Camp Harlow - 8 - Tween Camp 2 - My last week at Harlow

I can't believe it is over! 

It seemed like it was yesterday that we were going through training!

This last week of camp was one of the best. I met some amazing campers and saw another big number of kids come to make the commitment to follow Christ. 

Riley and I really decided to let go and just go crazy with worship, and it paid off. 

The first night we did an up beat set of "Life is Good, Eternal Life is Better" and "Undignified". It was crazy to see almost all of the kids dancing around praising God. We are used to half, if even half, participating with us during our worship times, so it was super encouraging to see. 

All in all it was a great week. We had crazy water wars with big slip n' slides, fun night games (that can be dangerous at times... I ended up being punched in the face by accident), and amazing times of fellowship with the campers. As I said before, it was one of my favorite weeks. 

I kept telling all my devo girls throughout the week that it was my last Monday or my last Worship set/Camp Pastor. They weren't too happy with me. They kept telling me that they were going to kidnap me and make me stay. :) I have to say, I was blessed to have such a lovely group of girls in my devo group. It has been really fun to watch them grow over the summer and seeing God's light shining through them. There were a few that had heartbreaking stories who have come to lean on Christ for strength, and who have persevered because of it. I learned so much from all of them. I actually think that I learned more from them than they did from me! God blessed me so much by bringing them into my life.

My whole time out at Harlow was such a blessing to me. God has gifted me with many new friendships with those on the Impact team and the counseling staff. All the people that work out at Harlow are wonderful, and I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with them all. 

Moving out of the mod was a bittersweet experience. I was excited to be getting a week to ready myself for school, but I was sad that I was going to have to leave my wonderful friends and the ministry that is Harlow. I am going to miss them all terribly!

God has shown me many things while I have been out at Harlow. The one thing that sticks out above all else is how He loves us and takes care of us. I have seen so many things happen before my eyes that has shown me how great God is. There is no struggle or problem that God can't handle. God is bigger than it all, and He is willing to carry us when we feel we can't carry on. It is crazy to think how much I have grown over the past three months. God has really worked in my life and has made me into a stronger Christian. 

God works in big ways, and Harlow is a great example of that. 

I really hope that God blesses me with more years at Harlow, but we can never really know what God has planned. 

Now I'm off to Corban U. again tomorrow. It is so weird to think that I am going into my sophomore year already! It's going to be great. 

God is SO good. :)

Camp Harlow - 7 - Day Camp 2

Day Camps, although very fun, are quite exhausting.

You would think that, with the campers leaving at 5:00, we would have the opportunity to go to bed early. However, the counselors stay the night, meaning that we have planned activities and cabin checks at night. I do love the time with counselors (we tend to have lots of fun), but everything tends to go later than expected which causes us to go to bed late and have a rude awakening at our usual Day Camp wake up time of 6:00.

I love the kids that come to camp. 

They can be little angels, most of the time,

pulling out Oooh's and Aaaww's from all the girls (and even some of the guys).

One thing people don't realize is how smart the campers are.

On Fridays, the program and worship teams run Bible trivia games for morning rotations, and it is insane how much kids actually know. From questions about Jesus' miracles, to the history found in the Old Testament, the kids knew the answers to almost every single question we asked them.

We were very surprised to say the least. 

Day Camp was fairly uneventful... So I will share a really cool story that is a testament of how insanely awesome God is... :) 

We as an IMPACT team have been (and still are) praying for a girl named Ashlie, in her 20s, who suffered a stroke and ended up having a blood clot in her brain. Her best friend, Amy Coumas, was the worship leader for the past three years before Riley and I. She had been keeping us up to date on Ashlie as her condition began to worsen. Over the span of a couple weeks Ashlie's condition went from bad to worse, 

and she began not to respond. We went into overdrive of prayer for her. 

We prayed for a miracle, not knowing what crazy thing God had planned to do. 

A week ago this last Sunday, we found out that Ashlie had died.

Many were confused, wondering why God took her home. 

Hours later, we began an IMPACT meeting, getting ready for the week to come, when all of

a sudden Amy burst through the door and collapsed on the floor saying "SHE'S ALIVE!!! SHE'S ALIVE!!!" All of us were dumb struck, not quite knowing what to do. It was almost like we had heard wrong the first time, but no, 

Ashlie was alive. 

Three hours after Ashlie had been pronounced dead, her mother began signing away her organs. During this process, the doctor came running into 

her telling her she needed to see her daughter. 

After being dead for three hours, 

Ashlie came back to life. 

 

All of our prayers were answered. A miracle happened, and a lovely young girl was given another chance to live by our great God. 

As of now, only a week later, Ashlie is back and better than ever. She can talk and move, which is so much more than they have seen in the past month. 

