Back at School and First Day of Classes

Well, I am back at school and have started classes. I moved my stuff in on Saturday and have been trying to get completely settled in since then. I started classes today and am excited about the ones I'm taking. I think they are going to be very interesting. I am taking Anatomy & Physiology I (including a lab), Sociology, Public Speaking, Essentials of Managing Info (a computer class), and a Supplimental Instruction Lab to go with Anatomy & Physiology. I am only taking 13 hours, but I think I will stay busy working and studying. Anatomy & Physiology is supposedly one of the hardest classes at the university so I will have to work very hard to do well in that class. I'm really excited about taking the Nursing classes because hopefully after this semester I will be able to apply to the School of Nursing. I am trying to get accepted so I can be in by Fall 2009. After that I will only have two years left of college.

I am excited to be back, but wish that I could have spent more time at home. It seems like I never get to see my family and church friends anymore. Also it would have been nice to have a little more time to relax. The week in between when I got home from camp and I came back to school was absolutely crazy. I came home from camp and almost immediately got sick with the stomach flu, which I then passed on to my Mom. In addition to all of this, my brother, sister-in-law, and their little daughter were living at our house for a few days before they moved to Seattle. This was a whole lot of fun, but was also somewhat caotic. I also celebrated my 21st birthday. In the midst of all this, I had to pack and organize my stuff for school, which was not exactly an easy task with all the distractions around. All of this is to say that the last week and a half has been extremely busy.

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. It seems like I was just taking finals for last semester's classes and that I just arrived at camp for staff training. I definitely agree that the older you get and the more fun you are having the faster time goes. I look forward to see what God is going to do in and through me this year. I will try and keep you updated more often.

Support Staff at Camp

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated this. I have been very busy with camp! This summer has been a lot different than last summer in a lot of different ways, but I think the biggest way is the fact that I have been on support staff for two weeks now. Basically when your on support staff, you don't have a group of kids and you float around helping out with whatever needs to be done. The first week, I spent the majority of the week in the office filing papers, entering paperwork into the computer, sorting through mail, answering phone calls, and just helping out around the office. This past week I have also been in the office a lot, but I have also gotten to do a few other things like help set up for the all camp game on Monday and help set up for the special 4th of July things we are doing today. I have very mixed feelings when it comes to being on support staff. It definitely has it's advantages and disadvantages to it. The advantages are that it is much more laid back and relaxing than having a group of kids and you sometimes get a little more free time. One of the best advantages is being able to get to know the people in the office. I have very much enjoyed that aspect of it. There are also disadvantages though. I have to admit that even though working in the office in not so bad, it is incredibly boring and tiring. Filing papers and sitting at a computer is not the most exciting thing in the world by any means. IIn general, I think being on support staff has been really good for me. Not only has it made me more thankful for the higher ups seeing how much work they do, it has also given me a chance to recover from the horrible session 3 I had. I am now pumped, very excited, and ready to move back into the cabins for next week.

CAMP!!!!

I have now been at camp for almost a week. Things are going really well and as usual I am having a blast. This past week we have been doing work projects around camp and have been going to many different training sessions. Earlier this week I spent most of my time doing work projects. Yesterday I spent all day getting trained in First Aid, CPR, and AED use. I enjoyed this a lot even though it seemed like it took forever. Today I found out that I was going to be in the Raptors Unit which is kids ages 9-11 in it. I am really excited about this because this was the unit I was in last year and I love that age group. We also had a day off today.

I am having a lot of fun meeting and getting to know so many knew people. There are a whole lot of international staff this year, which always makes things fun. It is so interesting to watch and listen in order to observe their different cultures. God has been really good to me this summer already. I have met two girls who are strong Christians and we have started building relationships with each other. This is such a big deal because last year, even though I loved it here at camp, I was kind of isolated by myself. I am really excited to continue to get to know these girls and build relationships with them.

I have already begun to see God working in my life this summer. Every night at camp we do a thing called Evening Embers which is basically a recap of the day and a way to get to know everyone in the cabin you are in. Well, several days ago, my cabin was having Evening Embers and we ended up getting in a deep discussion about religion. Three of my cabin mates talked about how they were atheist and didn't believe in the Bible and were asking a lot of questions about Christianity. After hearing what they had to say, my heart broke into pieces. It was so sad to realize that they were completely lost and had no hope. I think I have known this for a long time when it comes to the people I work with, but it really hit me the other night. I believe that God spoke through me that night. He helped me to answer their questions and really care about what they had to say. This definitely reminded me that I am not just here to have fun and get paid, but I am here to be a witness to the many lost people around me that I am working with. It is so exciting to see God working in my life and working through me to reach out to the people around me. I have truly been humbled by this experience. Please pray with and for me that God would continue to use me in mighty ways this summer.

In general, I am doing really well and am really excited about this summer. A lot of the things that I was really worried about have been solved. I think we have a great staff this year and can't wait till the kids get here in just a little over a week. I will try and continue to update you on how things are going.

Finished with Sophomore Year and Home from School

Well, after a very long semester, I am finally home. I will be home for a week and then will leave next Sunday to go to YMCA Camp Lakewood. I am really excited to be done with school and going to camp. I am really looking forward to this summer. This past semester has been somewhat difficult, but in general has gone really well. The last several weeks of the semester were extremely busy and intense. I am really liking my nursing classes and am so glad I changed majors. I think it was a good change. This week I don't have much going on other than doing laundry and getting stuff ready for camp. I am so excited.

