It's currently almost one in the morning, and I'm dyeing some of my hair blue, but I never said that I have normal sleeping patterns and all of this is totally irrelevant because I'm going to recount some of my favorite memories of camp. Starting now.
This means I have to dig way, way back into the little chasm in my brain that stores all of my precious memories from the summer in order to remember what happened during the first week that I counseled, which was June 22nd through the 28th.
During week one, I counseled with Danae, whom I had known during the school year, but not super well. However, counseling with her was awesome. We were both pleasantly surprised to find out that we worked well together, despite our many differences, and were effectively able to show the love of Christ to our seven goofy, candy-obsessed, slightly hyper, but precious campers. Danae is very chill, realistic, and by-the-book, while I am a bit more outgoing and weird. She was quite a bit more strict than I was with disciplining our campers, and so good at just telling them the truth. She didn't beat around the bush with telling them what they needed to hear if they were disobeying, or simply needed to hear Biblical truth about a situation. Our campers really loved both of us even though we're polar opposites. They even called Danae "mom"...and then they started to call me "dad" and that was just strange.
I remember one night, we had to take one of our campers out on the porch of the cabin to address some issues that had been coming up during the week. The girl, I'll just say her name was Morgan, had been taunting some of the other girls in the cabin, to the point that it was becoming bullying. One of the other girls had even come to Danae in tears because she thought Morgan hated her. Morgan claimed that she was just joking every time, but Danae and I were able to tell her that the way she acts towards others should reflect God, and we explained this to her. She protested, and claimed over and over again that it was all merely joking. We asked her to tell us a little about her life at home, hoping to find out the root of the problem.
Morgan comes from a very broken family. She is a foster child, and one, if not both of her parents (I can't remember exactly) are in jail. She has three sisters, but all of them are in different foster homes, and she doesn't get to see them a lot. She desperately misses them, worries about her parents, and, while her foster-parents are very kind people who treat her well, she doesn't have a very strong relationship with them.
My heart shattered hearing all of this. There are so many kids who come to camp, and you could never imagine the hurt that has been built up in their hearts. All of the walls that have been built up. They have adorable, smiling faces, and just want to have the most fun week of their lives, away from all the troubles at home and school.
Every Monday night during the summer, the Gospel is presented to all the kids on the Ranch. They get to hear, some for the first time, the fact that Jesus Christ loved them so much that He died for their sins and rose from the dead. They have the opportunity to make the decision to believe in Him, and to change their eternal destiny.
One Monday night during the first week of camp, my camper Margaret decided to believe in Jesus Christ as her Savior, and she was miraculously saved. The reason she got to go camp was because her family listened to a Christian radio station where she lived. The radio station ran a contest for a free week of camp at Word of Life. Margaret entered the contest and won. It was all in God's plan that she could come to the Ranch and hear how she could have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
These stories are only some of the reasons why I know God wants me to do things for Him. He wants to use me to do things that matter eternally.
~grace&peace~
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
hello, my old friend.
Oh, hi there. How's it goin'? Long time no see. Well, of course that would be my fault. Wow, it's been a solid six months since I posted on here. Don't get me wrong. I've been meaning to write and even had a few rough drafts typed up. But then summer happened, and I had no access to a computer for ten weeks and was out of the country for a while, so more and more time crept away from me.
Okay, enough wallowing in my guilt. It's time to man up and just write an entire post. And I should probably catch you up on all the latest craziness. This summer was insanity. God-glorifying insanity. You see, while our school year at the Bible Institute ended back at the end of May, all of us students are required to complete a summer ministry in order to graduate from first or second year. The majority of students work at one of the Word of Life camp properties up in New York for eight full weeks of camp. Only a few are allowed to do their ministry outside of Word of Life during the summer. This is because Word of Life runs four camps on four separate properties in Pottersville and the neighboring town of Schroon Lake during the summer--specifically, two youth camps and two family camps.
First of all, there is the Word of Life Inn, which is located nine miles down the road from the Bible Institute. It is considered a family camp and is set up like a hotel. Families each have their own Adirondack-theme decorated hotel room and are served their meals in a dining room. Every week for the eight weeks that the Inn is open during the summer, a guest speaker comes to speak providing solid lessons that are rooted in Biblical truth. There are programs offered for kids, as well as on-site activities for the whole family, plus plenty of things to do in the surrounding areas.
