I apologize for the lack of effort I have been putting into this blog. Many a things have come up and I just cannot keep up with it so I hope and pray that as I sit down to write this post it will be faithful and fulfilling first off to God and the work he's done and secondly to you guys who have been pretty out of the loop on my summer so far. I find myself this weekend exactly half way through the summer. I have had four weeks of campers and a week and a half of orientation with five weeks of campers left. It is a really strange feeling for me and when I've been reflecting on it, I find my mind skipping to a bunch of different thoughts. Part of me thinks wow I am so exhausted can I keep this up for five more weeks. Another thinks I can't wait to see my loved ones at home and college, but then this is shortly overcome with feelings of anxiety with how hard of a transition it is going to be back into normal life. I also can't help but feeling a great excitement for the rest of this summer now that I am in a routine and want to make the most of it. All in all I guess I've realized that there really isn't anything I can do but continue to live faithfully for my Lord and Savior and plant more seeds and bear witness to Christ here at camp for the five weeks I have left!
So my last two weeks have been awesome!! Week 3 was a normal camp week and I was both excited and nervous for the fact that I had the youngest middle schoolers. My first two weeks all of my girls were going into 9th grade, the oldest age here on pines and I found out that for my third week they'd all be going into 7th. I mean it's only two years but middle school is such a crucial developing stage that I was interested to see how the switch up would go. It ended up going very well and I had a fantastic week. I found myself in more of a "motherly" and comforter role rather than the friendship/counselor type mode I was in the first two weeks. I had several homesick campers and one who was actually pretty sick coming into camp but God definitely worked through these otherwise annoying and frustrating situations and definitely used them to help me bond with these girls. It also ended up being a very refreshing and joyful week in that my girls didn't have big traumatic stories...which don't get me wrong I love helping these girls who are going through tough stuff but it was rejuvenating to experience a lighter week and to really emphasize how to maintain the great Christian journey they were already on.
One of the highlights of my week 3 happened in the middle of each night. We had several sleepwalkers and talkers in my cabin including myself. In the middle of my very first night I heard "Aunt Laura, Aunt Laura!" so of course I was like yeah what's going on haha. And then I hear my camper Suzanna (who was on a top bunk) say, "I'm going to get my stuff!" and I'm like what stuff, she goes, "My shoes and my stuff, I'm leaving, I am leaving this cabin!!" So of course I like jump out of my bed as she is starting to climb out of her bed and get her back to sleep haha! Luckily she went back to sleep and all was well! We definitely had a good laugh about that the next day! Each night after that I had a different girl sleep talk and on one of the nights I ended up entertaining them as well. I found out the next morning from my girls that I had sat up and said "Heyyyyyy Jake!" like three times haha. Good thing it wasn't anything too embarrassing but of course they thought that was the funniest thing ever and I heard about it for the rest of the week!! Because there was so much nighttime mayhem that my cabin bonded over I decided it'd be funny to trick them. So the very last day I woke up in the middle of the night (not on purpose) and fake slept talked and said "Wow my girls in this cabin are so awesome! They're all great!" As I said this I heard Suzanna roll over and she said "Yeah I mean those cinnamon rolls were so great!" I was trying to hold back my laughter as I heard her continue on and say, "And that sausage...yummm!" Hahaha, food must have been on here sleeping mind but it was hilarious! I told the girls the next morning as a final story of the week, it was so great!!
The weekend wasn't as great just as I had anticipated going into. I REALLY struggled in many aspects. I had gotten my hopes foolishly up that maybe just maybe I could find a way home for the long weekend. I had Friday night through Monday afternoon off and thought that somehow I could maybe make it home for 48 hours. Well obviously, as anyone with common sense would know, it turned out to be way impossible but nonetheless it left me feeling even more lonely knowing that there could have been a slight chance I could be back home for the weekend instead of here. I also really struggled because I have been getting the feeling lately that I'm not supported much. I know this is a lie of the devil and different people have many different ways of supporting others but I've started equating my support with the amount of emails I get and voicemailsskype or email or any of that, plus most people were gone for the weekend or had people here so borrowing computers was hard to come by. However, I did survive haha and now looking back I do feel kind of lame for being so homesick but it is what it is and at the time all of those raw emotions felt so overwhelmingly real to me.
