Winding Down

So about two weeks have passed since I wrote last which is way better than basically going over a month of not posting at all. So here goes for the last two weeks...

Last week I didn't have a cabin so that meant I had a little more "free time" or "relaxation time." Which didn't really mean anything because I was still so busy the entire day. I did the campfire devotion/message for the kids the first night because it was one that I had done before and I figured since I already had something I would go ahead and do it again. Sports camp was one of the specialty camps this week and so I helped with that again like I did last year. We had 25 campers in it this year and I worked with Jordan and Wes. We liked to have them do a lot of different drills before they played the sport. The sports that we did were: Soccer, Basketball, Kickball and Ultimate Frisbee. It was a pretty hot week and so we had to make sure that we were drinking plenty of water. The kids seemed to be having a pretty good time most of the time except of course there were some complaints about the heat, but there wasn't really anything we could do about that.

Last weekend was our last full weekend together without work and so we decided like a month ago that we were going to go to the zoo on Saturday. Almost all of the staff went, but we broke up into smaller groups. I enjoyed the Zoo a lot because it is something that I just really enjoy going and doing even if I have seen it and been there multiple times.

Jellyfish

So Sunday started the first day of the last week. This week I was blessed to have a wonderful cabin of 5 girls where there were 3 that knew each other well and the other 2 knew each other pretty well and together they all blended awesomely. I did the first night campfire devotion/message again because like I said before I had one already made so I figured it wouldn't be a problem to do it again. This week the specialty camp that I helped with was Bike camp. The other counselor that I got to work with was Ethan and that was really fun because I hadn't really done much of anything with him and it was just a good hilarious time. We had 8 campers that we got to hang out with and go biking around with. We went over rules the first day and rode around a little bit at one of the flatter grounds here at camp on the first day. The second day we went to the sports courts and had them do some really good cone drills with turning and just ride around a little there. On the third day we got to go to town and on a bike trail that we rode on last year. The trials we took totaled up to about 6.5 miles and that was crazy awesome! On the last day that we rode bikes we went on some trails around camp and that was really fun. Ethan took the lead and we went to parts of the forest that I never even knew existed, but it could also be because some of them were pretty crazy and really hard to walk let alone try to ride a bike on. I really had a blast though after we got through it all. Then after campers left today we did some cleaning and then had time to hang out.

It's hard to see that reality is becoming that camp is over and I will be going home one of the next couple days. In the time that I am home before I leave for school I will be pretty busy, but I am really looking forward to the time that I just get to sit and relax and sleep and also seeing my family since it has been a long time since I have seen them. The reality of leaving is so weird because I have been here for almost 70 days. With that though I will end this post. In the near future I will get back to my other blog and finish up the post about my time in Texas and what I did there and also just some finishing thoughts that I have had about this summer.

God Bless,
Justina Marie

Crazy Past Month

So it's been over a month since I have blogged.. That is really crazy to me considering last year I was pretty faithful at posting one time a week and with my other blog during the school year I did pretty good posting about once a week. So obviously there is a reason why I haven't been posting regularly like I would like to. Things have been super busy for me. Here is an update on the whole doctors thing: I am doing better, but they don't know for sure what exactly was wrong. I went through quite a few tests, but they just can't know for sure what exactly was wrong. Praise God though that I am doing better almost all of the time.

His Kids camp: We had our four weeks of His Kids camp and the schedule was pretty much the same each week, but may have changed a little depending on the weather and if it rained. I enjoyed getting to see all of the returning campers that I had met before and meeting the campers that I had not yet met. They were so much fun to hang out with and spend time with while they were at camp with us. Each week the campers continually brought joy to my life with the things that they would do, the things they would say and the attitude they had towards God!

Texas: My time in Texas was spent doing things for the National Youth Gathering. I will write about this in my other blog sometime soon: http://foreverhopeinhim.blogspot.com/

