Today was supposed to be a work day, but because we have all become cleaning pros, we finished by 2 and had the rest of the day off.
As far as love languages go, gifts always seems to be low on my list for both giving and receiving. I do, however, love to give the gift of sweet treats to others. Absolutely LOVE it. I tend not to be the most creative person in the kitchen and everyone ALWAYS seems to be watching their sugar intake, so it hasn’t happened as often as I would have liked it to, but I did know that it would be something that I missed doing when I came to camp.
So what did I do when I realized that I had an afternoon off? I ran up to the Mi Casa kitchen and whipped up a quick batch of snickerdoodles! It felt so wonderful to bake again, and it felt even better to know that I had at least 17 other friends here that would love the surprise of a freshly baked cookie. There is nothing more disappointing than seeing your sweet treats go stale on your kitchen counter (or feeling cookie guilt after you finish the leftovers on your own!). So I packed up the cookies in my bag and biked around camp like a little cookie fairy, rushing around because about half of our group was about to leave for Rocksprings.
Every week, a group of Walkabouters go to FBC Rocksprings on Sunday nights for youth. Last year, the walkabout students stepped up to take over that youth group because they had never had any real leadership before. It’s an incredible ministry that about 8 students have committed to going to every Sunday. They spend their free time planning lessons and activities for these kids who live in a small town where the gospel is largely unknown. There is very little for the kids to do in Rocksprings and because the town sees a lot of drugs trafficked through, there are a ton of drug problems there. Each year, a huge percentage of students drop out of high school and it is common for a girl to have a child by the time she is 15 or 16. These kids have heartbreaking stories of how common abuse and hurt is in their lives and I am so glad that Walkabout has taken the youth group under its wing. I’m not a part of the core group, but I really hope to go throughout the year and just help that ministry in any way that I can.
While they were gone, five of us went over to our director’s house to do homework and eat leftover food. While we were eating and talking, the most incredible thunderstorm I have seen in months began. We turned off all of the lights in the house and just watched the lightning and listened to the rain for hours. The storm was incredible, but the best part of the night was the conversation that occurred during the storm. Because there were only a few of us, we were able to get to know one another on a more intimate level. It can be really hard to bring it in when there are 18 kids just hanging out and being silly, so getting several of us together to talk was refreshing in a very emotional way. I crave intimacy with others and that was exactly what I got from our lightning watching party.
I would definitely call today a success.
Monday, September 26, 2011
9/17 Sabbath
Also known as the day when you get to use internet.
Every week or so, we get a day or two off and today was my Sabbath for the week. It was closed campus, which meant that we have to stay at camp, but we don’t have to work, go to any meetings, or even show up for meals if we don’t want to.
This morning, I went biking again in the rain with another student, Chris, and then took my first shower in about two-ish days. In the mean time, I considered putting dreads into the mess on my head, but I think that could be a project for another day.
I had planned on spending most of my afternoon journaling, doing homework, and reading, but the group that is here decided that they wanted to do the mud pit. As soon as I heard that, there was no way that they were going to go without me.
When I say mud pit, what I’m really talking about is a mud crater that has been filled with water for about 20-or-so weeks straight. And what that really means is that you can get mid-thigh deep in mud in some places. Let’s be honest: how often are you really going to have access to a giant mud crater in your life? This is why I make it a point to enjoy it to the fullest every single time I have the opportunity. I go crazy for that mud pit. It’s definitely in my top three favorite activities at camp.
I really treasure my Sabbaths here because it really gives me an opportunity to slow down and truly appreciate the gift that I’ve been given just to be here.
Psalm 13:5-6 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”
Every week or so, we get a day or two off and today was my Sabbath for the week. It was closed campus, which meant that we have to stay at camp, but we don’t have to work, go to any meetings, or even show up for meals if we don’t want to.
This morning, I went biking again in the rain with another student, Chris, and then took my first shower in about two-ish days. In the mean time, I considered putting dreads into the mess on my head, but I think that could be a project for another day.
I had planned on spending most of my afternoon journaling, doing homework, and reading, but the group that is here decided that they wanted to do the mud pit. As soon as I heard that, there was no way that they were going to go without me.