Right across the street from the Inn is the dock where you can take a boat across the lake to the world-renowned Word of Life Island. Yes, it is in fact a literal island in the middle of Schroon Lake (some people do actually wonder that). The Island is a fast-paced camp for high-schoolers, and it's basically the definition of the word "loud". Every week there is a different speaker who presents the Word of God in an age-appropriate manner to the kids. They have Bible lessons every morning and evening, as well as crazy games and activities throughout the week.
Then right across from the Bible Institute property is the Word of Life Family Campground. It is centered around a family atmosphere and has campsites where families can stay in their owns campers, or they can opt to stay in one of numerous cabins. There are activities for every age group and Bible lessons every day.
And lastly, (but my personal favorite because I'm super biased), the Bible Institute property doubles as the property for the Word of Life Ranch and Ranger Camp, which is where I worked this summer. The Ranch is technically two camps on one property. The Ranch camp is for ages six to ten, and its program is basically a Wild West theme with cowboys and Indians and sneaky bandits who smell terrible and like to steal important things.....and people. The Ranger camp is a camp specifically for that awkward age group--middle schoolers.
But really, all of that only begins to scratch the surface. God did wonders through the people who were working at these four camps this summer. I feel beyond blessed that God allowed me to have the privilege of being a camp counselor to many precious children for five of my eight weeks of summer ministry. He allowed me to accomplish things that I never imagined myself being able to do.
Sure, I can tell stories for days about the hysterical things that happened. Those moments where I was just thinking "Seriously, am I in a movie right now? What on earth, is this really happening?"
And I can tell even more stories about those moments where I felt utterly hopeless, bound in the chains of my self-reliance. The moments where I could have fallen to my knees in exhaustion. Every day I learned a little bit more of what it means to rely on God instead of my own hopeless efforts.
But the most treasured stories are about the life-change that I was able to see in campers. Like when a camper just simply understood the Gospel and believed. Or when a camper would come and tell me "I have a lot of questions. Do you think we could talk about them?" Um. YES!! There are few things that make me more purely joyful.
So, hopefully in the next few days I will be able to recount to you guys some of my favorite stories from this summer. I also plan on telling you a bit about the other part of my summer ministry...those other three weeks, two of which were spent in another country. But that shall be saved for a later date.
~grace&peace~
Okay, enough wallowing in my guilt. It's time to man up and just write an entire post. And I should probably catch you up on all the latest craziness. This summer was insanity. God-glorifying insanity. You see, while our school year at the Bible Institute ended back at the end of May, all of us students are required to complete a summer ministry in order to graduate from first or second year. The majority of students work at one of the Word of Life camp properties up in New York for eight full weeks of camp. Only a few are allowed to do their ministry outside of Word of Life during the summer. This is because Word of Life runs four camps on four separate properties in Pottersville and the neighboring town of Schroon Lake during the summer--specifically, two youth camps and two family camps.
First of all, there is the Word of Life Inn, which is located nine miles down the road from the Bible Institute. It is considered a family camp and is set up like a hotel. Families each have their own Adirondack-theme decorated hotel room and are served their meals in a dining room. Every week for the eight weeks that the Inn is open during the summer, a guest speaker comes to speak providing solid lessons that are rooted in Biblical truth. There are programs offered for kids, as well as on-site activities for the whole family, plus plenty of things to do in the surrounding areas.
Right across the street from the Inn is the dock where you can take a boat across the lake to the world-renowned Word of Life Island. Yes, it is in fact a literal island in the middle of Schroon Lake (some people do actually wonder that). The Island is a fast-paced camp for high-schoolers, and it's basically the definition of the word "loud". Every week there is a different speaker who presents the Word of God in an age-appropriate manner to the kids. They have Bible lessons every morning and evening, as well as crazy games and activities throughout the week.
Then right across from the Bible Institute property is the Word of Life Family Campground. It is centered around a family atmosphere and has campsites where families can stay in their owns campers, or they can opt to stay in one of numerous cabins. There are activities for every age group and Bible lessons every day.
