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