When I say mud pit, what I’m really talking about is a mud crater that has been filled with water for about 20-or-so weeks straight. And what that really means is that you can get mid-thigh deep in mud in some places. Let’s be honest: how often are you really going to have access to a giant mud crater in your life? This is why I make it a point to enjoy it to the fullest every single time I have the opportunity. I go crazy for that mud pit. It’s definitely in my top three favorite activities at camp.
I really treasure my Sabbaths here because it really gives me an opportunity to slow down and truly appreciate the gift that I’ve been given just to be here.
Psalm 13:5-6 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”
Saturday, September 17, 2011
A Day in the Life - 9/16
Now that all of training is over and groups are starting to come, we’ve finally gotten into the swing of things. We’ve had class daily since Wednesday and there have more opportunities for real connecting to happen between the students. I feel like my day will be pretty representative of what a normal day will look like here:
6:42 a.m.
Alarms start going off in my side of the cabin. I still have eight minutes left on my alarm, but when you share a room with four other girls, the time you wake up and fall asleep often depends on them. I check my watch to make sure I still have a few minutes to sleep and then I roll over and try to catch a few more zzz’s.
6:50 a.m.
My alarm finally goes off and I roll out of bed, grab my contacts, and do the whole morning hygiene routine. Unless I am going to work out in the morning (like I am tomorrow morning – biking!!), I always shower before dinner or before bed so that I can wash the daily grime off. After I finish in the bathroom, I make my bed, get dressed, and gather my things for the morning.
7:17
I leave the cabin to head up to our common area/kitchen and dining room/classroom space: Mi Casa. Mi Casa is the common space that the backpacking program here (Eagle Quest) uses during the summer, and it’s a five-ish minute walk uphill from our cabins. This morning I almost turned around and grabbed my rain jacket because it looked like it was going to rain, but its been so dry out here that I decided against it..
7:22
I get to Mi Casa and I’m hungry and ready to eat breakfast. Unfortunately, someone locked us out of MI Casa the night before. Mi Casa is essentially a decked out screen shelter, so we have to close everything up at night to keep the raccoons out. The only time this is a bad thing is when someone accidentally forgets to leave the door unlocked.
7:25
I decide to go ahead and start my quiet time instead of eating breakfast first. We usually have an hour in the morning to eat and have a quiet time. I normally eat breakfast first so that I can spend as much time as possible in the word, but I switched it up a little today.
7:45
Josh and Meredith, our mentors/leaders, come to breakfast and unlock Mi Casa after sending another student on his bike to go find keys. I go inside, make some yummy oatmeal, and then go to have breakfast.
8:10
I go back to my quiet time. I read out of Matthew, Genesis and Job and then review verses from a lesson last night about God’s faithfulness, love, and how he always chooses us. Let me just go ahead and share those because they are incredible:
John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1; Galations 4:6-7; James 2:5; Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 2:9-10; John 15:16; Isaiah 62:12; John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 13:20; Hebrews 9:15; Romans 5:6,8; Romans 8:14-15; Matthew 1:21; Romans 6:1-6; Romans 8:1-2
8:12
It starts raining
8:53
We all stand outside for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not we should go to the training we are supposed to be at by nine. We start running there in the rain anyways (none of us have our rain jackets with us).
9:10
The guy who is supposed to be training us finally shows up and says we can’t do anything because of the rain. We go over some stuff anyways.
9:30
I run back to my cabin to get my laptop and then walk back up to Mi Casa. I journal and write until lunch.
12:00
A couple of the guys made grilled cheese and ramen noodles for lunch to mix up out usual spread of sandwiches and chips (we eat other things when we eat with retreat groups, but when we’re on own, its usually sandwiches).
1:00
Class time! We are starting from the basics and progressing throughout the year. Our class was over making observations while reading your Bible. We focused on 1 John 1:5-7 and discussed the importance of making observations before interpreting the Bible.
3:00
We met one of the full-time staff and went to go do a work project. We started making a garden and my job was to go find volleyball-sized or bigger rocks to line the garden with.
4:30
I went to the logistics meeting in the coffee shop so that we could go over the schedule for the group that came in tonight.
5:00
Dinner prep! Two other students and I made quesadillas and guacamole for everyone. I made some cupcakes too! We finally got some butter, vanilla, and eggs up at Mi Casa and I was so excited to bake again. That is definitely something that I miss.
