Hi friends!
Before I go off to Chicago (in less than a month!!) I wanted
to write a little bit about my summer and preparation for what’s to come. I’m
doing an internship this summer with K-State Research & Extension in the
4-H Youth Development office on campus in Manhattan. It’s been a great
experience so far, the highlight of the summer being last week at Camp Corral!
Golden Corral sponsors this camp for military kids all over
the US. This week we had 300 kids at Rock Springs 4-H Center! Needless to say,
it was a little crazy. For those of you that don’t know, I LOVE camp. I grew up
going to camp and worked at one in Colorado for 2 summers (Shoutout to my
Highlands friends!!) So, I was super excited for this week! This time, I was in
an assistant role, acting as counselor support and assisting the directors.
There were 6 assistants so it was fun to have friends too!
Anywho, A lot of my time was spent covering breaks for counselors, so I supervised some individual cabins. Then I would just help supervise larger activities like at the pool and evening activities. One morning Dereck and I were cruising around in the golf cart and a counselor waved me over. She was chasing her camper around! I helped her try to keep a visual on the little girl and called for an MFLAC (Military Family Life....something....they were kind of like therapist/counselors). We were giving her space so she wouldn't freak out and lost the visual a couple of times. I mildly freaked out because the girl would get ahead of us and hide in the woods! Anyway, Loretta came and calmed her down a little and then asked if I would go walk with the girl to blow off steam. I took Kerri around and we stopped at the horse barn. As soon as she started petting them, she really opened up. She was very talkative actually! It was such a blessing to be able to walk around with her and help her to feel better. Then, that afternoon she was very clingy at the pool. I think she just was excited to finally have someone actually listen to her without making assumptions.
That's only one of many stories like that from this week. Another teary-eyed boy told me about his #1 hero, his dad, who was a wounded warrior. The slogan for Camp Corral is "The week of a lifetime!" and I was so glad that I got to experience it with everyone. I love camp for many reasons, but it was really cool to see it from a youth development perspective this time. It was also cool to see how the campers and the counselors grew from the experience!
Here's a link to a story about it (had several news crews out):
Look at me!! You can see hundreds of more pictures if you go to the Rock Springs Facebook page! Also, check out this rockin video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSAN9wmwy8k
In other news, I’m trying to prepare for my year of service.
Have a draft of letters written (which many of you will hopefully have read by
the time you arrive at my blog), reading some books, praying a lot. One of the
books I’m reading is called Love Does by Bob Goff. The lovely Kalli Watson
(2013-2014 YAV in Northern Ireland!) recommended it to me at Discernment Event
back in March. Anyway, it’s awesome. So many good stories from his life that
he’s connected to the grace of God.
You know that quote “God doesn’t call the qualified, he
qualifies the called”? Goff talks about that in the book in a way that makes it
really real to me. Just when I’m ready to freak out about moving to a huge city and getting lost downtown, these words reminded me that God will
strengthen me and be with me always. Preface: The story in the chapter of Love
Does is about a wedding cake getting dropped in the parking lot, and the cake
gets all these rocks and stuff in it:
“He called people like me who can’t even figure out which end of a plastic bag to open His hands, He called people who trip every day His feet, and He called people who can’t figure out which way to turn a screw to tighten it or even stack a cake correctly the ones who would build a kingdom. And then, if we’re willing, He serves us up- rocks, small bits of asphalt, and all” (p. 58).
“He called people like me who can’t even figure out which end of a plastic bag to open His hands, He called people who trip every day His feet, and He called people who can’t figure out which way to turn a screw to tighten it or even stack a cake correctly the ones who would build a kingdom. And then, if we’re willing, He serves us up- rocks, small bits of asphalt, and all” (p. 58).
I hope that if any of you is feeling inadequate today, that
these words will serve as an encouragement to you too!
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