God is incredible. :)

Camp Harlow - 6 - High School Camp

It was over a year ago when I was finishing out high school. 

All I can say, I am very thankful that I never have to go back!
It's so nice not to have to deal with all of the immaturity. Don't get me wrong, most of the campers were delightful, but it was interesting dealing with some slight profanity among them, along with LOTS of purple. For those who don't know, purple is when girls (pink) and guys (blue) get too close (much too close), and the result is purple. The funny thing is a lot of the relationships that were creating purple sprouted the first day of camp, like they met and then got together within hours. It was crazy.

Something that really opened my eyes was the fact that among the 280 campers we had, there was so much pain. If there was ever a time for us to love on the campers and show God's love, it was this week. Behind the smiles and laughter, there were children in pain. It was a blessing from God to be able to share the love, grace, and mercy of God to these campers. Although there were some who seemed unwilling to listen, there were many who soaked it in, and it changed their life. 

Riley and I were given the opportunity to lead morning devotionals for the high schoolers. Despite having to wake up an hour before everyone else, it was a real blessing to lead. The worship time, along with reading the word and prayer, made for great times of praise to God. The theme of the week for our devos seemed to be leaning on God in times of trial. I hadn't planned on doing devotions on that, but God really put it on my heart the night before day 1 to switch my plan.  God really knew what he was doing, because I heard from most counselors that their campers really needed to hear what we had to say. It was such a blessing to hear that, because I wasn't sure how they would respond. By the end of the week, I was getting such great feedback, It was incredible. God is so great and he knows exactly what His children need to be filled up.

By the end of the week, we as a staff were so encouraged by the new believers and re-commitments that sprouted up. Many of the new Christians, and even some of the re-commitments were some who seemed unwilling to open up at the beginning of the week. In the end, there were 10 new commitments, and many (probably around 60) re-commitments. Among those, we saw 18 campers, along with a few counselors, baptized. It was such a blessing to be a part of that great experience. 

This week made me lean on God more, as I was stretched in different ways than I have ever experienced. I witnessed God work in mysterious ways. All things I experienced this week made me realize all the more how great God is. 

He sure does take care of His children.

Impact Team Beach Trip!

Yesterday, some of us on the Impact team decided to go to Florence 

for some much needed R & R. :)

When we left Eugene, it was rainy and gross, and it didn't change much when we got to Florence. So, we decided to get ourselves some yummy Mo's clam chowder. It was quite delicious. Once full, we walked around a bit and got ourselves some yummy coffee from a local coffee shop. As we walked back towards our cars, I began to notice the rain stopping and the sun shining through some of the clouds. We all got excited as we made it to the beach, seeing that the rain stopped completely and it was getting warm. The water was very warm (I was sad I didn't bring a swim suit!) and the sand was even warmer. It made for a lovely day at the beach...

Me and a lovely friend named Alli (Espresso). She is a wonderful, godly woman. I am so glad that I am getting to work with her this summer! 

Me and my boy. :) 

One second after I snapped this picture his camp name signature was demolished by the water. Ha. 

Me with my camp name! For those who don't know what a staccato is, it is a short note in music. I am short, and I am a worship leader, so I thought it fit nicely. :)

"See, it looks like a pirate walked here!" - Riley

He is such a goof. :)

I love these girls! I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to get to work with them and know them better. They are absolutely beautiful. 

I absolutely love everyone that I am working with this summer. We are like a little family. I will miss them all terribly when summer ends.

God is so great.
It is incredible how He has blessed me this year.
I feel His love more and more all the time.

Camp Harlow - 5 - Day Camp 1

Exhausted as ever, this last week was great. 

The ages of our campers this week ranged from 5 - 10 yrs old. Most of them were little angels, with some being the cutest little kids I have seen in a while. With only some of the kids acting out, we had fairly well behaved children. The camp itself was really successful.  

The great thing about this camp was that the kiddos came at 7:45 and left at 5:00. It gave the counselors a chance to recuperate before the next day, and to simply let off some steam. They were each worn out by their ever energetic campers, so having some pure hang out time was very refreshing for them. Plus, it gave us (impact members) a chance to do something for the counselors such as movie nights, night swims, and the weekly campfire, but the staff version. It is what made this week truly fun.

As far as worship goes, Riley and I had an easy job this week. Basically we sang every child worship song/camp song we knew, and the children loved it! We struggled with some of the counselors not wanting to participate, which caused their kids to not want to participate. It was super frustrating, but we had a talk with the counselors and were able to get through to most of them. There were still some that felt to cool to participate, but there was nothing we could do. It was quite annoying. 

