Oh my goodness!!

Now here's the story behind how this picture became available for the world wide web.

You may have heard of Facebook. Well I belong and of course little by little, my friends old and new find me there. One such person is Curtis Olson. Curt's older sister (see her pictured below...lol) was one of my best friends growing up so of course Curt and I added each other as friends. Curt also knew my sister well and added her. He has such fun childhood pictures up on his page. One that he has is a class picture from the year my sister was in his class. She left a message for him saying, "Thanks for posting that picture and reminding my sister of how she used to tease me for my Mary Lou Retton hair cut and smile!" Or something like that. This was all unbeknownst to me.
So imagine my suprise when the next day as I log in to Facebook, I see that he has added this picture with the caption, "For making fun of Mary Lou Retton" Hilarious! This kid had a great sense of humor then and I see he still does! I was like, how in the world did he know I used to tease Connie about that? lol

Anyway...the picture made me laugh so hard that I had to share it. This was during A Chorus Line, the summer of 1987!! Crazy huh? Ah how I wish eyebrows like that would come back in style. It'd make my life a little easier!!

Since Kids Kamp...

The day after we got back from Kids Kamp, Marlon and the boys left for Urban Camp. It was quite a relaxing week for me and made such a great atmosphere to process and rest after my long week. Here's a little of what I've been up to since....

Sarah and Rob (camp staff) got married!! It was such a fun wedding and so sweet to see young, positive people so in love!!




My mom, Jordyn and I headed to Minneapolis for a college tour and of course a little shopping at the Mall of America. It was a great time and the school is amazing! Jordyn said that she could totally see herself walking around the campus and living there. The thought that I have a senior kind of blows my mind. Man does life fly by.

Kids Kamp

What an amazing week! And tiring!! Don't let me forget to add tiring!! lol

Part of what has kept me from blogging is that I haven't really been able to formulate the entirety of what I experienced into words that would justify the experience. Dana---thanks for your encouragement to just get back on here and get started! In the days, weeks to come I will share different moments and how they touched me...affected me....but for now...here are some pictures to show a little of how the week went!

The Fiesta Divas

Here's some pictures of our group of ladies. I love them each and can't wait to follow up on them and see where God takes them. Wednesday night is always the evening we share the gospel message and then ask if any of them would like to accept Christ in their life. Four girls. Four girls accepted Christ. Praise to God!!

My Sweet Daughter....

One of the best parts of the week was getting to serve with Jordyn. As counselor and intern, we really worked hard to bring Christ's love to our group. I was amazed daily at Jordyn's heart for these girls and boy did they love her. She has a gift with kids and just a natural ability to connect with them.


Right after lunch the counselors would leave for a meeting and the interns were left to hang out with the cabin until free time. After the first day I realized that Jordyn would take funny pictures with the girls. It became such fun for me each day to check the goofy pictures when I'd get back.

Jordyn and I. Okay-so maybe we do look a little alike...lol!

Jordyn and two of her friends (amazing young ladies that I LOVE!!) Brooke and Mali. It was fun to see teen girls who have a heart for Jesus and aren't afraid to be themselves.

I knew that Jordyn had accepted Christ years ago when she attended Kids Kamp. As we walked into our village, Ponderosa, she went running to this spot and jumped up and down. "This is the exact spot where I accepted Christ Mommy!!" Yes. Tears.

Other Memorable things...

Jessie Sunshine (as I like to call her) My roomie for the week. I've known Jessie since she was just a middle schooler...well, really more knew her parents...but through camps these last two summers I've really gotten to know her more. She is an amazing person through and through. We stayed up wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too late, talking wayyyyyyyyyyyy too long and laughing wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much! I will forever love her and hold dear the time we were able to share together at the last Kids Kamp!