And lastly, (but my personal favorite because I'm super biased), the Bible Institute property doubles as the property for the Word of Life Ranch and Ranger Camp, which is where I worked this summer. The Ranch is technically two camps on one property. The Ranch camp is for ages six to ten, and its program is basically a Wild West theme with cowboys and Indians and sneaky bandits who smell terrible and like to steal important things.....and people. The Ranger camp is a camp specifically for that awkward age group--middle schoolers.
But really, all of that only begins to scratch the surface. God did wonders through the people who were working at these four camps this summer. I feel beyond blessed that God allowed me to have the privilege of being a camp counselor to many precious children for five of my eight weeks of summer ministry. He allowed me to accomplish things that I never imagined myself being able to do.
Sure, I can tell stories for days about the hysterical things that happened. Those moments where I was just thinking "Seriously, am I in a movie right now? What on earth, is this really happening?"
And I can tell even more stories about those moments where I felt utterly hopeless, bound in the chains of my self-reliance. The moments where I could have fallen to my knees in exhaustion. Every day I learned a little bit more of what it means to rely on God instead of my own hopeless efforts.
But the most treasured stories are about the life-change that I was able to see in campers. Like when a camper just simply understood the Gospel and believed. Or when a camper would come and tell me "I have a lot of questions. Do you think we could talk about them?" Um. YES!! There are few things that make me more purely joyful.
So, hopefully in the next few days I will be able to recount to you guys some of my favorite stories from this summer. I also plan on telling you a bit about the other part of my summer ministry...those other three weeks, two of which were spent in another country. But that shall be saved for a later date.
~grace&peace~
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
constant state of prayer.
This past weekend was our fourth weekend of Snow Camp, and I had the pleasure of working in the kitchen and working outside again. I'll admit, working in the kitchen really isn't my favorite thing to do during Snow Camp because, as you can imagine, I'm kind of cut off from the action and pretty much have no contact with campers. I constantly have to remind myself to have a good attitude because it's not about me. It is first and foremost for the glory of God. I have to be a good steward in everything I do. Second, it's to serve the campers. I also have to remind myself that without all of us crazies in the kitchen, there's absolutely no way Snow Camp could run smoothly because how else would the one thousand people on campus for the weekend eat?
However, I quite enjoy working outside because that's where most of the action is. This weekend was particularly action filled because it, in fact, involved tubing down a giant snowy hill...at night in the complete dark. And I flew over a rather large snow bank...and flipped upside down, not once but twice. Completely upside down. As in I was hanging onto my tube for dear life, and hoping and praying that I wouldn't roll all the way down the hill like this. I figured, as I was rolling, that since I wasn't really in pain and all my limbs seemed to be intact, I was fairly uninjured, but when I finally came to a stop I opened my eyes and found myself completely surrounded by pine branches. Yes, I had become lodged in a fairly small pine tree. So I pried myself out from the branches and made my way down the hill, laughing, and extremely thankful that I was neither broken nor concussed. Successful adventure if I do say so myself.
Besides that little tumble down the hill, one of the highlights of this past weekend was how I was able to observe the power of prayer. Last week in my room some of us prayed for ninety campers out of the 420-some who were supposed to attend this past weekend, to accept Christ as their Savior. A funny thing happened. Ninety campers did not get saved. This is okay. We didn't want to put God in a box with our prayers. Why ask God for something tiny if we know He can do something so much greater? Don't put God in a box. The funny thing that happened was that forty-five campers got saved. Forty-five. That's exactly half of ninety. Kind of stinkin' cool. God and the angels definitely had one crazy party up in Heaven for those forty-five souls. We now have forty-five new brothers and sisters in Christ!! So awesome!!
Something I've really been working on pretty much since I've gotten back to school from break is my prayer life. I've always been miserable at specifically devoting time for prayer, and something my Bible Survey professor once said is that the concept that is being dealt with in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says "pray without ceasing," isn't that we should forever be on our knees with our eyes closed praying. It merely means we should be in constant state of prayer.
This is a concept I've been really trying to apply to my life for the past few weeks, which for me it means that whenever the thought of prayer pops into my mind, I should pray. If I'm walking across campus I should pray. I should pray in the morning when I wake up before I've even gotten out of bed. I should pray when my mind wanders late at night because I can't fall asleep. If anyone mentions a prayer request, I should immediately pray about it so I don't forget about it. So far it's been pretty good.
