Finally, finally - a weekend. It's only been three weeks or something, but it feels like it has been forever. It felt sooo nice to just take a nap, read some Harry Potter, and now, hang out in the air conditioned basement of the registration building updating you folks on my life.
This past week was somewhat intense, much more for some than me. I don't really know how some are still going ... This is just an interesting week in general for us staff. It's made up of two half weeks: from Sunday to Wednesday, 2nd to 4th graders. From Wednesday to Sunday, 6th through 8th graders. I counseled the first half of the week. The kids were so little! Some of them were the cutest things I have ever seen ... others were, well, a little whiny. They all took extreme amounts of patience and constant entertainment (in the attempt to ward off homesickness like the plague), though. It was really fun, I thought, but also incredibly tiring.
Truthfully, I was really grateful to be put on Program Staff for the second half of the week. For one, the staff is just worn out from not having a break. For two, it's a rough, rough week. It's for the kids who should be able to go for a whole week but can't ... it's pretty much filled with homesickness, whiners, kids with problems ... a whole barrel of monkeys. It's also a small week, so we had a lot of non-counseling staff. That meant, for those of us without cabins, it was a rather relaxing couple of days. I myself was so grateful for it, but my prayers were with those who didn't get that time to wind down. I ended up doing a little bit of photography, a little bit of cleaning, and I helped to plan closing campfire and an evening game. It was a nice break.
I wish I could keep a book of the funny things I hear kids say. There's a lot, but I can't remember them anymore ... maybe I'll write them down and you can be amused someday as well...
Coming up next, we've got Specialty Week. I'm leading photography specialty for the second year now, just as clueless as I was last year. I've also got a cabin, so it'll be a busy week. I'm looking forward to it, though!
Speaking of which, I want to do some planning for that ... sending my love!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Love This Place
Ahh ... Camp. Good stuff, good stuff.
I have no idea what to say. My mind is like, not all here. I'm just so tired. And there's sooo much to say!
Last week was Jr. Staff Training. It was grand! My cabin was comprised of a lot of different people, but we ended up getting along and I was just so pleased with the outcome of the week. I was so incredibly nervous before they got here - more nervous than I ever have been with a cabin! Jr. Staff is a big responsibility, I feel. They may expect a lot out of their week, and I wanted to give them a good experience. I pray that God worked through me and helped me to be a positive influence on their lives. That's just what I really wanted to be.
It was also great to see my family last weekend. Mom and Dad brought up Kristen and her friend (and Izzy) and I got to eat with them and hang out. Eating in Wautoma, always an experience. : )
Omigosh, this is the worst blog ever right now. I'm just going to stop because all my creative energies have been used up in the last week. They have to replinish themselves when I'm not not ready to fall asleep for 21 hours straight. Sorry for the lack of updates or excitement, don't worry, it will come someday!
Love to all.
I have no idea what to say. My mind is like, not all here. I'm just so tired. And there's sooo much to say!
Last week was Jr. Staff Training. It was grand! My cabin was comprised of a lot of different people, but we ended up getting along and I was just so pleased with the outcome of the week. I was so incredibly nervous before they got here - more nervous than I ever have been with a cabin! Jr. Staff is a big responsibility, I feel. They may expect a lot out of their week, and I wanted to give them a good experience. I pray that God worked through me and helped me to be a positive influence on their lives. That's just what I really wanted to be.
It was also great to see my family last weekend. Mom and Dad brought up Kristen and her friend (and Izzy) and I got to eat with them and hang out. Eating in Wautoma, always an experience. : )
Omigosh, this is the worst blog ever right now. I'm just going to stop because all my creative energies have been used up in the last week. They have to replinish themselves when I'm not not ready to fall asleep for 21 hours straight. Sorry for the lack of updates or excitement, don't worry, it will come someday!
Love to all.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Feelin' SALTy
Hello to my friends and family!
Wow, I've already been at Camp for almost two weeks. But, it almost feels like I never left. The staff is already well-bonded, and the daily routine will be engrained into me soon enough.
We have not had any campers yet, but we have had almost a week of ropes course training, and we are over half-way through with SALT (Summer Adult Leadership Team) Training. It's an important week, a rather mentally exhausting week, and one of the only times throughout the summer that we just get to BE with each other, to be with adults for more than an hour or so.
Ropes went well; it was more of a review for me since last year but I got to do a few more difficult things, such as "taking down" all the equipment after the day at ropes was over. It was pretty freaking scary to me (being up 45ish feet in the air connected to nothing but my own devices wrapped around the telephone pole while trying not to drop $200 dollars worth of equipment ... difficult to explain), but I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. Hopefully I'll be a little more useful out there this year.