Snakes anyone? Yes I conquered my fear of snakes during Kids Kamp. Here's how it came about. Mattie had held a snake in the morning and was so proud of herself. I was on my way to the animal building to check on another one of the campers and ran into Mattie. She asked if I was going to hold a snake while I was there. I told her that I didn't really think so because to be honest I was afraid of snakes. She looked at me and said, "Well, you know what I did? I was afraid too, but I prayed and asked God to give me strength and He did! And it wasn't scary! You should try that...why don't you pray and then God will give you the strength?" How in the heck do you say no to THAT! So I took a deep breath and gave it a shot and you know what? I LOVED it. They are so soft and really quite personable.

There is nothing quite like seeing almost 300 kids listen attentively (okay sometimes not so attentively...lol) to creative, fun, biblical teaching. I couldn't resist taking a lot of pictures of them in their bibles, listening, praying...

Mission Night. This game was a riot! The kids are missionaries and have to take bibles (toothpicks) to the churches (identified areas around camp) while being chased and tormented by the military, government, spies, etc. of different countries that don't want the gospel spread. The adult/teen staff get to be the military, government and spies. When we "catch" one of the missionaries we ask them questions about their bibles and God and Jesus. It's so awesome to get a kid who can clearly and confidently share the gospel message with you and it's a privilige to talk with the kids who perhaps don't know Jesus and guide them into conversation about who He is.

Spa Night. Ponderosa chose a spa night as our village special. We all brought our pampering creams, gels, polishes, etc. and had a night of beautifying our girls. I loved every minute of it and they all felt so special and pretty.

Camp Fun

If you've ever been a part of an overnight camp then you know that FUN is definately a major part of the week! Here are just a few snippets of the week...
The water slide was a riot! Of course I had to try it as well...lol. There was a really cool bridge to stand on so that we could get great pictures.

Who doesn't like the chance to get a lil crafty? (ok, ok...I know there are some of you out there!!) We had an Olympic Event night and each group got to decorate their Cabin Flag. There's nothing as much fun as puffy paint and glitter!

You can't have good fun without being a little goofy can you?

One of our favorite morning specials was waterfront day. One of the games was a contest for sand sculptures. We made a turtle family. Mom Myrtle and her children, Zyrtle, Chyrtle, Kyrtle, Pyrtle and Ted. :)

With a group of girls who had the most different personalities you've ever seen...there was undoubtedly conflict (as I'll mention)...so having bonding times of closeness and seeing them connect was definately so much fun as their leader.

The Fiesta Divas

The 8 of us on the last night at the final campfire. The song is right

I will never be
The same again
I can never return
I've closed the door
I will walk the path
I'll run the race
And I will never be the same again.

Kids Kamp

So tomorrow bright and early, Jordyn and I will head out to Camp Timberlee for a week of Kids Kamp, Elmbrook's overnight camp for kids entering 4-6 grade. While I've helped at Kids Kamp for evening activities for years, this will be my first year as a counselor. Jordyn is going to be my intern and we have 6 girls assigned to our cabin.

We've been busily planning the last few days (yes, can you say PROCRASTINATION!) and are about 99.9% ready....isn't there always a thing or two that didn't make it into the laundry and quickly needs to be thrown in mere hours before you are leaving? :)

The men will be here alone for the week (we are gone until the 9th) and so it will be interesting to see what the house looks like when I get back. The longest I've ever been away from all of them is just a weekend! Normally, Marlon takes great care to make sure that they get the house looking fairly decent before I return, but I am not sure how they will stay up on a week of dishes, laundry, garbage, cleaning, etc. They all leave the 10th for a week of camp themselves, so at least I'll have ample time to get it back into shape...lol!

I do have some specific prayer requests that if you would be so kind to lift up for me/us...I would be greatly appreciative. Thank you for doing so.

1) Please pray for safety for the 6 of us until we are together again. Pray that God would show us favor with health while we are apart.

2) Pray that I do not become overwhelmed by 6 little girls when I am normally accustomed to dealing with boys!! That I find joy and beauty in each of them.

3) Pray that Jordyn and I work well together and have peace that transcends all understanding. That we form a united front and this experience brings us even closer.

4) Finally please pray that I lead in His strength and not my own. That I rely fully on Him to get me through the week and reflect Him well.

Talk to you in a week!! Can't wait to post pictures and tell you all about it!!