Week Two!

Well week two has officially come to a close! What a fun week it has been. YDC was here again for this week, and we had some pretty early mornings! Getting up at 4:45am to be into the kitchen by 6:00am, isn't exactly the most fun, but it was a great week. Also, our "Training Camp" is officially over too, and I am so excited to begin in on the normal summer routine. This coming week is Family Camp One, so its still a little different because the counselors do not have campers yet, but Family Camp is also very nice ( especially because we don't have to be into the kitchen until 7:00am! ) Well, pictures seem to tell the stories of the week better than I can, so here they are:

Nicole and I at the Mr. Scott's home.

I was boiling two pots of noodles at the same time.

Sara, cutting onions, wearing goggles.

Some of the staff at a Leadership Session on the softball field.

Laura stole Josh's name tag.

Abby and her melted butter ;-)!

I wrote it in sprinkles!

Mr. Cortez dropped a noodle in the shape of a treble clef!

Abby baking.

:D! Its a lot!!

We worked on it together. What's gonna work? Team work!

Nicole and I...yes...I'm sitting on the mixer.

I had to dumb three pans of rice that were totally stuck, so I had to use my hands. Got it stuck all over!

Playing volleyball!

We all got tied together.

Abby's window :-)!

Abby and I baking biscuits.

Bethany, Charity, and I. Charity and I were sitting on the mixer.

Sara tied me to the tilt skillet.

Sara and Laura had to make play dough food for Fun Time!

Matching shirts :-)!

Fun Time! Phobias skit!

Mr. Ream fell out of the airplane!

Caleb and Nathan.

Sara and the giant pan.

Nikki and the giant pan.

We went out for Ice Cream on Saturday! Drea drove us all, but pictured here is: Laura, Grace, Nikki, Melody, Dori, and Joanna!

Staff Picture! Though were missing a few staff members :-)!

Week One!

Well, we have made it through the first week of camp. This has to been one of the craziest weeks, even crazier than any of the weeks I remember from last summer. Our head cook and supervisor, Miss Rachel, had to leave us for a family emergency. We are unsure of when she will be back, and one of the assistant cooks, Miss Jenna, had to step up and fill in her roll. It has been quite the adjustment not having her here, but the Lord is blessing us thus far! This past week we have had Youth Development Camp ( YDC ) here. They have summer pretty early mornings, and one morning I got up at 4:45am! They will be continuing their camp through this next week, so please pray for strength for all of us, as many of us are tired. Some interesting things have gone on this week as well! Like I got locked into the cooler one day, Alayna found me though, and let me out ;-)! Also, one morning the girls and I in the kitchen were talking about how we should start praying for chocolate milk to come on the donation truck, because we really wanted some. Well that very day, the Lord provided 20! Yes! 20 crates of chocolate milk! It was so exciting! It was so neat to see the Lord provide, even things as silly as chocolate milk :-)! Today ( Saturday ) I took the CPR course, and I'm now CPR certified. Three girls in the kitchen were picked to take part in the class. It was quite a fun class! Well, how about some pictures? :-)

Mary the red-eared slider at Natureland!

Me, holding the turtles!

I love turtles!

Basking :-)! Actually, I put her there ;-)!

Laura, holding Rhoda, the snake!

Miss Jenna tired Nicole and I together, then Alayna tied us to the mixer!

Beautiful Whitewater Lake!

Trees outside our room.

Josh and the giant pan.

The deer, wearing a vale.

Abby and her cookie dough ;-)

The chocolate milk we prayed for!

Sara, Alayna, Nicole, and I!

We went to Goodwill for some shopping!

I found a frog!

Oscar the Onion ( Alayna made him )

I made this! It was sooo interesting! But they loved it!

Had to smash it up with my hands, it was the easiest way.

I warmed those over the stove. I did that for an hour and a half.

The lake!

This is where I'm staying all summer! Same room and bed as last!

I had to keep going in the freezer, it was sooo cold!

