Home from Summer Camp

Well, I'm home. It was a looooong five days, but we survived. The administration side of things ran pretty great, especially considering it was my first year. I walked around a lot making sure staff knew when and where they needed to be places and started putting out fires just as soon as kids arrived, but I loved it! Well, by the end of the week I wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep forever, but I lasted almost the whole five days rather than burning out on day two like I usually do. And I kept hearing from the regular staff that this year ran smoother than any year prior. *bowing* You're welcome.

It started raining on Monday night and continued off and on until we left on Wednesday morning and almost everyone and everything was wet. But the kids pushed through and made the best of it.

I also pushed through and made the best of it. As I mentioned here, I was anticipating the arrival of dearest Aunt Flow the day before camp. I was anxious and nervous and generally irritable the whole week. I mostly kept it under control though. Sunday night I started spotting and warned the powers that be that I would likely not be joining them on the river. Luckily, since I had been anticipating this problem, I made sure I wasn't going to be necessary to the trip if I couldn't go, IE, I wasn't a driver or a raft leader.

Monday morning came and all I wanted to do was lay in my bed and wallow in self pity. I felt like crap, hadn't had a shower in three days, and woke up ready to tear someone's head off. However, I did get out of bed to make sure that the guys headed out to get the rental vans got off on time. I then put on my happy face (after a cup of coffee) and saw everyone off about three hours later. After that, I had the best day I've had in a long while. I went back to my tipi and laid in bed reading for quite some time. I spent some time in quiet prayer, just me, God, and the sound of construction in the background as the campground behind us was being renovated. I talked to my mom for an hour or so. Then I took a nap. When I woke up I put on my bathing suit and headed down to the lake. By then it was quite hot and I spent the rest of the early afternoon swimming with the camp nurse's three young daughters and laying out on the dock with the nurse catching up on life. The nurse had been a small group leader of mine when I first moved to the area. We hadn't really seen much of each other since then. It was a great time to catch up on life and talk about everything under the sun. I even told her some about trying to get pregnant and how that was becoming more and more of a struggle for me to deal with. She was very encouraging and shared about some struggles in her life as well. Three hours and a mild sunburn later I took a refreshing shower (and used three whole shower tokens, five minutes each) and went back to my tipi to read some more. I may have even taken a second nap. By the time the kids were back from rafting I was ready to face the world again. I wish the first day of EVERY period could be that relaxing.

To further the idea that the world is indeed very small, the camp speaker this year was actually a family friend who has been a part of my life for as along as I can remember. He is a pastor in San Diego and a very awesome guy. He was totally challenging to everyone at camp, students and staff alike. Jake and I have decided to work on something, but I don't remember the name of it. But basically the start is memorizing 12 particular Bible verses. The first two are Galatians 2:20 and 2 Corinthians 5:17

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Neither of us have been challenging each other in our walk with God lately. It was very convicting to realize. So we are now attempting to actually sharpen each other as Christians. I'm really excited.