Third Times the Charm

As I sit here on my falling apart futon on the last Friday night of my Junior year I began thinking about the past year spent in the quad man (my room). I've been blessed by three wonderful roommates this year. Jenn (who's been with me since I was a freshie), Olivia (my car ride home companion), and Carolyn (the rap loving southern bell).  While sitting here the four us are all in the room doing our own thing. Olivia and I are sitting in our usual spots on the futon. Jenn is at her desk, doing the usual skype chat probably, and Carolyn is perched up in her bed where half the time you don't notice she's up there because her huge duvet encapsulates her as well as the whole bed.  Things seem to be normal. Yet I can't help but think that it's not normal.

Next year all four of us will be living in different separate places. Carolyn and I will be on the wing again next year. I'll be in a different room. Jenn and Olivia will both be living in the Campbell apartments in different floors and rooms. I've grown to love the simple yet complex lifestyle that has been formed in the quad man this year. I remember a year ago the four of us sitting up to a coffee table eating FroYo with a to scale diagram of the room trying to figure out the best living arrangement for our furniture. After 2 hours we finally found the setup that we have been living with for the past 9 months. I think of all the late night futon to desk to pillow talks that were had in the room. The laughter and crying that occurred in our room.  To be a fly on the wall of the quad man would be a very interesting thing to watch sometimes. All four of us have very different callings and passions in our lives. Yet we have become the best of friends through the past year of living with one another. I'm so thankful for the small family that I have lived with this year. It was so nice to go home to my family in Wheaton but it was so comforting to know that when I returned I would come back to roommates that I can call sisters.

I titled this entry "Third Times the Charm" because it seems to be the phrase that people through around when they have messed up and say that by the third time you should be able to do said thing better than the previous two tries. So, Junior year. The third year of college. I went into this year with one goal in mind. That goal was to grow genuine friendships with those in my major, Christian Educational Ministries. Looking back on the past year I can say that I definitely feel that I achieved this goal. We have been a tight knit family. I have especially noticed this during the past semester. When one of us is going through a trial in our lives we share it with one another. A moment later we are all bowing our heads in prayer to lift the situation up to the Lord. I can picture multiple scenarios where my CE family has been able to pick up the slack for me in ways that they don't even realize. As different as we all are from each other we have learned to love one another and to grow with one another in Christ. So now that I've gotten this sappy stuff out of the way I'm going to head to my usual top 10 list. So here goes nothing the Top 10 of my Junior Year. I'm even going to add pictures. Yea you read that right! PICTURES! Also, these pictures are invaluable to the number they are given! I wish I could put them all at number 1 but that defeats the point of a top 10 list I guess.

10. My first roommate outing of Junior year to the Matthew's Covered Bridge Festival.

9. Taking Jenn out for a surprise dinner at Thai Smile!

8. Gwen came to visit Taylor!

 7. Silent Night with the roommates in matching nightgowns!

6. Autumn, Lindsay, Katie and I all got to eat cupcakes from Scratch!

5. These goofballs ventured out of Iowa to the Windy City for New Years with me!

4. Got to continue family traditions by decorating Easter eggs with Christina!

3. I got to spend 3 wonderful weeks in this wonderful country with wonderful people!

2. This beautiful young girl stole my heart at Hogar Casz Luz.

1. I my bro got married! I'm a sister-in-law now. There's also a little niece/nephew coming in October! I will be an aunt!!!

Spring is in the air...

Once again I have let myself go far too long without a blog post. Which means that again I will be sharing highlights of the past few months since the start of the new year.

January:
Katie, Lindsay, and I brought in the new year together like big girls! We spent a good day down in Chicago doing all sorts of fun things. We went skating at Millennium Park, visited the Art Institute and ate some yummy Noodles and Company. 

I went to PERU!! I got to spend 3 weeks of January with 15 members of the Taylor community in Ayacucho, Peru. The primary focus of my mission trip to Peru was to work with and love the kids of Hogar Casa Luz. A typical day would go like something like this: Each morning we would walk down the block to the orphanage where we were greeted by smiling faces and the Peruvian greeting of a hug and kiss in the air along the right cheek. Although slightly uncomfortable with this greeting at first it has become something to treasure now that I no longer encounter it everyday. After this greeting we w ould gather everyone for some children’s songs. Such as, “Yo tengo gozo, gozo, gozo, gozo en mi corazon!” and “Mi Dios es tan grande”. Afterwards, we split the kids up by age for various activities. The teenagers would head off for discussions on purity while the younger kids would participate in VBS. After a few hours we would head back to the apartment for lunch and a small siesta before heading back to play with the kids in the afternoon. 