Putting this into application:
So this past Friday night, I really didn't have anything to do after I finished working, and there were just tons of campers running around everywhere on campus. It was slightly organized chaos. This led to me aimlessly wandering around for a while until I came up with something to occupy my time. After a while I decided that instead of wandering around pointlessly like an Israelite in the wilderness (...Bible college references......), I should attempt to find as many of my friends as possible and just go around and ask them each for a specific prayer request. Some of them had to do with Snow Camp, some had to do with more personal stuff, and many of them had to do with various illnesses that everyone has been catching. Then I made a list of everything and tried to pray for at least one of my friends whenever the thought popped into my head. It became a reminder to me to be in a constant state of prayer.
~grace&peace~
Song of the Day: "Woods" by Bon Iver.
However, I quite enjoy working outside because that's where most of the action is. This weekend was particularly action filled because it, in fact, involved tubing down a giant snowy hill...at night in the complete dark. And I flew over a rather large snow bank...and flipped upside down, not once but twice. Completely upside down. As in I was hanging onto my tube for dear life, and hoping and praying that I wouldn't roll all the way down the hill like this. I figured, as I was rolling, that since I wasn't really in pain and all my limbs seemed to be intact, I was fairly uninjured, but when I finally came to a stop I opened my eyes and found myself completely surrounded by pine branches. Yes, I had become lodged in a fairly small pine tree. So I pried myself out from the branches and made my way down the hill, laughing, and extremely thankful that I was neither broken nor concussed. Successful adventure if I do say so myself.
Besides that little tumble down the hill, one of the highlights of this past weekend was how I was able to observe the power of prayer. Last week in my room some of us prayed for ninety campers out of the 420-some who were supposed to attend this past weekend, to accept Christ as their Savior. A funny thing happened. Ninety campers did not get saved. This is okay. We didn't want to put God in a box with our prayers. Why ask God for something tiny if we know He can do something so much greater? Don't put God in a box. The funny thing that happened was that forty-five campers got saved. Forty-five. That's exactly half of ninety. Kind of stinkin' cool. God and the angels definitely had one crazy party up in Heaven for those forty-five souls. We now have forty-five new brothers and sisters in Christ!! So awesome!!
Something I've really been working on pretty much since I've gotten back to school from break is my prayer life. I've always been miserable at specifically devoting time for prayer, and something my Bible Survey professor once said is that the concept that is being dealt with in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says "pray without ceasing," isn't that we should forever be on our knees with our eyes closed praying. It merely means we should be in constant state of prayer.
This is a concept I've been really trying to apply to my life for the past few weeks, which for me it means that whenever the thought of prayer pops into my mind, I should pray. If I'm walking across campus I should pray. I should pray in the morning when I wake up before I've even gotten out of bed. I should pray when my mind wanders late at night because I can't fall asleep. If anyone mentions a prayer request, I should immediately pray about it so I don't forget about it. So far it's been pretty good.
Putting this into application:
So this past Friday night, I really didn't have anything to do after I finished working, and there were just tons of campers running around everywhere on campus. It was slightly organized chaos. This led to me aimlessly wandering around for a while until I came up with something to occupy my time. After a while I decided that instead of wandering around pointlessly like an Israelite in the wilderness (...Bible college references......), I should attempt to find as many of my friends as possible and just go around and ask them each for a specific prayer request. Some of them had to do with Snow Camp, some had to do with more personal stuff, and many of them had to do with various illnesses that everyone has been catching. Then I made a list of everything and tried to pray for at least one of my friends whenever the thought popped into my head. It became a reminder to me to be in a constant state of prayer.
~grace&peace~
Song of the Day: "Woods" by Bon Iver.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
i live in narnia.
And right now I'm a terrible person because I haven't posted in like three weeks. But it's all good. It's chill...quite literally in fact. It's pretty darn chill. It's been snowing all day. We woke up to snow this morning, and as I'm writing this (5:00-ish pm), the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen are falling from the sky, and the wind is creating snow tornados that appear quite deadly. We're supposed to get about fifteen inches today. I'm not sure how much we have already. All I care about is the fact that Word of Life is currently Narnia, and it's awesome, and I'm loving it.
