Update

Hello everyone! I am once again counseling for the week, though this time not in BayBerry! I was moved to Balsam for this week and have a cabin full of 11-14 year olds. My current state is "perplexed but not despairing" (2 Cor. 4:8). :) I have a wide range of types of campers that I'm not quite sure what to do with. I have absolute innocence in 11 yo form and the exact opposite in 14 yo form. I have very solid Christians and non-Christians. As far as what to do for devos I'm a tad bit perplexed, but I'm resting in the fact (and constantly reminding myself) that all I can do is my best. I'm also perplexed about protecting my younger campers from the older ones simply because of what they talk about and the lives they lead - there have already been some things that they've been exposed to that I wasn't able to stop. Prayer requests would be for alot of wisdom, not stressing and for protection of innocence. In His grip, Courtney Lynn Malachi 1:2a

Blessing in Disguise

Hello everyone - I wanted to drop a quick line before lunch in ten minutes to update you on my fingers. I have nine blisters in random but inconvenient locations all over my hands (ex: I can't put my hair in a pony tail.... lol I had to have Rachel do my hair this morning), but the random bursts of pain have ceased so I'm good (as long as I don't burst a blister... lol). Burning my hands was a major blessing! Because my hands were burnt I was excused from the night and had an hour and a half to spend time alone with God out at the lake and relax. Both were things I DESPERATELY needed. I have been non-stop (even on the weekend) for the last two weeks and I was just so grateful for the burns to give me the break I wanted and needed so badly. I had a great time in Malachi! :) So if you are lifting me up in prayer this week, please join me in praising God for burnt hands! And remember to praise God for the disguised blessings in YOUR life. In Malachi 1:2 God reminds Israel that He loves them and in their stupidity they ask "How have you loved us?". O How many times we neglect to see the ways He loves us. God loves me - my blisters are joyous proof! :)

Prayer Needed

This is being hen pecked with my two good fingers.... yep, hurt again. :) An hour and a half ago i hot glued my fingers (pictures to come eventually) and burned at least five of them. they hurt really bad so prayer that they heal properly and that i have a decent attitude aboutmit. i laughed for the first 15 minutes cause i lloked pretty funny with fleece glued all over my thumb and my fingers were covered in glue. when we pulled the fleece off though it left a very painful burn and blister and now with time all the burns have started to hurt. so.... prayers requested for my general state of being since i've been up and down. at least this injury is comical, though it hurts so bad. thinking back to my initial reaction ansd that of my coworkers brings a smile to my face despite all the pain. love, courtney

"Our God is a Great Big God!"

By the grace of God I am made it through the week not only without getting sick but also with enough energy to pour into my g i r l s. By the grace of God 7 of my 8 campers either rededicated or gave their lives to the Lord. By the grace of God I had an absolutely amazing week that will probably be the best of the summer!

I've been trying for the last 30 minutes to post the other pictures from this week but it's not working and now I'm out of time :(. The week was amazing and God blessed me with so many opportunities to talk to the g i r l s about serious stuff through casual and fun conversation. I had a blast hanging out with them and spending so much time with them. I really wish though that I could get the other great pictures up here!



"M" and I hanging over the side of the bridge while waiting to see who's stick would come out first. This was while we were playing the "Pooh sticks" from one of the Winnie the Pooh episodes. Right after this we played "pass the sea weed with your toes", "laugh until your sides hurt" and "compare messy hairdos". :) The bridge before this one we spent an hour and a half sitting and talking about prayer, why we have denominations and what God thinks of them, purity and relationships. It was an AMAZING God brought opportunity and the s were so open and were asking so many questions.
Our volleyball against Chestnut cabin. I didn't let my s down thankfully - they were proud that I won an entire on serves :) haha.
Unfortunately we didn't win the match (best of 3), so we had to eat without hands. And we did it to - no hands for drinks, spills, dropped items, throwing away garbage or taking glasses on or off. We had a blast but we were a mess :).
The shirt signing party that lasted all of freetime. It was another God given opportunity and we spent a long time discussing the impact of music on our lives and why God in Phil. 4:8 commands us to fill our minds with right, pure, noble, excellent things.
Cabin Cleanup is a big competition here everymorning and we went all out. This is us standing next to our Tower of Bable display :).
Our hard work paid off and our reward for winning cabin cleanup everyday was an end of the week ice cream party!!!
Back in 2004 there were about 35 s blessed to be part of the first year of camp's Seeds program - a special discipleship program for middle school s. This picture is symbolic of us Seeds becoming blossoms. Of this original group of s, 9 (7 pictured) of us were back at camp serving and leading others. Five of us are SSTers, 3 were back as volunteer counselors and 1 of them is finishing LDC (our counselor training program). It was really neat to see how so many of us have come back to pour into other s the way our SEEDS leaders poured into us.

Well I wish I could say more cause it was such a God week and I wish I could show pictures but I have to go. I hope you all are having a great week.

Prayer Requests:
- Health
- Energy
- Wisdom in how to spend my time this week
- Time to really spend on my relationship with God and grow closer.

Love to all!

Still Going!

Hello again everyone :). An update two days in a row? I know - crazy isn't it?