I personally connected with the younger kids, mostly because I helped with the crafts portion of VBS. These kids loved their crafts. There were times where I would leave the room and come back and thought the room had emptied out because of the silence and high level of concentration of the kids. They could easily spend all day crafting. One of my favorite things about watching them work on crafts was watching their creativity run free. We would give them the parameters of the craft but most of the time, if not all, they would reach beyond the parameters and make something that we would have never thought to make with the supplies given.

Below is a picture of my new friend Mayli. She is very sassy, has quite the sense of humor, has a beautiful smile, and has a great laugh. I had the wonderful privilege to nourish a friendship with her and her younger brother Jose. One day Mayli came up to me and grabbed me by the pointer finger and pulled me to the front steps of the orphanage where I found myself looking at a woman in a red baseball cap with no teeth. Mayli exclaims with a huge smile on her face, “Es mi Mama.” In the little Spanish I knew I told the woman that I loved her kids and that I would pray that she would someday be able to live with her two precious children again. I left the situation angry with the mother for putting her innocent children into an orphanage. Seconds later I was filled with joy as I looked through the window and saw Mayli caught in the embrace of her mother, both with smiles that covered their faces. This little girl touched my heart and it was very difficult to say goodbye to her when she did not understand that I was not returning the next day. 

 February:

Well not a whole lot happened during the month of February. I got back into the school routine of going to classes, writing papers, doing homework, attending meetings, and BASSYCS. Although there is not a day that goes by that I do not think about my time in Peru. 

During the past month I filled out three applications, wrote three covers letters, and printed out three resumes. I had two phone interviews and one face to face interview. I feel like I became an adult. Doing all this grown up stuff. 

March:

I know the month isn't over yet but I feel like I have been on a roller coaster this month. God has really made it clear to me that I am to fully rely on Him and the plan that He has made for me. I had heard from my top choice of internships that I did not get the position. I was devastated because at that point in time I knew that the other two I had applied for wouldn't work. Then this past Sunday, the March 10th, I had a meeting at Glen Ellyn Bible Church. To my amazement and because of the grace of God I can now say that I have an internship where I can live at home and be with my family for one last summer before I graduate. GOD IS SO GOOD! Because of this internship I will be able to go and volunteer at Village Creek this summer!

It's been a while...

It's been quite sometime since I wrote my last blog post. This just goes to say where my priorities have landed over the past few months since leaving camp. To catch everyone up on the significant happenings of my life I'm going to give some of the highlights that have happened each month since I left camp back in August.
September:
-I headed back to my home at Taylor. I have really grown a fondness for Taylor and the wonderful friendships and opportunities that have come my way because of going to Taylor.
-At the end of September my mom and I headed to the KidMin Conference in Chicago. I had such a wonderful time with my mom and ran into some great people while I was there. On our first night there I ran into Everett, Leen, and Mama Frey from Crossroads. These are some amazing people who have a passion for sharing God's love with children. Then the following day at the general session we sat next to a woman who runs an orphanage in Belize. By the end of the session she had placed in internship in my lap. It was really wonderful talking with her. Unfortunately her internship does not fulfill the requirements that I need for this coming summer. On the last night of the conference my mom and I are standing in line waiting to get seats for the general session. Who do I see in front of me? Janice, the mother and aunt of some of the campers this past summer. I was so excited to see her. I needed some camp interaction in my life at this point and this is just what I needed.

October:
-I celebrated my 21st birthday while home on my fall break this year. I really enjoyed being able to celebrate with my family. Although I did miss the usual birthday craziness that happens when I'm at school.
-I taught multiple lesson plans during the month of October to my BASSYCS girls. I felt really affirmed after teaching each one and left knowing that I am following after the calling that God has placed in my life.
-Unfortunately I was unable to go to the Four State Fall Retreat at camp this year. I was really bummed that it didn't fall during my fall break like it had during the previous year. But my friends made sure to include me in every way they possibly could without my actual presence. Seeing all of the pictures of a drawn picture of me made me really miss my wonderful camp friends.