Welllll, let's see. What has happened in the past three weeks? Oh yeah. This little thing that I may have mentioned called Snow Camp, or rather, the first three weeks of snow camp.
Man, I had high expectations, but Snow Camp has managed to exceeded them all. I love it so much. I love the unity it creates among all of us students as we support each other in our different works areas, whether we're working the activities outside in the frigid temperatures, or if we're working in the chaotic kitchen, or indoor activities, or if we're counseling. I love being able to work with people I've never really hung out with or worked with before. I love seeing us students, who are, in reality, pretty much just kids ourselves, stepping up and serving God with our whole hearts and taking on responsibilities and being a good example to the campers who are just a few years younger than us. I love it all.
We're essentially just trying to show a fraction of God's love to these campers while they're here for less than two days. And it's all for the glory of God.
Okay, so brief overview of everything's that happened over the past three weeks of Snow Camp:
Week One: A great opening week. I worked in the kitchen preparing very necessary vittles for about 1,000 people when you factor in all of us students, all the BI staff, the campers, and the youth leaders. I also got to work outside on the tubehills, which is pretty much the best thing ever. There were over 400 campers that week, and on Friday night they all heard the Gospel presented in a simple way that gave them a full dose of a necessary truth. Guess what. About 40 of them got saved!! It was SO crazy cool to see God do big things that week, and even though I wasn't counseling, I still got to interact with a lot of the campers while I was working outside and ask them what they thought of the Gospel presentation, and their responses were really encouraging.
Week Two: I'll just start off with the overview that it was A LOT colder this week. I'm talking mid-teens with a wind-chill in the negatives. I heard that it got down to around negative twenty or thirty, but I might be mistaken. However, I managed to survive with minimal physical damage, and I got to counsel during that week which was...weird...-ly awesome. It was weird for me because I've been a camper at various Word of Life camps so many times, and now it's like everything's coming full circle. I get to be in the position of leadership. I can barely take care of myself, but now I have to take care of kids who are just a little bit younger than me. I had two wonderful and supportive co-counselors and nine rambunctious, lively, scarily intelligent campers who loved to burst out into songs from Frozen. They were something else, let me tell you. But it was such a great experience, especially for me since this was my first time counseling. Throughout the whole weekend I just tried to be as energetic as possible because when I stopped being energetic and off-the-wall excited, I would realize how tired I was, and the fatigue would set in, and that wasn't what the campers needed to see. I just had to remind myself that everything I did was to break down the walls in the lives of the campers, and it was all for the glory of God. It didn't matter if one of my campers wanted to do the Polar Plunge, and jump in a pool of icy water...outside...in the 14 degree weather...while it was snowing. All for the campers. All for the glory of God. It didn't matter if I got less than six hours of sleep both nights during the weekend. All for the campers, and all for the glory of God. It didn't matter if I had to freeze my butt off while watching my campers snowmobile around in circles. All for them. All for the glory of God. I learned a lot that weekend, and I can't wait to do it again. All for the campers. All for the glory of God.
Week Three: This past weekend was quite a bit warmer (and by warmer I mean upper thirties. ha.), and it snowed again! However, my team of five other girls and I were once more confined to the kitchen to work. This, however, is quite an awesome job because you get to interact with so many other people who are working in there in different areas. We did get to work outside as well, and as I mentioned before, it's quite a blast. What stood out to me about this past weekend is how much I got to bond with other students who were working, and specifically my team. We got to spend so much time together during the weekend, and while we didn't get to interact with campers as much, there were so many encouraging words exchanged between the six of us, and many adventures were had. I simply cannot wait to experience the rest of Snow Camp, and the rest of the year with them.
So I suppose you can say I'm a huge fan of Snow Camp.
Please be praying that all of us staff will remained encouraged throughout the rest of Snow Camp because we still have a long, frosty five weeks ahead of us. But it's all for the glory of God, so there's nothing I'd rather be doing during my winter of 2014.
~grace&peace~
Song of the Day:
Ambre by Nils Frahm. (very appropriate for the Narnia-esque weather.)
Welllll, let's see. What has happened in the past three weeks? Oh yeah. This little thing that I may have mentioned called Snow Camp, or rather, the first three weeks of snow camp.