Yesterday I had the privilege of going with five of my campers as a leader on the Adventure Experience canoe trip. Adventure Experience is a new program to give the kids at camp a new activity option and is a way to promote our various Adventure Trips. At registration the parents sign up their child to leave camp property for an afternoon to canoe down Pine river (an oxbow [a large loop that starts and ends very near each other] about 20-30 minutes from here). I had an absolute blast, even though we were 45 minutes late getting back to camp (because of low water and some steering challenged campers). We had to get out and pull the canoes over rock beds about 6 or 7 times because the water was so low, but my two g i r l s didn't have any problem with that and neither did I because it made for the best parts of the trip :). That's when the most splashing, laughing and lost flip flop diving happened :).

I'm still going and fairly healthy (considering). I'm grateful for that and know that it's only by God's grace if I make it through the next week and a half without really getting sick (allergies don't really count...).

Prayer Request Addition:
- That I'd be able to sleep through the night. I only have about seven hours max. to sleep most nights, but don't usually get to take advantage of all of it because I loose so much time waiting to fall asleep and then I wake up at least four times. If I could sleep straight through I'd feel so much more rested when I got up in the morning. So prayers that I would be blessed with that sleep, or if not, that God would give me a good attitude about it and the strength and energy that I don't have.

Weary + Waiting = Renewed.

"He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increase power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who weait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40: 29-31

This week it is my privileged to one again be counseling in BayBerry cabin. I have three campers from previous years, five other fun g i r l s to get to know and 1 LDCer (L eadership D evelopment Camp) to set an example for. God blessed me with an excited heart going into the week and I'm still excited to see what God is going to do in and through me and the g i r l s.

I have a MAJOR prayer request though. I am absolutely exhausted. I don't remember a time that I was ever as exhausted as I am now. Sunday I almost feel asleep at lunch and last night in Chapel it required all my strength to clap. For those of you who were following my adventure last summer, you may remember that I contracted walking pnemonia. This is the week last summer that I became sick (this week's nurse also happens to be the one who helped me through it all to...) which led to my five day fever the following week. Needless to say I am very concerned about my health because I feel like I'm getting sick and I'm thourghly exhausted. On the flipside, God is truely blessing me with strength in His many varied ways. I know that if I put Him first and then my campers as I priority along with doing my best to take care of myself, the rest is in His hands.

So my prayer requests would be:
- That God would put a protective hand over my physical health and strengthen my body and immune system.
- That while exhausted I would continue to find joy in the Lord, that I would refrain from sinful behavior (I'm crabbier, irratable, more critical and emotional when I'm tired).
- That I would be content in whatever happens.
- That I would not be leaning on my own strength or knowledge this week, but that I'd give it all up to Him.

Last night God sent to me two of the fellow staff to encourage me right before devos. God knew I was crumbling and I sat there praying for strength and energy and for wisdom in leading devos. He sent me two people who prayed for me and encouraged me and by God's strength only I walked back to my cabin excited for devos without a hint of exhaustion to pull me down. I felt not only perfectly normal, but energized. My heart was singing for God truely does give strength to the weary and help to those who come to Him in faithful service.

Other prayer requests:
- That I would set a good role for my LDCer
- That the g i r l s' hearts would be open to the Lord. I feel as though God's going to do some big things this week in BayBerry so pray that we would all be preparing our hearts for change.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and for taking the time to read this. If you're also struggling with a lack of strength I encourage you, admonish you to wait on the Lord. "Come to me" he says - take His yoke for it is easy and light (Matt 11:28).

And to those of you who plan to email me and remind me that I can't serve without good health and that needs to be a priority, let me assure you that sleep is a definite priority and I am taking every opportunity to do so. :) I'm doing my best, and God'll have to do the rest!

Sparse on updates but not on stuff to do!

There are always things to do at camp. Junior 1 wrapped up last week on Thursday afternoon, and a mere few hours later the Mid-Summer Family Campers rolled in. We had them here until Sunday and now this morning beings Junior 2.

I have become very run down and drained and am now sick as well so I'm not doing to well. I'm thankful I'm not counseling, yet I'm a tad nervous about taking on the new-to-me responsibility of craft shop supervisor.

Sorry this update is short but I have thirty minutes to be ready to go before orientation starts and the rest of the day goes haywire :). (Opening day is always a bit crazy). Hope you're all having a great summer and a great fourth of July!

Camp Life

Lost teeth, holding hands, doing hair, bloody knees, little spats, sweet smiles, energetic hugs, illustrative devos, singing songs, lots of laughs, amusing questions, amazing stories.... the telltale signs of Junior camp! :) And don't forget: - Swimming in the freezing weather - Explaining to campers that 10 sprays of bug spray is more than enough - Making a schedule so everyone has a slot to canoe with you at freetime - Telling a camper they need to move and being told that "this is a free country" (lol) - Organizing who sits next to me at meals, devos and in Chapel And so many more funny stories about how amazing junior campers are. They make me laugh - I love them :). Jesus told us to have faith like a child, but not to act like children. Their innocence, their faith and their trust are such an example to me while at the same time some of their actions are also a great reminder and challenge to act mature and in a godly manner. So long for now! I'm off to attend a staff meeting, settle a dispute about the tooth fairy, bring restitution to two camp buddies, do seven girls hair, plan a devo, read my Bible, attempt not to get dumped in the lake while canoeing and many more adventures endowed upon me as a Junior camp counselor. Love to all - have a great rest of the week :)