7:00
We ate our delicious dinner. Yummm.
7:30
We started cleaning. I made a huge mess from baking…so it took at while.
9:00
Hangout/bonding time on the porch. We talked for a few hours and then headed to bed.
6:42 a.m.
Alarms start going off in my side of the cabin. I still have eight minutes left on my alarm, but when you share a room with four other girls, the time you wake up and fall asleep often depends on them. I check my watch to make sure I still have a few minutes to sleep and then I roll over and try to catch a few more zzz’s.
6:50 a.m.
My alarm finally goes off and I roll out of bed, grab my contacts, and do the whole morning hygiene routine. Unless I am going to work out in the morning (like I am tomorrow morning – biking!!), I always shower before dinner or before bed so that I can wash the daily grime off. After I finish in the bathroom, I make my bed, get dressed, and gather my things for the morning.
7:17
I leave the cabin to head up to our common area/kitchen and dining room/classroom space: Mi Casa. Mi Casa is the common space that the backpacking program here (Eagle Quest) uses during the summer, and it’s a five-ish minute walk uphill from our cabins. This morning I almost turned around and grabbed my rain jacket because it looked like it was going to rain, but its been so dry out here that I decided against it..
7:22
I get to Mi Casa and I’m hungry and ready to eat breakfast. Unfortunately, someone locked us out of MI Casa the night before. Mi Casa is essentially a decked out screen shelter, so we have to close everything up at night to keep the raccoons out. The only time this is a bad thing is when someone accidentally forgets to leave the door unlocked.
7:25
I decide to go ahead and start my quiet time instead of eating breakfast first. We usually have an hour in the morning to eat and have a quiet time. I normally eat breakfast first so that I can spend as much time as possible in the word, but I switched it up a little today.
7:45
Josh and Meredith, our mentors/leaders, come to breakfast and unlock Mi Casa after sending another student on his bike to go find keys. I go inside, make some yummy oatmeal, and then go to have breakfast.
8:10
I go back to my quiet time. I read out of Matthew, Genesis and Job and then review verses from a lesson last night about God’s faithfulness, love, and how he always chooses us. Let me just go ahead and share those because they are incredible:
John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1; Galations 4:6-7; James 2:5; Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 2:9-10; John 15:16; Isaiah 62:12; John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Romans 6:23; Hebrews 13:20; Hebrews 9:15; Romans 5:6,8; Romans 8:14-15; Matthew 1:21; Romans 6:1-6; Romans 8:1-2
8:12
It starts raining
8:53
We all stand outside for a few minutes trying to decide whether or not we should go to the training we are supposed to be at by nine. We start running there in the rain anyways (none of us have our rain jackets with us).
9:10
The guy who is supposed to be training us finally shows up and says we can’t do anything because of the rain. We go over some stuff anyways.
9:30
I run back to my cabin to get my laptop and then walk back up to Mi Casa. I journal and write until lunch.
12:00
A couple of the guys made grilled cheese and ramen noodles for lunch to mix up out usual spread of sandwiches and chips (we eat other things when we eat with retreat groups, but when we’re on own, its usually sandwiches).
1:00
Class time! We are starting from the basics and progressing throughout the year. Our class was over making observations while reading your Bible. We focused on 1 John 1:5-7 and discussed the importance of making observations before interpreting the Bible.
3:00
We met one of the full-time staff and went to go do a work project. We started making a garden and my job was to go find volleyball-sized or bigger rocks to line the garden with.
4:30
I went to the logistics meeting in the coffee shop so that we could go over the schedule for the group that came in tonight.
5:00
Dinner prep! Two other students and I made quesadillas and guacamole for everyone. I made some cupcakes too! We finally got some butter, vanilla, and eggs up at Mi Casa and I was so excited to bake again. That is definitely something that I miss.
7:00
We ate our delicious dinner. Yummm.
7:30
We started cleaning. I made a huge mess from baking…so it took at while.
9:00
Hangout/bonding time on the porch. We talked for a few hours and then headed to bed.
Mountain Biking - 9/14
One of the pros of Walkabout: each Walkabout student received a bike last week that we are able to use throughout the duration of the program. And let me tell you: these bikes are legit.