Man, I had high expectations, but Snow Camp has managed to exceeded them all. I love it so much. I love the unity it creates among all of us students as we support each other in our different works areas, whether we're working the activities outside in the frigid temperatures, or if we're working in the chaotic kitchen, or indoor activities, or if we're counseling. I love being able to work with people I've never really hung out with or worked with before. I love seeing us students, who are, in reality, pretty much just kids ourselves, stepping up and serving God with our whole hearts and taking on responsibilities and being a good example to the campers who are just a few years younger than us. I love it all.
We're essentially just trying to show a fraction of God's love to these campers while they're here for less than two days. And it's all for the glory of God.
Okay, so brief overview of everything's that happened over the past three weeks of Snow Camp:
Week One: A great opening week. I worked in the kitchen preparing very necessary vittles for about 1,000 people when you factor in all of us students, all the BI staff, the campers, and the youth leaders. I also got to work outside on the tubehills, which is pretty much the best thing ever. There were over 400 campers that week, and on Friday night they all heard the Gospel presented in a simple way that gave them a full dose of a necessary truth. Guess what. About 40 of them got saved!! It was SO crazy cool to see God do big things that week, and even though I wasn't counseling, I still got to interact with a lot of the campers while I was working outside and ask them what they thought of the Gospel presentation, and their responses were really encouraging.
Week Two: I'll just start off with the overview that it was A LOT colder this week. I'm talking mid-teens with a wind-chill in the negatives. I heard that it got down to around negative twenty or thirty, but I might be mistaken. However, I managed to survive with minimal physical damage, and I got to counsel during that week which was...weird...-ly awesome. It was weird for me because I've been a camper at various Word of Life camps so many times, and now it's like everything's coming full circle. I get to be in the position of leadership. I can barely take care of myself, but now I have to take care of kids who are just a little bit younger than me. I had two wonderful and supportive co-counselors and nine rambunctious, lively, scarily intelligent campers who loved to burst out into songs from Frozen. They were something else, let me tell you. But it was such a great experience, especially for me since this was my first time counseling. Throughout the whole weekend I just tried to be as energetic as possible because when I stopped being energetic and off-the-wall excited, I would realize how tired I was, and the fatigue would set in, and that wasn't what the campers needed to see. I just had to remind myself that everything I did was to break down the walls in the lives of the campers, and it was all for the glory of God. It didn't matter if one of my campers wanted to do the Polar Plunge, and jump in a pool of icy water...outside...in the 14 degree weather...while it was snowing. All for the campers. All for the glory of God. It didn't matter if I got less than six hours of sleep both nights during the weekend. All for the campers, and all for the glory of God. It didn't matter if I had to freeze my butt off while watching my campers snowmobile around in circles. All for them. All for the glory of God. I learned a lot that weekend, and I can't wait to do it again. All for the campers. All for the glory of God.
Week Three: This past weekend was quite a bit warmer (and by warmer I mean upper thirties. ha.), and it snowed again! However, my team of five other girls and I were once more confined to the kitchen to work. This, however, is quite an awesome job because you get to interact with so many other people who are working in there in different areas. We did get to work outside as well, and as I mentioned before, it's quite a blast. What stood out to me about this past weekend is how much I got to bond with other students who were working, and specifically my team. We got to spend so much time together during the weekend, and while we didn't get to interact with campers as much, there were so many encouraging words exchanged between the six of us, and many adventures were had. I simply cannot wait to experience the rest of Snow Camp, and the rest of the year with them.
So I suppose you can say I'm a huge fan of Snow Camp.
Please be praying that all of us staff will remained encouraged throughout the rest of Snow Camp because we still have a long, frosty five weeks ahead of us. But it's all for the glory of God, so there's nothing I'd rather be doing during my winter of 2014.
~grace&peace~
Song of the Day:
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
breaking down walls.
Right now I'm drinking Airborne and tea like it's my job, and trying to rid myself of this runny nose and to ensure that I'm not sick for this weekend. Why, you ask? Well, most people hunker down during frigid winter weekends. I mean, why not? There's really no reason to go outside. It's dreadfully cold up here (except for the past few days it's actually been like in the forties, but rainy, so it's still miserable, and it makes you want to stay inside for weeks). There's so much snow on the ground that you feel like a Arctic explorer every time you venture outside, or in our current case there are three inches of ice on every smooth surface outside, making the roads and sidewalks a slippery death trap. Quite unfortunate really. The combination of all of it really does makes one want to hibernate for the next three months.