November:
-I really enjoyed the Thanksgiving season. I really spent time each day thinking about everything that the Lord has blessed me with in my life.
-I got to spend a whole entire week at home for Thanksgiving. It's truly a rarity these days when I spend more than a week at home. It was definitely a needed break.
-I saw many of my friends from high school over break and it reminded me that I do have friendships back at home still that I can come home to.
-Over the past several months I have been looking for internships in several different churches. Specifically in children's ministries. I had several opportunities to talk with people over my break about possible internships. I would really appreciate prayer as I continue to iron out the details of where I'm supposed to do my internship at.

December:
-Although the month isn't over yet I still have things that I would love to share about the past 4 days of December
1. It's currently 60 degrees outside :D
2. A month from today I will be boarding a plane to Peru.
3. Our room is decked out in everything Christmas from Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, my half lite christmas tree, and two nativity scenes to bring in the real reason for the season.
4. All of my BASSYCS girls got to go on the laser tag trip on Saturday! This means that they worked hard to memorize their verses and finish their Bible readings.
5. THIS IS MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR!!! It is also the most stressful time of the year. I still can't figure that out though.

Amazing Place! Amazing God! Amazing Summer!

My 10th week at Village Creek Bible Camp has come to a close. God has blessed me so much this summer by the amazing campers and staffers that He has placed in my life. I couldn't have ended my time at Village Creek with a better group of campers this past week. I had 5 Junior Campers in my cabin all of them professed a relationship with Christ. This week was one of the only week where I felt truly connected with my girls when they left on Saturday. There was something about these girls that was different from all my other groups of campers. For their age they were spiritually mature. I would not have known that they were 10 and 11 years old if it were not posted on my list of campers at the beginning of the week.

 I led the Catapult Building Rotation. I made 60ish catapults this week. This is not one of my favorite jobs to do at camp but I did it without grumbling. I had to remind myself that each camper had never built a catapult before even though I've been building them for the past 10 weeks.

During Wacky Water Wednesday this week my team won the King and Queen water game which means that I had a nice big barrel of ice cold water dumped on top of me. It was a great way to spend my last Wacky Water Wednesday. This week my girls really opened up early on during the week. It was great to see these 10 and 11 year old ladies share their struggles and realize their need for more of Christ in their lives.

This Saturday I woke up with the Stomach Flu. It was rough. I felt miserable but nonetheless I still went with Katie, Lu, and Gwen to the Skinny Dip on Saturday for one last goodbye. I will miss those girls so much. I'm so thankful for the friendships that I have formed with them this summer and last summer. I cried for the first 20 minutes of my drive home as I realized how much I will really miss them.

Grace Family Camp

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN AMAZING! Here's for the usual top 10 list but here's the kicker. There's only going to be 7!
7. I was a co-family assistant with Autumn this week. We had a family of 4. One 6 year old and one 20 month old. The baby was adorable. I loved being able to work with them.
6. I worked at archery for both first and second instruction hours. This means I was there more than Robin Hood was.
5. I had two plates of food land in my lap this week. One was worse than the other. But both were frustrating. One of them was a plate of pasta with tomato sauce. Yea... that happened...
4. I slept in the back of lodge this week. It was great to be placed so conveniently to my family. It was nice for those trips to the lake when I didn't have to trek back to my cabin to change. I also slept really well this week.
3. Lindsay and I had night assignment together until midnight on Thursday. We started off the night with Monopoly Junior. I dominated. Then we moved on to grown up Monopoly. If we had continued playing she would have had no properties or money left. I dominated!
2. A bunch of us girls found a game called Moods in the Lodge. We played it a few times this week. It was great to just hangout and be goofy.
1. I got a lot of down time this week because I would listen for my 20 month old as he napped and went down for the night. It was great to be able to spend a lot of that time just thinking and being in God's presence.

Prayer Requests:
- Focus for the last 2 weeks so that I can live fully in the present and not look towards to future.
-Rest and motivation.
-Be just as energetic as I was for the first week of campers
-An attitude adjustment about staying in Lakeside again this week

We Prayed and It Rained!