It's been a little hard for me to get into the swing of things this year, for whatever reason. I think last night helped a lot, though. Every year, there is a tradition that each staff member, on the last day or so of Camp, writes a letter to the next summer's staff, giving out pithy advice or reminiscing on some of their fonder memories. And, last night, we read those letters from last summer. I wasn't that excited to hear mine, wondering if it would be too sappy or too long (it was), but God really strengthened me through hearing the things that I wrote last year, oddly enough ... Last summer I struggled a lot with feelings of inadequacy, and the devil was really eager for me to take a few steps back and feel the same way, if not worse, again. But God triumphed last night, and I was reminded that I don't have to worry about feeling ill-prepared, ill-equipped, or just ... not good enough. Psh, I don't have to worry about a thing: the only way I have any worth is through Him working through me. It's not me making an impact on campers or staff, and it's not my job to worry about how my efforts are recieved. I am just an instrument, glad to be used by God in whatever way He so chooses.
He has it more figured out than I do.
With that said, I believe that my time here on the Wautoma Library internet is running short (we got an unexpected break today - we were supposed to be doing high ropes, but apparently there's like, the storm of the century brewing in Central WI, so we decided that ropes just might not be the best idea for today ...) but I just wanted to keep you all updated. I'm alive and well, and looking forward to keeping you posted on more stories throughout the next few months.
If you get the chance, please remember me and my coworkers in your prayers. Please pray that the devil does not get a foothold 0n the staff here this summer by convincing us of our insufficiencies or dividing us by petty differences. Also pray that God would keep us all united in purpose, as well as prepare the camper's hearts for their week at camp, that He would do amazing things in their lives for that short time they are with us. Also pray that God gives me the strength to make it through each week, helping me fully dedicate myself to edifying the lives of His little lambs.
I would ask for your support for this ministry in general. I myself know the power it can have in a person's life, and I so desperately wish that Camp Phillip can continue, by the grace and power of God, to make an impact on the hearts of His children.
Thanks for taking the time ... God bless till next time!
Wow, I've already been at Camp for almost two weeks. But, it almost feels like I never left. The staff is already well-bonded, and the daily routine will be engrained into me soon enough.
We have not had any campers yet, but we have had almost a week of ropes course training, and we are over half-way through with SALT (Summer Adult Leadership Team) Training. It's an important week, a rather mentally exhausting week, and one of the only times throughout the summer that we just get to BE with each other, to be with adults for more than an hour or so.
Ropes went well; it was more of a review for me since last year but I got to do a few more difficult things, such as "taking down" all the equipment after the day at ropes was over. It was pretty freaking scary to me (being up 45ish feet in the air connected to nothing but my own devices wrapped around the telephone pole while trying not to drop $200 dollars worth of equipment ... difficult to explain), but I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. Hopefully I'll be a little more useful out there this year.
It's been a little hard for me to get into the swing of things this year, for whatever reason. I think last night helped a lot, though. Every year, there is a tradition that each staff member, on the last day or so of Camp, writes a letter to the next summer's staff, giving out pithy advice or reminiscing on some of their fonder memories. And, last night, we read those letters from last summer. I wasn't that excited to hear mine, wondering if it would be too sappy or too long (it was), but God really strengthened me through hearing the things that I wrote last year, oddly enough ... Last summer I struggled a lot with feelings of inadequacy, and the devil was really eager for me to take a few steps back and feel the same way, if not worse, again. But God triumphed last night, and I was reminded that I don't have to worry about feeling ill-prepared, ill-equipped, or just ... not good enough. Psh, I don't have to worry about a thing: the only way I have any worth is through Him working through me. It's not me making an impact on campers or staff, and it's not my job to worry about how my efforts are recieved. I am just an instrument, glad to be used by God in whatever way He so chooses.
He has it more figured out than I do.
With that said, I believe that my time here on the Wautoma Library internet is running short (we got an unexpected break today - we were supposed to be doing high ropes, but apparently there's like, the storm of the century brewing in Central WI, so we decided that ropes just might not be the best idea for today ...) but I just wanted to keep you all updated. I'm alive and well, and looking forward to keeping you posted on more stories throughout the next few months.
If you get the chance, please remember me and my coworkers in your prayers. Please pray that the devil does not get a foothold 0n the staff here this summer by convincing us of our insufficiencies or dividing us by petty differences. Also pray that God would keep us all united in purpose, as well as prepare the camper's hearts for their week at camp, that He would do amazing things in their lives for that short time they are with us. Also pray that God gives me the strength to make it through each week, helping me fully dedicate myself to edifying the lives of His little lambs.
I would ask for your support for this ministry in general. I myself know the power it can have in a person's life, and I so desperately wish that Camp Phillip can continue, by the grace and power of God, to make an impact on the hearts of His children.
Thanks for taking the time ... God bless till next time!
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