This past week (week 4) was completely turned upside-down for Camp Geneva. A program called Youth for Christ bought out majority of the camp and took over, leaving about 3/4 of our staff jobless for the week cause they brought their own counselors and staff. Our staff ended up observing the pool and beach, working in the kitchen, maintenance, etc. while they ran their program. However, there were 12 of us staff who were asked to run a small new program called Into the Woods. For this week only we had shores (elementary) campers over on the pines side for a special nature week. So a shores and pines counselor were paired up for each of the 6 cabins to co-counsel for the week. I was paired up with Aunt Jess and I moved cabins for the week! We only had about 50 kids (our normal is a little over double that for the pines side each week) so it was wonderful to get to know all of these kids way more personally. We did A TON of nature type things like testing water pollutants, hiking trips, bug houses, etc. It was really strange being with such young children but it was also a great opportunity to try something new half way through the summer and branch out. The girls in my cabin were super high energy but all angels and we had a lot of crazy experiences together. It was strange to be in more of a babysitter role but yet also awesome to spend much more time with them because they require more assistance. Emotionally, I felt amazing this week and God really provided and sustained me. God gave me a huge desire for His word this week, I've never experienced anything like it but I felt completely hungry for reading the Bible. I felt as though I couldn't go through my day without it! I am so thankful to God for this and am praying that it continues as the weeks go on! I pray that you find this desire too and really try to pursue God at a deeper level through reading the Bible...it's the coolest thing ever!
So a funny story from this past week of Into the Woods involved none other than Justin Bieber!! Who practically runs this camp haha! My camper Kiersten was absolutely obsessed with him. On one of the first days we had a Justin Bieber dance party and she went crazy. Somehow throughout the course of the week we ended up with the rumor that Justin was going to come and visit because Geneva has "such a great connection with him!" Well Kiersten was going crazy singing every single one of her words to the song Baby. On the very last night we had one of our counselors who somewhat resembles him dress up and come out to surprise the kids. As soon as he walked out Kiersten ran away crying because it was a fake. She went crazy and was so so mad and frustrated, but 20 minutes later she was back to her peppy, dramatic self haha and singing Justin Bieber again!
So wow that's a lot!! I am energized and ready for this next week and super excited to be back with my middle school girls! I am continuing work on giving my whole summer (well the part that's left) over to God and let him control every aspect of my life. I may not be able to connect with each of you very often but I promise I am praying daily for my friends and family at home. I've really come to realize how much of a perfectionist I am and have been struggling with how to overcome it. With this I feel like when the weekends roll around I need to impress everyone back home and keep in contact and update everyone all the time and I just feel this huge pressure to please everyone. Please pray that this pressure would be lifted off my shoulders and please bear with me if I am terrible at connecting.
Prayer Requests:
-I am battling a pretty bad cough right now and am able to keep going but I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.
-My transition back to college. The day I am done here is the exact same day I need to be back at college (August 13th). I'm driving straight there which will be fine but we'll have to see how the emotional transition goes from camp life to internship training/retreats to school.
-My campers for this next week, that they would be open and ready to be poured into and excited for their camp week.
-Endurance!
-My computer-I know that comes across as really shallow but for some reason it's been driving me nuts that my connection to everyone has been taken away.
-Continuation of my hunger for reading the Bible.
-One of my friends here at camp lost his grandmother this past week so prayers for his family would be appreciated.
Ahhh thank you very much for taking to the time to read this big papa of a blog post! Your prayers and support keep me going and give me encouragement through the weeks ahead! I am pumped for what the rest of the summer will bring and will try my hardest to update this more regularly. I love you guys and miss you!
In Christ's love,
Aunt Laura
3995 Lakeshore Dr. N
Holland, MI 49424
P.S. You can always email me!! I would love it if you just emailed me simply to tell me about your life...I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear all about what is going on back at home so please update me :)
The weekend wasn't as great just as I had anticipated going into. I REALLY struggled in many aspects. I had gotten my hopes foolishly up that maybe just maybe I could find a way home for the long weekend. I had Friday night through Monday afternoon off and thought that somehow I could maybe make it home for 48 hours. Well obviously, as anyone with common sense would know, it turned out to be way impossible but nonetheless it left me feeling even more lonely knowing that there could have been a slight chance I could be back home for the weekend instead of here. I also really struggled because I have been getting the feeling lately that I'm not supported much. I know this is a lie of the devil and different people have many different ways of supporting others but I've started equating my support with the amount of emails I get and voicemailsskype or email or any of that, plus most people were gone for the weekend or had people here so borrowing computers was hard to come by. However, I did survive haha and now looking back I do feel kind of lame for being so homesick but it is what it is and at the time all of those raw emotions felt so overwhelmingly real to me.