The only thing we had to do for worship that required any planning was to do four songs for the campfire which was more fun than anything. It was so refreshing because we were able to do the songs we all love to sing. The past four weeks we have been doing the same camp songs that all of the kids love, so having the staff campfire was really refreshing to us. 

Overall, this past week was really fun. However, I am more than happy to say that I am getting this next week off so that I can rest and get ready for my bestie's (Becca) upcoming Saturday nuptials. It's going to be a fun week! :) 

Camp Harlow - 4 - Elementary Overnight Camp 1

Oh boy. That's all I have to say about this last week.
It is said that Elementary Overnight Camp is like Day Camp on crack. 

I now know how true that statement really is.

To have 1st graders - 5th graders at camp, staying overnight, is a challenge, especially for those who are counseling. There was an unlimited supply of homesickness and bed/pants wetting. Yet, it was a really good week. A lot of the time the kiddos were really great, even though there were some mishaps. Being a worship leader, it was really hard to stay energized singing the same simple songs all week. I really had to rely on God to work through me. All of the camp staff memorized John 15:1-5 during training, which has been running in my mind this week, especially the last verse. It says that apart from Christ we can do nothing, and that fact is something that I have really meditated on. So many times I am trying to just do things myself, but I can't achieve anything without God's help. 

Working out at Harlow has proved to be a hard balancing act. We are supposed to be pouring into these kids so that the seed of Christ may be planted in them. I am so busy trying to accomplish that that I almost forget my own relationship with God. It can be so easy to go through everyday without spending any time with Him. But i can't pour out what I don't have. If I don't spend time with God, I can't successfully pour into these kids. I have never felt so spiritually tired. It is something that I need prayer for, because spending time with God is what I need the most, but never seem to have time for.

I am excited for this week, but it is going to be a lot of the same regarding the campers. Basically the only difference is that there are going to be kindergarteners along with the elementary aged kids and they are not staying the night (thank the Lord). But Riley and I are going to be having to do the same songs as last week, so we are going to need a lot of God given energy to make it through. At least we have the nights to relax and have fun as the staff and take part in deep times of worship through song and fellowship. That will be the blessing that will help me get through the week. 

Thanks for all your prayers regarding my health. I have been feeling much better! :) 

God is good!

Camp Harlow - 3 - Mid School Camp 1

Week 2 of camp is over, and boy was this one crazy!

I don't think I have ever been this tired, both physically and spiritually, but it feels so great. This week, I really witnessed God's love and grace. Being an IMPACT member, I am able to spend time with kids, but I also get a chance to really pour into the counselors and watch them lead their campers to Christ. 

Camp started on Sunday evening and lasted until Friday, so the week was long. However, as the days went by, I began seeing how God works through His children so that his plan will be realized. I watched a counselor, who felt so inadequate, lead her girls to Christ. On Tuesday, we did a fun night at First B, with an inflatable slide and obstacle course. One of the counselor's girls, who was disabled and couldn't walk, wanted so much to go down the slide, but couldn't get up the ladder. The counselor proceeded to put the young girl on her head and walked the girls feet, using her hands, up the ladder. The young girl said later that going up and down the slide with her counselor was the highlight of her week. It really touched me because it was a huge image of what Christ does for us. We can't climb the ladder of life by ourselves. So Christ, being our savior, carries us through all of our life's happenings. He doesn't let us fall. 

Throughout the week, Riley and I struggled with worship. It just seemed as though we weren't able to do anything truly right. I had to rely on God a lot this week to build up the energy needed to lead the campers in worship, because there was negative feedback that we received from a counselor that really made us feel inadequate. Honestly, though, we truly are inadequate. Sometimes I feel as though Riley and I go along feeling like we have everything in control, when really we don't. We always need to be relying on God to work through us. The moment I began praying for God to really use us, he did. During one of our worship sessions, we began singing and I noticed that I heard a voice from the audience that rang loud and clear above the others. It happened to be a boy named Thomas. Thomas has cerebral palsy, so he doesn't have movement in his legs or arms, and has a speech impediment. Hearing him singing without inhibitions made me fill with joy, and made me stop and think. I know that sometimes we are thrown curve balls that may come in the form of rude letters or someone telling us that we need to be doing our job a certain way, but God works through us in those times to really do something great. Despite what we were told by that counselor, our worship times, with the help of Christ, were successful. God made up for any short comings that Riley and I had, and is continuing to do so. 

The highlight of my week was when Thomas decided he wanted to speak and sing in front of the campers during the campfire on Thursday. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. He was carried onstage, given a microphone, and began telling us about the prodigal son and how we are all prodigal sons; all of us need to run to our Father who is waiting for us with open arms. That young boy is wiser than many adults today. He touched my heart so much I couldn't help but crying. He began to sing with a soundtrack of a quartet group singing a song I grew up listening to in church. His love for Christ, and his willingness to shout about that love from the rooftops, was so amazing. He touched my heart so much I couldn't help from crying, and I had to go up and lead worship afterwards! He taught me so much. He was a blessing from God who taught me what it really looks like to worship God with everything that a person is. It was truly beautiful. 

