Fifth Day Flight

On the fifth day of camp...

Before breakfast I took a couple of girls outside to fly a kite I had brought with me. It was a $2 Star Wars kite I had bought at Walmart the day before we left. Flying a kite seemed like an awesome thing to do in the hills of Arizona.

Day 5 was our Ropes Course Day! The girls were excited to have another ride planned, well most of them. Kiki was freaking out and didn't want to try the course at all but eventually made it all the way through it. Teta actually did want to do it and tried but completely freaked out and could not finish the course. I was with Teta and had to turn around with her, so therefore I didn't get to experience the full course.

Day five was the night under the stars. I fully enjoyed my time gazing into the glory of God. I know it was an emotional time for some of our girls and our cabin time was completely silent for the first 15 minutes. I know God is doing work, I am praying for these girls.

Fourth Day Fair

On the fourth day of camp...

 

We had a rodeo. What? Yes. Huh? That's right. Our girls were very excited to be apart of it. This is a picture of Melaine (girl in the red shirt) chasing a calf. Oh yes. There were actual rodeo events. It was crazy.

These are a few of the Reagan high school guys we took to camp. I thought they looked awesome in their country western wear. Just lounging in some rocking chairs showing off their swag.

After club that night the camp put on a carnival fair. Complete with dunking booth, bobbing for apples and a pie throwing contest. This is a picture of Alaina and I and most of the girls in our cabin! We had so much fun with them!

Here is a picture of the sunset over camp that night. Alaina and I stopped and sat for a while to take in the beauty. God works in so many ways. I hope these kids got a glimpse of just how big our God is.

Third Day Bliss

It's past midnight on Day 3. I'm currently listening to my girls singing Kendrick Lamar. So much happens as each day passes by. Yesterday seems like forever ago. I don't understand how so much can happen in one day.

Coffee is saving my life. I drank two cups today. One before breakfast and another before club. Coffee is a blessing. I had so much energy from all the caffeine. It made the girls have more fun because the coffee  made me crazy. I was all over the place and my dance moves were on point. Coffee is a gift from God that makes Young Life leaders go nuts. Yes, I truly believe that. 

So many good conversations happened today. I had one on one time with Sarah and Shae. They both went well. Both girls have hard lives and just want someone to love them. I want more than anything for them to realize the are loved. Loved by Jesus.

Cabin Time was the best yet. After last night I knew Alaina and I needed to change the questions. We trusted Jesus would take control and lead us into conversations. Well he definitely provided. We spent an hour going over our insecurities. Then we bonded as a cabin over them. It changed something. The girls will not have any problem getting along with one another after camp. They are forever bonded after tonight's Cabin Time. Well at least I hope so.

I rode a horse today. I can't even remember the last time I was on a horse. Maybe when I was ten. The girls loved it. They had such a blast. They were excited to have more things to do than free time.

So many emotions and thoughts crossed my mind in the last 24 hours. Most of them have been joyful. These girls are blowing me out of the water and exceeding every expectation. Personally, today was better than yesterday. I didn't feel distracted. My focus still needs a little work and I am a little too consumed with myself. I will work on that for tomorrow. Remember this week is not about me.

Now I really need to go to bed. Day 4 is tomorrow and who know what will happen? I know Jesus does. Classic.

Second Day Struggle

Morning.

I'm starting my blog before the end of my day today. There is just something bothering me right now that I needed to blog about.
 

For some reason I am thinking a lot about the situation that happened to me on Friday night. I keep replaying events and conversations from that night in my head. It is distracting me from the girls. I have been thinking about it but not when I should be focused on my girls. It is just right now that I am being distracted. I will be asking God to take my thoughts away because I cannot handle thinking about this anymore. 

Afternoon.

Things began looking better after my blog entry this morning. I needed time to journal and get out my feelings. So obviously this morning was not as great as last night, neither was the whole day really. It definitely picked up after lunch. I spent most of my free time in the pool. I played basketball with the boys, which was incredibly fun. I even had to leave to spend time with my girls because I would have stayed the whole time if I didn't. Thankfully I remembered this week is not about me. So I joined the girls playing Marco Polo.  Honestly my favorite part was being in the sun and enjoying my new tan. 

The energy was not as hyped at club. Last night was just unbeliveable. Today's club was still high energy but I think the events of the day made the kids tired. Cabin Time was seemed to be slacking. The girls didn't open up and the questioned we asked were a bit hard for them to understand. It made the time unorganized. I eventually had to change up the questions. 

I am now feeling relief. I understand how important it will be for me to spend time by myself and with God. He is all over this camp. In every song, every server and every staff. I can't wait for my girls to realize that.

First Day Fire

I can not even begin to tell you how awesome the first day of camp was. Probably one of the most unexpected but beautiful experiences I've ever had.

We arrived at Lost Canyon 24 hours after leaving Austin. I slept more on the bus than I thought I would. The kids were pretty good until the last couple of hours when we had to stall. When we finally pulled into camp at 5pm everyone was more than ready to get off the bus. After the exhausting bus ride I was not expecting much from our girls. BUT I have never been more happy to be wrong.

Our girls were completely excited by every activity we did the rest of the night. The energy at club was incomparable to anything I have ever seen. You could feel 400 high school kids having the time of their life. We did a surprise muddy obstacle course and I thought our girls would complain about getting their clothes dirty. BUT they actually loved it. I couldn't believe after all the complaining on the bus that our girls actually enjoyed getting all their clothes dirty and crawling through mud. WHAT? It seriously blew my mind.

Just from one night I can tell this week is going to be not only the best week of their lives but one of the best weeks of mine. Also I haven't even mentioned Cabin Time. Cabin Time is a time for Alaina and I to sit down and ask the girls questions. We thought it might be awkward and uncomfortable at first. BUT I was wrong again. The girls opened up so much and told us many of the struggles they were dealing with. It was so good that it was almost overwhelming. It is like they laid out a bunch of serious issues that needed to be addressed before we even really asked them to.

Overall I am immediately surprised by how much the girls are exceeding my expectations. I hope this continues throughout the week. Keep you posted.