MY SUMMER OF TRAVEL!!!!
- Posted by under Travel
- Monday June 30th, 2008
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This blog is waaaaaaay over due, and I could throw out a number of excuses why, but it doesn’t really matter! What matters is that you are about to see a TON of pictures that I have been waiting to put on here! Leaving Nigeria to come home for the summer was tough…especially since I left a few days after school finished! I was doing all the end of the year tasks, plus getting the first 5 weeks of school ready since I am going to have a sub during that time. I honestly don’t know how I survived, but I DID!!! I flew home with my friend Rene to North Carolina and I have to say it was the best day of travel I have ever had. We of course were entertaining ourselves pretty well, but it was awesome having our own personal screen to watch TV, movies, and play games with each other. Our flight from London to New York was late so they told us not to pick our bags up because we were going to miss our flight to Raleigh…soooooo we get 1 each and then they lost our others…and I was heading straight to the Outer Banks on vacation! They finally got it after 5 days and sent it to Indiana, which means I wouldnt get it for another 2 weeks, because after Outer Banks I was going to Chicago, then Florida! I stayed the night at Renes for 2 nights and then she and her sister, who is going to be my roomate next year, drove me to the beach to meet my family! We had an amazing time together and it was gorgeous!!!! Then I flew to Chicago to surprise my college roomate at her wedding reception!! From there I headed to Florida with my friend Theresa and enjoyed some more fun in the sun! I finally made it back to Indiana a couple weeks ago and my parents had their annual party at our house with my favorite band Goodnight Gracie, and it was in my top 5 nights ever!!! Tomorrow morning I leave for California for the whole month of July…talk about a whirlwind. Ok, well I just wanted to give a little update and share some good pictures with you of my time at home and some pictures during the last couple weeks in Nigeria!!!! Love to all!!!
Gabi, Jordan, Chelsea, and I were not really sure what to expect going into our first camp. However after a twelve hour van ride through four states and two time zones, a day of relaxation at the camp, and an hour long dance party in the Bethel van, we got our first taste of what to expect, at least I did. While praying for different cabins around the camp, we came to mine, and a veteran counselor at the camp looked at the list of the boys in my cabin and said, “Oh, you’ve got some wild ones in your cabin.” Not a good sign.
My campers met the expectations, which made it a very interesting week. The spiritual atmosphere was incredibly alive, and God was at work all week through worship and prayer, but I spent most of the week drained physically and emotionally trying to reign in my campers, most of whom were only a year younger than me and rather, shall we say, rambunctious.
Fortunately, I had an awesome team who encouraged me so much and the grace of God to fill me with love for my guys. It was as though God was finishing the work he had begun two years ago, the last time that I was a camp counselor. Of course, back then I was counseling for younger children, but they were challenging camps as well, just in a different way. That was the summer when I first began to understand what Christ’s love really meant for my life, but it took until this year before I was able to show it to others. God used this camp so powerfully in my life. I know for sure that he wanted me there, and it was his will that had me in that dorm. No matter how much the camp wore me down and how much it frustrated me at times, it was awesome. I would not have traded it for anything.
Follow that up with another twelve more hours in a van with three awesome people, and I call that a good week.
So you might have guessed that I am no longer in China. I came home the 17th of April. It was amazing to see my family and friends (I cried really hard at the airport). The next week I took time to visit my friends at Bethel. It was a nice and relaxing week that gave me an opportunity to catch up on my rest and try to get over my jet lag. Being back at Bethel made me realize how much I missed all of my friends.
A week later my mom picked me up and I headed home. The first few days at home were really difficult. After spending three months living with 13 girls, it was hard for me to spend my days mostly alone. It was amazing to spend quality time with my family, but it was hard for me to be separated from everything relating to my trip. I wasn’t ready to move on from it. I thought about the trip almost every day, in some small way. I missed my friends and I missed the everyday excitement of discovering new things and new cultures. I felt so alone. The month of May was really hard for me; however, God showed me that he had a purpose for that time. Eventually I stopped moping around and decided to take this time and draw closer to God. This may be the only time this summer that I will actually have time! I started to pray, read my Bible and take time to get to know God, again. I began to feel God’s presence. I began to feel God move in me and change my life. For the first time in forever, I was passionate about something. God was working in my life!