But hibernation simply isn't an option for us fearless WOLBI students. In less than two days, our campus will be invaded (that sounded too warlike) flooded by over 400 grade school kids from youth groups all over the country for a grand event called.....
Snow Camp!
What's Snow Camp? Pretty much what it sounds like, but probably better than you could imagine. Snow Camp is a 44 hour camp experience that goes on for eight weeks just for middle and high schoolers in the dead of winter in the Adirondacks. And it all takes place on the Word of Life property. Every student here has to participate in a winter ministry, and the majority of people opt to do snow camp, because that means our ministry comes to us...and it's pretty much awesome. There are tons of crazy, slightly dangerous activities including tubing hills, an ice chute (which is a frozen over water slide), the world famous Polar Plunge, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and a whole lot more. Basically, if you can think of an potentially injury-inducing activity that involves snow, we got it.
Some of the students get to counsel the campers that come, and some of us get to work activities. That's what I get to do this weekend. I'll be spending most of my waking hours outside, assisting kids as they go down snow tubing hills, and I'm. So. Excited. Seriously, what better way to spend my winter weekends?
As I mentioned before, we have less than 48 hours to break down walls and share the gospel with kids, or if they're already saved, we get to disciple them in their walks with God. And even though I'm not counseling this first week, who knows what sort of opportunities I'll have to share the gospel with an unsaved camper. You never know what opportunity God will place right in front of you.
It's gonna be tiring, and frigid, and absolutely insane, but it's all for God, so that pretty much makes it the best job in the world.
~grace&peace~
Song(s) of the Day:
*the video uploady thingy is being a meany-butt, but pretend the videos are here*
Singing in the Rain...from the musical Singing in the Rain. (Because it's rainy outside, so might as well make the best of it with this song.)
And:
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United. (Because it's like the best worship song of 2013.)
But hibernation simply isn't an option for us fearless WOLBI students. In less than two days, our campus will be invaded (that sounded too warlike) flooded by over 400 grade school kids from youth groups all over the country for a grand event called.....
Snow Camp!
What's Snow Camp? Pretty much what it sounds like, but probably better than you could imagine. Snow Camp is a 44 hour camp experience that goes on for eight weeks just for middle and high schoolers in the dead of winter in the Adirondacks. And it all takes place on the Word of Life property. Every student here has to participate in a winter ministry, and the majority of people opt to do snow camp, because that means our ministry comes to us...and it's pretty much awesome. There are tons of crazy, slightly dangerous activities including tubing hills, an ice chute (which is a frozen over water slide), the world famous Polar Plunge, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and a whole lot more. Basically, if you can think of an potentially injury-inducing activity that involves snow, we got it.
Some of the students get to counsel the campers that come, and some of us get to work activities. That's what I get to do this weekend. I'll be spending most of my waking hours outside, assisting kids as they go down snow tubing hills, and I'm. So. Excited. Seriously, what better way to spend my winter weekends?
As I mentioned before, we have less than 48 hours to break down walls and share the gospel with kids, or if they're already saved, we get to disciple them in their walks with God. And even though I'm not counseling this first week, who knows what sort of opportunities I'll have to share the gospel with an unsaved camper. You never know what opportunity God will place right in front of you.
It's gonna be tiring, and frigid, and absolutely insane, but it's all for God, so that pretty much makes it the best job in the world.
~grace&peace~
Song(s) of the Day:
*the video uploady thingy is being a meany-butt, but pretend the videos are here*
Singing in the Rain...from the musical Singing in the Rain. (Because it's rainy outside, so might as well make the best of it with this song.)
And:
Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United. (Because it's like the best worship song of 2013.)
Monday, December 16, 2013
the era of perpetual questioning.
I feel like I'm at the point in my life where everyone just asks me questions. I suppose that's how every seventeen to twenty-one year old feels. I call it the Era of the Perpetual Questioning. Last school year it was: "Where are you applying to school?" "What schools did you get into?" "Where did you decide to go?" "When do you leave?"
