What is camp...?

Camp is amazing.

Camp is life-changing.

Camp is a week of high energy excitement.

Camp is a chance I have to help 6 middle school girls stay on the path towards Christ.

Camp is a place where Jesus shows up.

I have been given the opportunity to serve as a counselor at Camp Adventure for the past two years. And those two weeks that I have been at camp have been some of the greatest weeks of my life.  I have built relationships with the other counselors I have been with, and I have grown so much closer to God.  Camp has taught me a lot about myself.... mainly, that I have limitations. That I can't do everything on my own.  And God can't take over fully until I admit that I fall short in some areas and let him take the wheel. I would be dumb to say that everything that has happened in the lives of the campers that I have had is because of me and my leadership.  God has allowed me to lead in this kind of setting, but there is no way that I have what it takes to do it on my own. And I don't have to.  Whenever I reach the point where I am at the end of my rope, and I don't feel like I have any more to give, thats exactly when God comes in and fills in the gaps that I leave.  I'm continually amazed at how much God changes lives at camp.  And I'm so excited for all the middle schoolers, and counselors that will continue to fill the camp for years to come.

Pray for Cassie

Cassie has been in Mexico for the entire month of June and was supposed to come back this weekend and head to camp on sunday.  But due to hurricaine Alex hitting Monterrey pretty hard she is stuck there longer then expected.  Please pray for not only for Cassie's safety, but for the safety of all the people in Monterrey.  Especially the ones who's homes are simply a dirt floor and a tarp.  And also Back2Back.  Flooding has created many large problems. As of now, we don't know when Cassie will be able to fly back, so please keep that situation in your prayers.

Chicago Tweets

I chose not to tweet anything about our trip while we were there because I wanted to stay focused on the task at hand.  But I made a mental note of some things that were for sure 'tweet worthy.'


Tuesday:

• On the road, Chicago, here we come!!!
• Just passed Navy Pier, we're getting close!
• Just got off the bus, time to feed the homeless.
• Met some really incredible people today, theire stories amaze me and their faith encourages me.
• Picture of Hampton on Dairy Queen cup??

Wednesday:

• Happy 50th Birthday, Dad!!
• Partnering with Blitz Build today to help build a house!
• Song on bracelets is the same as one of the songs in one of our devos, awesome!!!
• 'When I close my eyes.... all i see... is bricks.'
• Long day of good, hard work.
• 'I could stick it in my armpit for 5 seconds and it would still be just as good.'
•  Jeff Myers came up to the table at the food court with a blizzard and a soft pretzel.  He ate all of his icecream before the preztel, and we asked him why... thats what he said.
• Just lost power in the hotel!

Thursday:

• Little India today, visiting a Hindu Temple. Not sure what to expect.
• Our middle school students amaze me. They asked questions that even made the priest a little nervous.
• Just experienced a Satsong; an Indian worship serivce that praises and glorifies the One True God!!
• I love that our group got to end the Satsong by singing 'Our God.' So powerful!
• Scavenger hunt on Devon Street!
• Just ate an Indian dessert that tasted like french toast drenched in honey.
• Time for dinner and an Indian buffet!
• Red chicken?? Oh yeah.
• Singing Disney Channel show theme songs on the bus on the ride home; awesome.

Friday:

• Back to the house we started on Wednesday!
• The HUGE pile of bricks we started on Wednesday is dramatically smaller, yay team!!
• Just pulled a big tree out of the ground with our bare hands. Yeah buddy!
• Our team works together so well, we are incredibly blessed!!
• WHIRLY BALL!!!!!!!
• Everyone's comparing battle scares from whirly ball. :)
• Late night euchre games, it's fun just to watch!

Saturday:

• Heading downtown to prayer for the buildings and the people in them.
• Such a powerful way to end our week.
• It's hard to fathom the amount of people that are touched by the prayers prayed by our team today.
• My heart breaks for all the homeless that are here.
• Watching the end of US-Ghana game!! Come on US!!!!
• Saddened by US loss :(
• Giordanos for dinner, woohoo!!!
• Sears (errr Willis) Tower Skydeck!!
• 103 floors up, wow what a view!!

Sunday:

• Up early, heading to Willow Creek for church!!
• Just sayin, we have the sweetest team shirts EVER.
• Dani just sneezed and nailed her head on the counter at the cafe... may be the funniest thing i've seen in a while... or i might just be real tired.
• Love the worship here, Jesus is definitely doing amazing things in and through this church!!
• Today is Willow's baptism service and the last bit they played Amazing Grace and invited anyone who wanted to come to be baptizied.  I cry everytime Granger or anywhere else down this. So cool!!
• Lunch at Willow's food court!
• Last team debrief.
• On the bus heading back home!

I feel so incredibly blessed to have been a part of this mission trip.  The students floored me every single day with how mature they were and how they handled the situations that they were put in.  God did absolutely incredibly things through this team!! And we pray that our work would not end here but that God would use our prayers to go farther than we could ever imagine!

'Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done here!!'

'Hey Chicago, what do you say?? We're gonna show God's love today! We are the light to reach this place, so come on everybody let's show His grace!!!!'