Typical Camp: We have had four of these so far, but three of them have been mini camps and so they didn't last for very long. I was around for the first mini camp where I had 6 girls in my cabin. They were a very fun group for my first cabin of the summer. I enjoyed getting to know them and it was crazy how fast the time flew to the time that they left. Then for the second mini camp I didn't have a cabin because I had to leave early so I could head home and pack for my trip to Texas. It was a very short time at home, but I was glad I got to see my little niece for a few minutes. I missed the last mini camp altogether because I was down in Texas at that time.
This past week was our first full week camp and I had a cabin of 7 girls. It seemed like a very long week because it was the first full week that we had and coming back from Texas it was something quite a bit different from what I was doing there. It was fun getting to know my girls and doing the different activities with them and with all the other campers. I did Bible study with my girls everyday and there was an evening where I gave a campfire message about Giving to all of the campers. The week seemed long, but it also seemed to go by pretty quickly. The campers were full or energy and didn't really seem to slow down until the last night. It was a pretty good first full week of camp. It is crazy to think that there is only two weeks left of typical camp until the end of summer at camp. I don't know quite where the time has gone because it seems like I have been busy, but that it shouldn't be this late in the camp year quite yet.

~ "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." - Colossians 3:23

People, Music and Praising God

I know that I didn't post that long ago, but before I get busy again with getting camp ready and the volunteers get here and then the campers get here I thought I would post just a little bit about the past days since my last post. An update to me at the Doctors: I did another test today and we are waiting to get those results back from the doctors, but I have been feeling alright most of the time. Last time I blogged was in my free time the day that camp was starting.

So the second week of His Kids started Wednesday evening. It was so great to see some of the returning campers and to meet the new campers. We had different Bible story that we would go over in Chapel and then have a Bible Study in our color groups within the next couple hours following Chapel. There were also crafts during that time and different activities consisting of: T-ball, Archery, Kickball and outside manipulatives. We also have waterfront time where the campers can choose to swim, boat, play a sport, just sit there or play a board game, card game or color a picture. The first day I canoed with a camper and her buddy and that was pretty tiring, but I enjoyed it. The next day I just hung out under the shelter and played a couple board games with some campers. During free time I played more board games with a few different campers and checkers a couple times with a camper. We had a closing on Saturday and all of the campers left to go home.

I had a great weekend with my family here at camp. I ate at a Mexican restaurant with a few of them and the food was delicious and being with them was really fun. Last night was the best ending to a week that I could ask for. There was 9 of us hanging out at camp and so we went and had a campfire. We had some s'mores and a great time bonding. When it was getting pretty dark we had 5 different instruments out there and we had someone starting a tune and the rest would join in. Every single one sounded amazing. Then we started playing some camp songs and some other songs. Praising God with some awesome music at the campfire with some amazing people was totally a great way to end the weekend.

Back Again

Well it is summer again and I am actually back at camp for the summer! I have been really busy and so this is why I am just now starting posting for the summer. We started back here 2 weeks ago and things have just been really crazy. I was here for the first 5 days of training and we did a lot of bonding which was really fun. We didn't have a lot of jobs like we did last year to get the camp ready before campers so we got to hang out and get to know each other. Each day would be at least one new activity that we would be doing that would help us get to know each other. We also started going through a process to help us remember things that were important in our life that helped us become who we are. It is based on a book and at first I was really unsure of how it would go, but as we went through the beginning I started to become really interested in it. We didn't get that far into it, but will continue doing more.

I went home for the first weekend so I could travel to Chicago to see my niece get baptized. That made me really happy to be able to attend since I am a sponsor for her. She was born in April and I had only seen her for a week in the evenings when she was 3 weeks old. When we got back from Chicago I had to stay at home for a few days because I was going to the doctor to try and figure out what is going on with my body. We are still waiting for some answers, but I got back to camp on Friday and I have been here since.

So since I missed out on like a week of being here I missed out on most of the first His Kids Camp. I made it back for about a day of it though. It was nice to meet the new campers and see the returning campers again. We worked on cleaning some of camp on Saturday instead of having our day off because we had to get ready for Camp Luther Sunday. On Saturday night and Sunday morning we got everything ready for Camp Luther Sunday.

Camp Luther Sunday was huge. There were a lot of people that came and it was awesome. I was at the gate greeting people with Ellie and I got a sunburn from our time out there. We then had a re-dedication for the Chapel and a blessing/dedication of the staff for the summer. We then had a very long, but good quilt auction with many of quilts being bought. Monday was our day off and we had a fun day just hanging out and we went to a Tavern in Columbus for supper. Their burgers and fries were really good. We then ended the night with watching a movie as a staff. On Tuesday we worked on the water slide and got it up and working and then we did some cleaning before we started training. The campers will come here in a little over an hour and I will begin my first week of His Kids Camp this summer.

Me and Ellie