This past week (week 4) was completely turned upside-down for Camp Geneva. A program called Youth for Christ bought out majority of the camp and took over, leaving about 3/4 of our staff jobless for the week cause they brought their own counselors and staff. Our staff ended up observing the pool and beach, working in the kitchen, maintenance, etc. while they ran their program. However, there were 12 of us staff who were asked to run a small new program called Into the Woods. For this week only we had shores (elementary) campers over on the pines side for a special nature week. So a shores and pines counselor were paired up for each of the 6 cabins to co-counsel for the week. I was paired up with Aunt Jess and I moved cabins for the week! We only had about 50 kids (our normal is a little over double that for the pines side each week) so it was wonderful to get to know all of these kids way more personally. We did A TON of nature type things like testing water pollutants, hiking trips, bug houses, etc. It was really strange being with such young children but it was also a great opportunity to try something new half way through the summer and branch out. The girls in my cabin were super high energy but all angels and we had a lot of crazy experiences together. It was strange to be in more of a babysitter role but yet also awesome to spend much more time with them because they require more assistance. Emotionally, I felt amazing this week and God really provided and sustained me. God gave me a huge desire for His word this week, I've never experienced anything like it but I felt completely hungry for reading the Bible. I felt as though I couldn't go through my day without it! I am so thankful to God for this and am praying that it continues as the weeks go on! I pray that you find this desire too and really try to pursue God at a deeper level through reading the Bible...it's the coolest thing ever!
So a funny story from this past week of Into the Woods involved none other than Justin Bieber!! Who practically runs this camp haha! My camper Kiersten was absolutely obsessed with him. On one of the first days we had a Justin Bieber dance party and she went crazy. Somehow throughout the course of the week we ended up with the rumor that Justin was going to come and visit because Geneva has "such a great connection with him!" Well Kiersten was going crazy singing every single one of her words to the song Baby. On the very last night we had one of our counselors who somewhat resembles him dress up and come out to surprise the kids. As soon as he walked out Kiersten ran away crying because it was a fake. She went crazy and was so so mad and frustrated, but 20 minutes later she was back to her peppy, dramatic self haha and singing Justin Bieber again!
So wow that's a lot!! I am energized and ready for this next week and super excited to be back with my middle school girls! I am continuing work on giving my whole summer (well the part that's left) over to God and let him control every aspect of my life. I may not be able to connect with each of you very often but I promise I am praying daily for my friends and family at home. I've really come to realize how much of a perfectionist I am and have been struggling with how to overcome it. With this I feel like when the weekends roll around I need to impress everyone back home and keep in contact and update everyone all the time and I just feel this huge pressure to please everyone. Please pray that this pressure would be lifted off my shoulders and please bear with me if I am terrible at connecting.
Prayer Requests:
-I am battling a pretty bad cough right now and am able to keep going but I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.
-My transition back to college. The day I am done here is the exact same day I need to be back at college (August 13th). I'm driving straight there which will be fine but we'll have to see how the emotional transition goes from camp life to internship training/retreats to school.
-My campers for this next week, that they would be open and ready to be poured into and excited for their camp week.
-Endurance!
-My computer-I know that comes across as really shallow but for some reason it's been driving me nuts that my connection to everyone has been taken away.
-Continuation of my hunger for reading the Bible.
-One of my friends here at camp lost his grandmother this past week so prayers for his family would be appreciated.
Ahhh thank you very much for taking to the time to read this big papa of a blog post! Your prayers and support keep me going and give me encouragement through the weeks ahead! I am pumped for what the rest of the summer will bring and will try my hardest to update this more regularly. I love you guys and miss you!
In Christ's love,
Aunt Laura
3995 Lakeshore Dr. N
Holland, MI 49424
P.S. You can always email me!! I would love it if you just emailed me simply to tell me about your life...I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear all about what is going on back at home so please update me :)
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