Nicole holding a giant bag of cheese curds!

Chalk Talk with Mr. Todd!

Alayna and my CPR dummy.

Joanna giving the dummy mouth-to-mouth.

Alayna giving the dummy mouth-to-mouth.

Me, doing chest compressions.

I got to use the AED! The training one anyway ;-)

Nathan and Joanna using the AED and doing compressions.

I had to pull the head off of the dummy!

Me, giving mouth-to-mouth to the baby dummy.

Well, I'm here!

I arrived here on May 22nd, 2013, and I'm already having a blessed and wonderful time! Honestly, it feels as though no time has gone by since last summer, and it is so great to be able to catch up with some of my good friends I met last summer. Its also been awesome making new friends. All the girls in the kitchen are very sweet, and  I know the Lord is going to bless this summer. The preaching these past few days has been wonderful! Of course, we even have had some time to just cut loose and have some fun, like in speed volleyball. Our first group of campers will be coming in tonight, so we already will be privileged to be serving others. Tonight we have men and their sons coming in for the "Father and Son Retreat" for this weekend. Coming in on Monday, we will have wilderness campers from Falls Baptist Church ( or at least I think ;-) and we'll also be training fourteen young ladies on how to cook! Coming in on Wednesday is YDC ( Youth Development Camp ) which is a private retreat hosted, again, by Falls Baptist Church. Please pray for these upcoming retreats, that spiritual  decisions would be made. Also, please pray for the staff this upcoming week. We get up pretty early to be in the kitchen for YDC camp, so please pray for our strength. Ok! Now for some pictures!

Mrs. Rachel drew this!

Mr. Stephen released a lantern ( kind of like Tangled! ) but it got caught in the tree. It did not burn though!

Speed volleyball on Wednesday evening!

Great to see some old friends, like Nicole, from last summer :-)!

And great to meet some new friends, like Abby! :-)

Just a week away!

Yes, it is true! I will be leaving for Camp Joy in just a week! I am so excited for this summer! I know it will be an awesome summer to serve the Lord. Please be in prayer for me this summer, as it will be a tiring one. But, please also be in prayer for the campers that will be coming in this summer. Though it is a time of relaxation for them, many come with spiritual needs. Please be in prayer that the Lord would work in their lives as they listen to the wonderful preaching. Please, also, pray for the rest of the staff. We are a team, and if we were missing just one person, the ministry would not be as effective. Pray that we all keep our minds focused on the Lord. It is so easy to make situations about ourselves, but that is not the reason we minister at Camp Joy. We minister to glorify God, and to point the campers to Christ! Thank you for taking interest in my summer ministry. I hope you will come back often to check out pictures and updates!

Please Note!
Some websites are not allowed at Camp Joy. I do not know if I will have access to my blog or not. I am fairly certain I should have access to it. In the case that I do not, I will not be posting weekly updates or pictures. I large portion of them will be posted at the end of the summer, recapping each week. Thank you for understanding!

22 More Days and It Will Be Here!

It is finally May! Meaning, just twenty-two more days until Training Camp starts! Things seem to be winding down a bit, and I am so excited to be on my way to Camp Joy in just three more weeks. So what will I be up to these next few weeks? Preparing myself! I have quite a list of things I will need to purchase for this summer. I will begin packing sooner then I know it, to be sure everything is ready to go. The rooms we will be staying in are small, so I need to be sure that I pack lightly enough so that all five girls in our room will have plenty of space, but also I have to pack enough clothing and other items to last me till August 3rd. Most importantly, I need to be preparing myself spiritually. I do not know who the campers will be that the Lord directs my way this summer, even me, on Kitchen Staff, will have the opportunity to speak and be around campers this summer. The more spiritually I am prepared, then the bigger of a blessing I will be to the campers. I do not know how the Lord will use me in the lives of the campers this summer, but I do know He will use me to honor and glorify Him!

This is where I will be staying this summer.