Answers: Word of Life. Word of Life. Word of Life. Beginning of September.
This school year it's: "What are you studying?" The Bible. "How do you like school?" I. Freaking. Love. It. "When do you go back?" January second. "How's break going?" Boring, but Christmasy. "How's the weather up in New York?" Borderline arctic tundra, but with more trees and mountains.
Honestly, since I've been home for break I feel as if all I've been doing is answering questions. It's a tad bit exhausting and mind-numbing. I pretty much have rehearsed answers to any question someone could throw at me. I'm sure once I start nearing the end of my time at Word of Life, people will start asking me more questions, ones I don't even have answers to: "What are your plans after the BI?" "Are you going to another school?" "Are you gonna go into full time ministry?" "Where do you want to live?"
As of now, I have no idea what the answers to any of these questions will be. I know the answers will be provided in time, but that time has not yet come, and so I worry.
But there's something I don't worry about, and it's something that I learned in church today. In the Bible, whenever Jesus refers to Himself as "I AM", it's as if He's saying "I'm it! I'm the only thing you need!" I don't need the answers to those questions that I constantly fret about because I have God. He provides the answers. He is the answer.
~grace&peace~
Song of the day: "Royals" cover by Puddles the Clown. Enjoy, all you cool folk.
Answers: Word of Life. Word of Life. Word of Life. Beginning of September.
This school year it's: "What are you studying?" The Bible. "How do you like school?" I. Freaking. Love. It. "When do you go back?" January second. "How's break going?" Boring, but Christmasy. "How's the weather up in New York?" Borderline arctic tundra, but with more trees and mountains.
Honestly, since I've been home for break I feel as if all I've been doing is answering questions. It's a tad bit exhausting and mind-numbing. I pretty much have rehearsed answers to any question someone could throw at me. I'm sure once I start nearing the end of my time at Word of Life, people will start asking me more questions, ones I don't even have answers to: "What are your plans after the BI?" "Are you going to another school?" "Are you gonna go into full time ministry?" "Where do you want to live?"
As of now, I have no idea what the answers to any of these questions will be. I know the answers will be provided in time, but that time has not yet come, and so I worry.
But there's something I don't worry about, and it's something that I learned in church today. In the Bible, whenever Jesus refers to Himself as "I AM", it's as if He's saying "I'm it! I'm the only thing you need!" I don't need the answers to those questions that I constantly fret about because I have God. He provides the answers. He is the answer.
~grace&peace~
Sunday, December 8, 2013
i have confidence in God.
I've struggled with self-esteem issues since I was quite young. I mean, let's be honest, can any of us think of one person we know who has never thought something negative about his or herself? Well, of course not. We are inherently selfish people, so obviously we never stop thinking about ourselves. Many of us are naturally insecure, whether we'd like to admit it or not. We put on this delicately stitched together façade of self-confidence, but in actuality, when you pull the curtain back, we're pathetically broken and this just makes us focused on ourselves instead of being focused on God.
We don't need self-confidence. Self-confidence makes us self-centered instead of God-centered. Anything we have achieved in our lives we have not achieved by our own power, but by God's power.
The reality is that we are nothing without God, so there is no reason for self-confidence. We are sad beings who have fatally messed up. But God loves fatal mess-ups. He does amazing things with fatal mess-ups.
The less we are the centers of our own lives, the more God is the center, and this is when He does awesome things. We have nothing to do with the awesome things. It's all God doing them through us so that He is ultimately glorified.
I may not stand more than a mere four feet and eleven inches. I may stutter a little too much when I talk over-excitedly. But God's gonna use me for big things.
~grace&peace~
We don't need self-confidence. Self-confidence makes us self-centered instead of God-centered. Anything we have achieved in our lives we have not achieved by our own power, but by God's power.
The reality is that we are nothing without God, so there is no reason for self-confidence. We are sad beings who have fatally messed up. But God loves fatal mess-ups. He does amazing things with fatal mess-ups.
The less we are the centers of our own lives, the more God is the center, and this is when He does awesome things. We have nothing to do with the awesome things. It's all God doing them through us so that He is ultimately glorified.
I may not stand more than a mere four feet and eleven inches. I may stutter a little too much when I talk over-excitedly. But God's gonna use me for big things.
~grace&peace~
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