As a whole, this week was a great success. We had many new life commitments, as well as re-commitments from the campers. It is so great to watch God work. I feel so blessed to have this job. I wouldn't be anywhere else, doing anything else. 

Thank you for your prayers regarding how I was feeling last week. I found out I suffer from allergies and was given meds to take care of them. Since I have been taking my medicine, I have been feeling so much better!
I can still use prayer for continued strength, rest, and time that I can take out of my busy days at Harlow to spend with God. 

Despite the great fun I am having at Harlow, I feel so blessed to have a long weekend I can have to rest!

God is great. :)

Camp Harlow - 2 - Junior Camp 1

Today marks day two of the wonderful Junior Camp 1. I can't express with words how exhausted, yet fulfilled I am. The kids here are fantastic, filled with all sorts of energy (I wish I had) and are very open to the lessons we have to teach them. It has been hard for Riley and I this week, because we are so used to leading worship for teens and adults that we are not versed in the ways of kid worship. We have been learning so much about how to lead kids in worship here at Harlow and the songs that they love to sing. 

I have learned that kids really like using hand motions, all the time. Almost all of the favorite songs here at Harlow have hand motions that compliment them. I never knew that some of the songs that I have sang in youth group (i.e. Life is Good, Eternal Life is Better) had crazy hand motions. But, the hand motions give the songs that much more umph for the kids. They have so much energy and they love to spend that energy by going crazy. 

It has been so much fun learning from the kids this week. They are an amazing bunch of campers. 

Yesterday, Riley and I learned how to belay kids up the rock wall. It is such a fun thing to do. At first, one of the boys that I was about ready to belay asked me if I was going to be able to hold him up there. I assured him that I would, and after explaining to him that I belayed Riley, he changed his expression and said, "Okay, I trust you!" It was very cute. Running the rock wall is already a favorite of mine, and it is only day two! 

The only down fall this week is me becoming sick. I woke up this morning with the worst sore throat and headache. I decided to sit out during worship this morning so that I could save my voice for tonight. But I am drinking lots of hot tea and using lots of Ricola, so hopefully I will be able to beat this sore throat. My problem is that, as an IMPACT team member, I get little sleep. We do cabin checks at night (which takes a while) and then we have IMPACT prayer which also tends to take a while. We are doing great to be in bed before midnight, if not later, and usually have to be up by seven, if not earlier. 

I took advantage of nap time yesterday, but I know that I won't always be able to do that. I am just praying that God gives me the stamina to not grow too weary. I want to be the best I can be for the campers. Prayer would be greatly appreciated! :) 

It is amazing to be able to hear so many life stories from the campers, as well as the counselors. I am learning so much and growing in my own relationship with Him through hearing all of the stories. It is such a blessing to be able to be in a place where there is so much support. I have to say that this summer is going to be one huge blessing. 

God is great. :)

Camp Harlow - 1 - Training

Well, I am in the middle of day four of Camp Harlow training week.
I moved into the "mod" on Monday, and I am enjoying the mod life very much!

Before I moved in and met everyone, I was afraid that I would have a hard time fitting in because most people have served here before and already knew each other. I am so relieved to say that everyone on the IMPACT team is great. All of them are very sweet and have really great hearts for the Lord.

The very first day that we all came together as a team we instantly bonded. We had grown into a big family in only one day. It is amazing how God can bring a group of people with all of their various differences and unify them. It's great. :)

Yesterday, Senior Counselors arrived, which was super fun. Each of us IMPACT team members are given a "Devo" group which consists of two Senior Counselors and about four Counselors. Our Devo group is the group of girls that we assist and mentor. Last night I met my Devo girls for the first time (minus the Counselors, because they arrived this morning) at a worship/foot washing session. It was our job as Devo leaders to wash the feet of our girls (or guys) to show that we are here to serve them, and pray with them. It was really powerful and awesome. It instantly brought me closer to my girls because I was humbling myself to show them that I am here for them and am working beside them. I am now excited to meet my Devo group today in its entirety now that the Counselors have arrived.

I have to say, I am beyond exhausted, but I have already been blessed just by meeting so many amazing people who are on fire for God.
I am so very excited for camp to start. I know that I am going to be crazy busy and tired, but to know that I am serving the Lord and kids will make it all worth while. :)

That's all for now. I am hoping to post an update every week to explain what's going on "Down on the Farm". :)