The past two weeks have been absolutely amazing! God has been so good in my life these past few weeks. Two weeks ago I had the privilege to serve a family with four year old triplets and a 2 year old. It was a busy week but I really learned a lot through the week. The family was such a blessing to watch as they talked over meals with each. Even watching the parents lovingly discipline their children was a learning experience. I will definitely miss that family. One of my favorite memories of this week was when the blondie in the picture had to you the potty. I took him and the next thing I hear is, "Hey bud you need to stay in your stall!" He poked his head to see the person next to him. Then while going potty I heard grunts. The person in the stall next to him came out and said, "I think he's pooping! Just a hint!" I also got to stay up at Lakeside during this week. Although it was an inconvenience at times it was great being away from the rest of camp in the silence of the woods.

One of the triplets!

This past week was incredibly awesome. I don't even know where to begin. So I'll start with the beginning. It was young teen camp. Not one of my favorite camps but nonetheless it was a great week. I had 6 girls in my cabin who I feel more and more in love with as the week went on. My heart breaks for their broken lives and the pain that these girls should not have to go through. Another part of this week that was unique was that my cousin Christina came to camp to serve as the camp nurse. It was so great to be able to experience camp together again but in ways that we had never experienced as kids. This week I didn't go on the internet from Saturday until Thursday. So on Thursday you can bet that I had a lot of emails and facebook messages to catch up on. While checking my email I came across an email from Taylor Lighthouse. Here's the jist of what it said, "YOU'RE GOING TO PERU!" I was totally speechless. I'm so excited! You have no idea! I almost peed my pants when I read the email.

Finally, down in the Valley we have been in need of rain. We have had to start feeding our horses the winter hay. After weeks of praying for rain we finally got 2 rather large rainstorms! So on friday many of us were sporting our Pray! shirts and rainboots!

You Are Special

Junior Camp 2 is finished! This week was such a blessing. Once again I'll see if I can write about my week in a top 10 list.
10. My Mom and Nanny came up for the weekend. We spent last Saturday night at Decorah. Nanny cold watered me in the shower and I got a super LEGIT cookie dough shake from the Whippy Dip. It had 2 huge scoops of homemade cookie dough in it.
9. I had a the wonderful privilege to have my Uncle Doug speak at the morning chapels for the week. He told the story of Moses through a made up 10 year old boy named Seth. It was great being able to see him speak in a camp environment and watch him interact with kids.
8. I had 2 sisters in my cabin this week. One was very homesick and the other was fine. They like most sisters at 9 and 10 did not get along with each other. At the beginning of the week it took all the patience that I had to handle the homesick camper. Then I would say a miracle happened. Come Thursday morning I saw a completely new camper. She was very happy and excited to do everything. This was very different in comparison to the way she acted earlier in the week.
7. I attempted to camp out at the hammock village with my campers this week. We hiked all the way up there and I had just helped the last camper get into her hammock and then 2 of them came to me in tears. They were scared. So my co-counselor Autumn stayed with the other girls and I walked back with 3 of them. We sang, "My God is so big so strong and so mighty there is nothing my God cannot do for you!" This helped them and reassured them that God is always there with them.
6. On the last night of camp I played Bible Skittles with my girls. Each turn a girl is given a skittle at random. Depending on the color they have answer a certain question. For example, red is something that you love about God, green was your favorite Bible story and so on. They really enjoyed it.
5. My mom donated lots of different things to the craft room. When I walked into the craft room to give Lindsay the new treasures for the craft room she squealed with excitement. It was so great to see the joy in her eyes because she loves what she does so much and wants the best for the craft room.
4. I really loved this weeks campers. This is the first group of campers that I have had that I teared up when I said good bye to them. They were so precious. I can truly say that I will remember the impact that these girls made on me.
3. At the beginning of the week when I took my time off I made the conscious decision that I was not going to go up the staff lounge for the week. So during my time off I would sit out the the Lodge lawn and read or journal. It was great just taking in God's beautiful creation.
2. I had a camper in my cabin this week who was adopted from South Korea. If I were going to pick a favorite it would definitely be her. Watching her all week I was constantly reminded to pray for the people in my life who have been adopted. Every time I looked at her I was compelled that one day I will have the opportunity to adopt a child of my own.
1. On Thursday night we always have a large bonfire where kids share things that they have learned about God during their time at camp. After the bonfire I had cabin devotions with my cabin. My girls shared that when at school that people made fun of them and called them names that are not very kind. This tied in perfectly with my plans for that night. I read to them the book, You Are Special by Max Lucado. When I finished reading the story my girls thanked me for sharing the story with them.  This was definitely God moving in my cabin that night.