I think this summer is going to be a lot different because we lost a lot of staff from last year and have a new Director. It will still be a whole lot of fun though. I am hoping to work with the 9-11 year olds again this summer, but I don't know yet. One exciting thing is that this summer I am in charge of the Outdoor Living Skills Clinic. This means that I will spend a lot of time starting fires and teaching kids how to safely start fires. This will be a whole lot of fun. I will try and give you updates on how things are going as often as possible throughout the summer.

Life's Trials

Sometimes it is so hard to understand God's plan for life. The last several days have been pretty hard for me. On Wednesday night I found out that a three year old boy at my church back home was diagnosed with cancer (probably Wilm's Tumor). Then on Thursday night I found out that one of the little babies that I have taken care of on Tuesday night at a local church died of complications from Spina Bifida. It was so shocking and sad to hear of these two events. It is so hard to think that two weeks ago I saw the little boy running around and playing, just being a normal three year old, and now he is so sick with cancer. It was just four or five weeks ago that I held this little baby girl in my arms, trying to comfort her and now she is gone. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. It is times like these that remind me of what is really important in life and how short it is. I am reminded that really the only thing that matters in this life is whether or not you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I know that I do and so I don't have to worry about where I am going to go after I die. I know for sure that I will go to heaven, but what about all the people in this world that don't have that assurance. It also reminds me that as a Christian I need to do all I can to reach out to the people around me because nobody know when they are going to die. We can't just have fun and make the decision to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ after we have done what we want to do. We need to do it now because we may not be alive much longer. I'm not trying to be negative, but that is the honest truth. It is during difficult times like these that I turn to Christ and his word for comfort. One of the passages that comes to mind is:

Psalm 46 (NIV)
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart
of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river who streams make
glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High
dwells.
God is within her; she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see the works of the Lord,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he break the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

It is so important, yet so hard to just be still and know that God is God and that he does have a plan in circumstances like this. Yet this is exactly what God had called us to do, even when His plan does not make sense. I hope that these two stories remind continue to remind us all as Christians of how important it is to share Christ's abounding love with the people around us every day. Please join me in praying for these two families as they go through this very difficult time. (If you are reading this and are not sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and/or you have questions about any of this, please comment and I would be glad to help you with your questions!)

Easter Weekend

This past weekend I went home to spend Easter with my family. It was such a wonderful weekend. I got home late Friday night after riding the train. On Saturday I helped my parents get ready for my mom's cousin, her husband, and their two kids to come in from New Jersey. In addition, I got to do a little bit of shopping that I didn't get the chance to do over Spring Break. The company arrived around 4:30 on Saturday. Then on Saturday night, the kids (who are 12 year old twins) and I had a blast dying Easter eggs.

On Sunday, we all went to church. I enjoyed the service so much. It was so encouraging and I learned a lot from the sermon. I was once again reminded of the amazing thing Jesus Christ did for me, which was die on the cross for my sins and then rise again on the third day so that I could be saved. That afternoon my siblings and their spouses were over at my house to celebrate Easter and spend time together. We had several Easter egg hunts (which we never do because my siblings never want to do them) and I got to see my niece, Lilli. This was especially fun since I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I very much enjoyed getting to see everybody. On Sunday night, I went to see a movie with the kids, which was a lot of fun as well. I very much enjoyed getting to hang out with them by myself.

I was a bad girl and decided to skip class on Monday for several reasons. Mainly because I wanted to spend more time with the relatives from New Jersey and I didn't feel like spending five hours on the train on Easter. On Monday, we all went to the arch and Union Station. We went up in the arch and saw the video of how it was made. Then that afternoon, I took the kids to the park and we played and ran around. On Monday night, we all went out to dinner. Monday was such a fun day as well. I had a lot of fun at the Arch, Union Station, and the park.

On Tuesday, we went to Florissant so that the kids could meet their pen pals and then they left town. I returned to school on Tuesday evening. This weekend was so much fun. The last time I saw these relatives from New Jersey was six or seven years ago, so it was absolutely wonderful to see them, especially the kids. What a wonderful weekend.

Group Projects

As many of you know, group projects are an integral part of a college education, but I definitely not a fan of them. I understand that they are a useful teaching strategy and that people need to learn how to work together, but they are so difficult. I would much rather just do the project myself and get it done with instead of trying to set up times to meet with people, and deal with people who don't do their part. Right now I have at least five group projects assigned. Two are due this coming week and the others are due sometime in April. The first one that is due this week is for health class. My group has some kind of irresponsible boys in it who are supposed to put the majority of the power point together and then the whole group with get together to put the finishing touches on it. I just know I am going to get to class tomorrow and find out that nothing has been done on it and that we will have like 72 hours to do all the research and put the presentation together. The second project is to write a group paper for my Nursing class. It is just a weird assignment. Why in the world is a group of people trying to write ONE paper? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I can understand a power point, poster, or some other type of thing a group can work on together, but a PAPER? My group for this project is having an even harder time. We were all supposed to read an article and then answer a set o questions about the articles. Then one girl volunteered to write the paper putting together all of the peoples answers. Then the group would get together to put the finishing touches on it. Well, she has only received answers from half the group and one girl just gives excuses for why she hasn't turned anything in. I really don't like group projects. They are such a hassle.