Near the end of May I began to get excited about my summer job and service opportunity. I was going to work at Bethel on Summer Teams. Summer Teams is run through the admissions office. We work in the office and then travel to camps to work as counselors. My team consisted of Greg, Jordan, and Gabi. Out of the three I only knew Jordan, and was slightly nervous about getting to know the other two. However, the moment we got together I knew that we would be great together. We got together at Bethel along with the other two teams, moved into our house, and then began to bond. I love my house and my girls I live with. We all have really clicked well. It has been two weeks, but I feel like I have known these people forever.
This last week we had our first camp. We traveled up to Kansas to spend the week at Timberlakes Camp. It is hard to describe the week. It was challenging, inspiring, emotional, and difficult.
So here are my top ten favorite moments of camp:
1. I loved my girls. I had six Jr. High girls. They were all friends and reminded me a little too much of myself as an eighth grader. They loved to talk and they loved boys. I loved them and they loved me! We had some awesome conversations and some really fun times.
2. Team Time. This was an amazing week for our team. We definitely had some struggles; however, we knew that we could count on one another for encouragement, prayer, a hug, or even something as simple as a laugh. I can say that I truly love my team.
3. Girl Talk. Gabi and I planned every night to lead a devotional for our 12 girls; however, every night God showed us that his plans were greater than ours. Instead of a planned devotional, we let the girls ask us questions. The questions ranged from the topic of boys, friends, Bethel, and even to God. Some questions were tougher to answer and some were silly and fun. However, with each question I could feel God leading Gabi and I to answer the way He wanted us to. It really gave us an opportunity to open up and share our hearts with these girls.
4. Camp Food…it was pretty good…mmm walking tacos and dirt pudding….good stuff.
5. Worship. I love worship and was looking forward to the morning and afternoon sessions. In each session we had between an hour to an hour and a half of worship. It was intense but amazing.
6. Boat Building. Over the course of the week each cabin built a boat. Our boat…was awesome. It started out as a simple box boat, made out of two sheets of cardboard, two roles of duct tape, and two roles of packing tape. It ended up as a lady bug masterpiece. The last day of camp we raced them, we did not win, but we tried hard.
7. Pool time. Our camp had a pool. The weather was awesome (during the day) which meant lots of swimming and tanning!
8. Dance parties in the van. Our team (Team greatness) had lots of fun together. The night before the campers came we had a sing along in the van to some classic boy band songs…good times.
9. Change. By the end of the week I saw some significant changes in the lives of my girls. They were getting along better, focusing better, and were reading their Bibles for fun! I was so impressed and encouraged by them. There was also change for me. I was able to let go of things and move on from relationships that were holding me back and keeping me from God.
10. Laughter. SO much laughter…all week.
Overall it was an amazing week! It was hard but truly amazing. I am excited to see what God has in store for me for the rest of the summer!
Jeremiah 29:11
It’s been an awful long time since I’ve updated this blog. There’s a lot that’s happened that I should let you all know about:
1. Graduation went well and I think it’s finally setting in that I’m not in school anymore. Although, I think the final test will be in the fall when I start work and realize I’ll most likely never be going back to school full time.
2. I got the results from the Oklahoma Interpreter screening test back and they were very good. One more missing piece to the puzzle of what my next adventure will be. So…missing piece #1, otherwise known as “test” is safely in place.
3. I talked to a few of my contacts down in OKC and I have arranged housing for the fall. I’ll be living in an apartment provided by the church I will be attending. I won’t go into crazy detail, but I’m pretty excited about the arrangement and I think it should work out great. It will involve me investing some time in the church and their ministries, but that’s something I’m more than willing to do. Piece #2 otherwise known as “housing” is successfully in place.
4. The third and final piece otherwise known as “employment contract” has also been put in place. As of last week, I have officially signed a contract with the agency I did my internship with. I will officially be moving to Oklahoma City in the middle of August and will be working as a full time community interpreter. The level of fear that currently is residing in me is quite great, but this is also balanced by a huge dose of excitement and an overwhelming knowledge that my God is amazing and has never proved unworthy of my trust 
5. For the summer I’m working 2 jobs, well actually 3. I have a part time job at a little pottery studio that’s basically just for fun and makes a little money Then, I’m interpreting a little bit in the community and as of next week, I’ll be starting a new interpreting job that’s part time and a bit more regular. All of next week will be spent training for the new job so that’s exciting.
6. This weekend I’m off to camp with my family. Should be fun!
Hope this update was helpful for those of you who still keep up with this blog. Many apologies if you’ve been confused, I’ve been kind of hard to keep up with the last few months
