SUMMER!!!

Where do I begin!?!?!?!
Summer is already half-way through and I'm still trying to get ahold of everything our Great God has taught me already. I think I've been stretched, pulled and turned-upside-down many times this past summer; all in order to make my realize, once again, what a Faithful God we have and how He will provide for the needs of His children.
I'm going to put up a few pictures of each of the different camps I was able to work at so far this summer (I still have another camp to work at, and that is Camp Enosh in Topeka, KS) and a little "blurb" as to what went on at each of the camps.

GIRLS RANCH HAND

The LORD gave me a wonderful opportunity to work with 7 young girls at THRBC and be the speaker for Ranch Hand 1. It was so good! Because the group was smaller than normal, we were all able to bond really well and open up with each other about struggles, problems, and insecurities we all face in our lives. We worked with the horses for about 6-10 hours every day, doing everything from saddling horses, cleaning out their shoes, roping and herding cattle to racing around barrels, running on the horses all over camp, eating over a campfire and riding TONS every day. It was a blast!!! My horses name was Flapjack : ) The messages I felt the Lord wanted me to share were filled with the gospel for the first 4 messages (for the girls who were not saved) and the last 7 were growth messages that were based around "idolatry" and the things in our lives that keep us from fully loving God and becoming more like Christ. It was very convicting for me to give because the topics were so personal to my own walk with the Lord...but the girls all shared in every message and we had some great times of discussion on what it means to tear down idols in our lives, seeking His face, and living pure in a "pureless" world.

All of us girls being goofy : )

Visiting the horses in the evening

Lydia and I - love this girl

Riding in the truck late at night, "Thanks Jimmy, erh...Mader"

Flapjack and I : )

SOONER BIBLE CAMP

Let's give a shout out for "SOONER BIBLE CAMP!!!" This camp has always meant so much to me, I grew up at this camp from age 8 to age 18 and have always enjoyed staffing/counseling for Sr. and Jr. Week. This year the Lord allowed me to be a counselor at Jr. Week for the youngest cabin, which is the 7-9 yr. old girls. I am so thankful for each and every girl in my cabin...they made my week so enjoyable and taught me much about patience, understanding, and love. Several kids came to know Christ as their personal Savior this week and once incident in particular was so exciting: last year in Anne's cabin, a girl became saved and made it a point to pray that her cousins would become saved so she should have another sister in Christ since her whole family is Catholic. Well, this year in Mrs. Moffitt's cabin, her cousin got saved!!! And now they are planning on encouraging each other in the faith and praying together for the salvation of the other members in their families...isn't that awesome?!? It was so neat to see this all unfold. Rachelle was at camp (the girl from our kids club) - on Thursday night she received Christ as her personal Savior and seemed to changed on Friday...wanting to share Christ with her fellow cabinmates and excited to go back to Guthrie and her family with the gospel. Pray that I would be willing to sacrifice my "personal" time to invest in her life...I love her so much and want her to grow up to be a woman after God's own heart. The girls in my cabin who were saved (Shelby, Bekah, and Abigail) were very vocal about their testimonies in the cabin and around camp. Before Bekah and Abigail went to give their testimonies, I had a little "prayer time" with each of them - I will never forget the prayers of my little sisters in Christ as they asked the Lord for help on how to effectively share their testimonies, that God would be glorified in their words and as little Abigail said, "Make my tongue a tool for You, God..I don't want to talk about myself."

Cheyenne and Rachelle playing at the pool

Shelby, Beth, Bekah, Abigail, Kaitlin and Cheyenne smiling after our cabin's late night "talent show" - they were pretty silly

Mrs. Moffitt and I...words can't express how much this woman means to me

Above Picture: Joel, Chris and Garrett at the banquet. Second Picture: Water Games!

TURKEY HILL RANCH BIBLE CAMP

The past three weeks have been very interesting to say the least - God's plans are better than my own plans, and I found that out. Kids 3 I worked in the kitchen. The previous weekend I had spent with my friend Kelly Jensen to make sure some of our Ireland plans were getting fully together and I didn't get to THRBC until late Monday night. I had time to relax from alot of my car traveling and catch up on some much needed sleep. Kids 4 came around and I didn't counsel since I would be counseling both Teen 1 and Teen 2 (so I thought), so I was Head Lifeguard. It was really fun and of course, I got some nice sun : ) Staffing also reminded me that there are 2 ministries at camp: one for the campers and one for the staffers. It was so neat talking with younger girls and listening/guiding/talking with them and pointing them toward Jesus as the only Person who will ever satisfy the deepest longings of their hearts. On Tuesday night of that week I came down with a 100 degree fever and a really bad headache...but the next morning my temperature was back to normal, though I started getting a sore throat and my head was still pounding. On Thursday night, I felt horrible and went to the nurse and found out I had a 102 degree fever. Yikes! I was sent to my room, to sleep. Well, I slept. Almost all day Friday I slept. I was nauseated most of the day, had a sore throat, a really bad cough, congested and ran a fever most of Friday. My fever broke that evening, but because there had been an outbreak at camp of many many campers and staffers getting this same "flu" I had to be quarantined in my cabin until Sunday. I got out Sunday, but after talking with the camp doctor (Steve Price), I had to be quarantined for another 2 days, since I had Influenza A and the H1N1 flu is a strain within that. *sigh* So that meant I couldn't counsel Teen 1. *sigh* I have a pretty weak immune system, (it all backtracks to the malaria I got in Africa), so I'm still pretty weak even right now...but getting more and more strength everyday. My parents and I both agreed (after much MUCH prayer) that I should come back home during Teen 2 and restup for the many other travels God has for me this summer. I'm learning to understand that sometimes I can't do everything - and that it is o.k. to take a break, rest up and renew my energy for other tasks that are ahead of me in the future. And those tasks are one more camp and a 3 week trip to Ireland to help out with VBS outreaches in Gorey, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland. It'll be such a great time - the Lord gave me an opportunity to go to Ireland after Africa 2 years ago...haven't been back since, but the believers in Belfast were so encouraging and needed encouragement. My friends Kelly and Anne-Marie are going with me...I"ll keep you posted about specific things to pray about and our schedule during out trip.

Thanks for being willing to read all of this : ) Continue to pray for all of the different camps that are going on right now - that the Holy Spirit would have free course; counselors and speakers would invest their time into the campers; the staff would grow together in unity.

Staff Girl Trail Ride during Kids 3

4th of July Weekend - this was as "festive" as we got...sno cones!!! No fireworks this 4th of July.

Staff girls!!!! Love them all so much!

My very best friend Katy (she's Head Counselor this summer, prayer for her!)

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20