Flash back time:
Enjoying biking was someone I has to learn when I got here. When I first rode a mountain bike as a counselor in ’09, I hadn’t ridden something on two wheels since I was in middle school. You know, back when it was cool to ride around on your purple bike with your neighbors. The thing that had freaked me out the most about working at an adventure camp was riding around on things with wheels. I like to be secured by a rope, harness, or better yet, my own two feet on the ground. So of course, the first full day of my staff training involved a trip to our very own terrain park. If you aren’t sure what a terrain park is, think of a downhill dirt track with lots of hills and jumps built into its side. At this point, the terrain park was still fresh and new, which in Rocksprings, Texas means that it was still littered with rocks, gravel, etc. The other staff member started hopping on the mountain scooters and rolling right down, so I was feeling pretty confident that I wasn’t going to wipe out. That is, until I wiped out. HARD.
So the next week when we went to try out mountain biking down the trails here at camp, I was completely freaked out. I think I rode my brakes and held my breath the entire first ride.
Since then, mountain biking has become less terrifying, but it is one of those activities that I did have to force myself to love. I love the flying feeling of riding a bike. I’m still working on loving the rocks and steep hills, but for now we are on amicable terms.
Today was our first day to all bike together as a little walkabout family. It’s a good thing that I acquired that love of biking because somehow I was elected to be our fearless leader on the ride. We went riding down a county road that goes through camp and leads to other places in Nowhere, Texas. I thought that the beauty of camp was the ultimate sight, but the sky, hills, and scenery was ridiculous down that road. So just be warned that I might come home with a biking addiction.
Flash back time:
Enjoying biking was someone I has to learn when I got here. When I first rode a mountain bike as a counselor in ’09, I hadn’t ridden something on two wheels since I was in middle school. You know, back when it was cool to ride around on your purple bike with your neighbors. The thing that had freaked me out the most about working at an adventure camp was riding around on things with wheels. I like to be secured by a rope, harness, or better yet, my own two feet on the ground. So of course, the first full day of my staff training involved a trip to our very own terrain park. If you aren’t sure what a terrain park is, think of a downhill dirt track with lots of hills and jumps built into its side. At this point, the terrain park was still fresh and new, which in Rocksprings, Texas means that it was still littered with rocks, gravel, etc. The other staff member started hopping on the mountain scooters and rolling right down, so I was feeling pretty confident that I wasn’t going to wipe out. That is, until I wiped out. HARD.
So the next week when we went to try out mountain biking down the trails here at camp, I was completely freaked out. I think I rode my brakes and held my breath the entire first ride.
Since then, mountain biking has become less terrifying, but it is one of those activities that I did have to force myself to love. I love the flying feeling of riding a bike. I’m still working on loving the rocks and steep hills, but for now we are on amicable terms.
Today was our first day to all bike together as a little walkabout family. It’s a good thing that I acquired that love of biking because somehow I was elected to be our fearless leader on the ride. We went riding down a county road that goes through camp and leads to other places in Nowhere, Texas. I thought that the beauty of camp was the ultimate sight, but the sky, hills, and scenery was ridiculous down that road. So just be warned that I might come home with a biking addiction.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Weeks 1-3
It has been three weeks so far and I’m relaxing on my third day off since I’ve been here (which also makes it the third day that I have had internet). There is no cell phone service here either, so I either have to hike uphill for half an hour on a day off or go into town to use my phone (which I have done twice so far).
I absolutely love how separate Camp Eagle is from the rest of the world. I don’t miss the hours spent mindlessly surfing the internet or losing half of my day by watching movies. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy finding wonderful recipes, poetry, blogs, etc. during my surfing and I love movies, but this change of pace is SO refreshing. The moon is so bright at night that I have a shadow and when the moon isn’t full you can see the Milky Way almost every night. Even getting dirtier, sweatier, and more tired each day feels incredible. In fact, I’m partially convinced that my feet can never stay clean for longer than half an hour at a time here. Nine months of this is more than anything I could have known to ask for.
So, what have I been doing for the past three weeks? So much!
