email from Axis asking me back for the next semester. Starting in the fall we are going to be having three teams and interns will stay not only for a semester but for an entire year. After a lot of prayer and seeking advice from my parents and friends I have decided to continue. I feel like God is telling me that He is not done with me yet and still has a ton to teach me. I was finally becoming comfortable with the presentations at the end of the semester and I plan on spending the summer working on them and studying more. I am excited to see what the next year brings! Thank you so much for your support and prayers throughout this semester!! keep checking back here for updates throughout the summer if you seem to like following my random ramblings about life and, now, about my summer job. More ramblings to come soon :)
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
our last night...
End of the semester. We are currently in Portland, Oregon on our last night of our trip. We are at a host home and had a chance this afternoon to see a BEAUTIFUL waterfall!! It was fun! We have spent all day driving so it was nice to get out and explore. It has been a great semester! I have a video that I am going to post of my semester with some fun clips and pics. :) I will update in a few days after we get back to Colorado.
I have loved being a part of this amazing team of people and all the experiences we had together! God really worked wonders through each of us. I don't know where God will take each of us. Caleb is headed to grad school in the fall and Patrick will be with Axis of course, and Hayley decided to do another year of Axis. More updates later. Until then I am going to hang out with my team!
I have loved being a part of this amazing team of people and all the experiences we had together! God really worked wonders through each of us. I don't know where God will take each of us. Caleb is headed to grad school in the fall and Patrick will be with Axis of course, and Hayley decided to do another year of Axis. More updates later. Until then I am going to hang out with my team!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
"Stop worrying about what tomorrow holds"
There are two different types of worry. Worry that leads you towards action and resolving that worry and toxic worry that can paralyze you. Too much worry can hinder you from doing things well also. A few weeks ago I decided to write down everything that has been worrying me. I was seeing that I was avoiding God and working through some things. When that happens I get stressed and worn down so I took some time alone on one of our days off in FL and started to try and work through some of the things God was putting on my heart.
So I wrote down everything I was stressed or worried about. I started out with some obvious things (finding a job and paying off loans) but the more time I took I realized I was worried about a lot more. After writing them all down I sat and looked through everything I had written down and prayed through each one. I had no idea how to start getting over those worries so I just prayed that God would show me.
Looking back on my life I can see that God answers things in ways that I never thought. At our host home the other night we were asked, by their small group bible study, how we knew we wanted to do something like Axis. I was reminded of a few times I prayed to God to make me vulnerable, while at FLI, and then senior year in college I prayed for Him to break me. He did both. I learned through friendship and heartbreak how to be vulnerable and not close my heart to the people around me. During senior year I was broken to the core as He built me back up again. In the same way I prayed these worries to Him. It didn't take much time for God to start eliminating them...one by one. In the most random of situations He was showing me, "You don't need to worry about this. I've got it."
It is amazing how He can show Himself in the strangest of times by the most random people. But it is just a reminder of how He is always there with us no matter our situations or how stressed or worried we seem to be.
I guess that is my rant for now. Speaking at a high school tomorrow and friday then a local church on Sunday for our second family presentation. A busy few days but excited to be with students again!! But until later I am about to watch Harry Potter with my host family. :)
So I wrote down everything I was stressed or worried about. I started out with some obvious things (finding a job and paying off loans) but the more time I took I realized I was worried about a lot more. After writing them all down I sat and looked through everything I had written down and prayed through each one. I had no idea how to start getting over those worries so I just prayed that God would show me.
Looking back on my life I can see that God answers things in ways that I never thought. At our host home the other night we were asked, by their small group bible study, how we knew we wanted to do something like Axis. I was reminded of a few times I prayed to God to make me vulnerable, while at FLI, and then senior year in college I prayed for Him to break me. He did both. I learned through friendship and heartbreak how to be vulnerable and not close my heart to the people around me. During senior year I was broken to the core as He built me back up again. In the same way I prayed these worries to Him. It didn't take much time for God to start eliminating them...one by one. In the most random of situations He was showing me, "You don't need to worry about this. I've got it."
It is amazing how He can show Himself in the strangest of times by the most random people. But it is just a reminder of how He is always there with us no matter our situations or how stressed or worried we seem to be.
I guess that is my rant for now. Speaking at a high school tomorrow and friday then a local church on Sunday for our second family presentation. A busy few days but excited to be with students again!! But until later I am about to watch Harry Potter with my host family. :)
Friday, April 19, 2013
Update:
We are back in Colorado! We narrowly missed the storm that went through Missouri the day after we left. Missouri was cold! We have been blessed to have been able to go to warm states all semester so far! I guess we had to experience some cold in Missouri. But it was a good time there! We switched one of the guys of each of our teams so we had a new member which was really fun! We were at a middle school and got a chance to break up into four small groups and spent some good time getting to know our group of kids really well. Below is a pic of my small group of 7th graders :)
From there we headed to the beautifully warm state of CALIFORNIA! We were north in Sacramento at a church youth retreat. These 32 students gave up their spring break week to spent at their church sleeping on the ground, with no showers, and spent their days out in the community of Sacramento serving. We were split up into four teams and paired with a youth leader and between 8-12 students. My team, who called themselves the penguin juggernauts, spent our first day at a local nursing home and played bingo for about two hours! Let me tell you, do not mess with elderly people and their bingo! They get so competitive. Then the afternoon was spent at an organization called Love Inc. and it was spent organizing their offices.
Day 2 we were at Loaves & Fishes moving boxes in their storage shed and organizing. That afternoon we were at a local house that takes in kids off the streets and we helped with painting and building a fire pit. Lots of heavy lifting and only smashed one of my fingers in the process :)
Day 3 we spent the morning at a local house that takes in children off the streets and help them through school. We organized their food barn and cleaned out a few rooms then some of the guys cooked us lunch. My team finally got to shower that afternoon at the local YMCA since there were no showers at the church and we headed to a scavenger hunt and private communion at the church before dinner with everyone else. It was a really fun experience! Being able to spend time with the students not only when we were speaking (oh right I forgot to mention that part...we did speak every morning and night) and then beside them doing missions work throughout the community! Below is a picture of my team!! They named themselves the Penguin Juggernauts and they loved to sing in the van rides...very loudly. But it was a great time with these kids!
Day 2 we were at Loaves & Fishes moving boxes in their storage shed and organizing. That afternoon we were at a local house that takes in kids off the streets and we helped with painting and building a fire pit. Lots of heavy lifting and only smashed one of my fingers in the process :)
Day 3 we spent the morning at a local house that takes in children off the streets and help them through school. We organized their food barn and cleaned out a few rooms then some of the guys cooked us lunch. My team finally got to shower that afternoon at the local YMCA since there were no showers at the church and we headed to a scavenger hunt and private communion at the church before dinner with everyone else. It was a really fun experience! Being able to spend time with the students not only when we were speaking (oh right I forgot to mention that part...we did speak every morning and night) and then beside them doing missions work throughout the community! Below is a picture of my team!! They named themselves the Penguin Juggernauts and they loved to sing in the van rides...very loudly. But it was a great time with these kids!
So we are now headed to our last trip of the semester!! I have some exciting news but I think I will wait. :) We are headed to Washington and Oregon and after this trip I will have been to 28 states!! Making my way! I am excited to see the beauty of these two states. I have heard that they are so pretty! So please continue to be praying for my team and I. We are speaking at two schools and will be doing our second family presentation at a church! So that will be fun. I will try and update more when we are on the road. But until then...time to hit the trails again! Bye for now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)