I arrived at camp at about 4 p.m. on the 20th and after everyone helped me unpack my embarrassing car-full of luggage, I unpacked for a couple of hours and then we all 18 of us had dinner together for the first time. Before dinner, we had been told to put our bag of backpacking gear on our front porch and to take water and anything else we might need for a hike with us to dinner. After dinner, we were given a map of camp and a clue as to where we needed to hike to first. Since there were two other past counselors in the group and a past service teamer (service team is what they call the high school kids who come to camp each summer for a couple of weeks at a time to do manual labor at camp and be discipled), we made our way around pretty effortlessly. We went to three destinations and at each we were read a passage of scripture and asked to think about who God was there, who we are, and what we were willing to surrender. We were all asked to really think about why we had come, what we wanted to get out of these nine months and to really be honest with ourselves and God about what that would mean in our hearts and lives. At our final destination for the night, there were five tents set up and all of our gear was piled together. We had just begun our first trip together!
The backpacking trip lasted three days and three nights and was an absolute blast. Getting us out on trail and out of our comfort zones immediately really helped us to form faster as a group. We did a lot of getting to know one another and group development. It’s difficult to try and get to know 17 different people all at once, so we’re all still getting used to each other at this point. The tension rises and falls periodically within the group and because we’re essentially a bunch of siblings living in close quarters, some storming is bound to happen soon.
For the next week or so, we all worked on getting lifeguard certified and trained and then worked a mountain bike race. I was in the kitchen all weekend and loved it. Working in the kitchen is one of my favorite jobs, especially when I work with the old head cook and a current Walkabout leader, Meredith.
The day after the race ended, we packed up and headed to the little town of Rocksprings, which is about 45 minutes away from camp. We picked up trash, painted a couple of houses, and just loved on some of the kids that lived there. We ended the trip by going to their high school football game.
It has been a blast so far and I’m excited to start classes this week!
I absolutely love how separate Camp Eagle is from the rest of the world. I don’t miss the hours spent mindlessly surfing the internet or losing half of my day by watching movies. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy finding wonderful recipes, poetry, blogs, etc. during my surfing and I love movies, but this change of pace is SO refreshing. The moon is so bright at night that I have a shadow and when the moon isn’t full you can see the Milky Way almost every night. Even getting dirtier, sweatier, and more tired each day feels incredible. In fact, I’m partially convinced that my feet can never stay clean for longer than half an hour at a time here. Nine months of this is more than anything I could have known to ask for.
So, what have I been doing for the past three weeks? So much!
I arrived at camp at about 4 p.m. on the 20th and after everyone helped me unpack my embarrassing car-full of luggage, I unpacked for a couple of hours and then we all 18 of us had dinner together for the first time. Before dinner, we had been told to put our bag of backpacking gear on our front porch and to take water and anything else we might need for a hike with us to dinner. After dinner, we were given a map of camp and a clue as to where we needed to hike to first. Since there were two other past counselors in the group and a past service teamer (service team is what they call the high school kids who come to camp each summer for a couple of weeks at a time to do manual labor at camp and be discipled), we made our way around pretty effortlessly. We went to three destinations and at each we were read a passage of scripture and asked to think about who God was there, who we are, and what we were willing to surrender. We were all asked to really think about why we had come, what we wanted to get out of these nine months and to really be honest with ourselves and God about what that would mean in our hearts and lives. At our final destination for the night, there were five tents set up and all of our gear was piled together. We had just begun our first trip together!
The backpacking trip lasted three days and three nights and was an absolute blast. Getting us out on trail and out of our comfort zones immediately really helped us to form faster as a group. We did a lot of getting to know one another and group development. It’s difficult to try and get to know 17 different people all at once, so we’re all still getting used to each other at this point. The tension rises and falls periodically within the group and because we’re essentially a bunch of siblings living in close quarters, some storming is bound to happen soon.
For the next week or so, we all worked on getting lifeguard certified and trained and then worked a mountain bike race. I was in the kitchen all weekend and loved it. Working in the kitchen is one of my favorite jobs, especially when I work with the old head cook and a current Walkabout leader, Meredith.
The day after the race ended, we packed up and headed to the little town of Rocksprings, which is about 45 minutes away from camp. We picked up trash, painted a couple of houses, and just loved on some of the kids that lived there. We ended the trip by going to their high school football game.
It has been a blast so far and I’m excited to start classes this week!
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