Camp: Sunday, June 14 - 12:08 am

Hey friends... Today was my fourth day at camp. I went on laminating adventures today!!!! Be jealous. Tomorrow will be more office work, but then the work begins on Monday. Yay! I fracking love to work. :). True words. I miss my nephew a lot, but the directors have a little boy about 6 mos. older, and he has the curly hair just like Bug (that's what we call Briley, short for Briley Bug...poor kid). Anyway, I need to get some el-sleep-o. Phone calls and texts are great. :)

Jess.

camp: day 3

Well, adventures are my new passion. Today, I went on a collating adventure! I know sorting w4s....be jealous. Who knows what is in store for tomorrow.

Jess.

camp: day 3

Well, adventures are my new passion. Today, I went on a collating adventure! I know sorting w4s....be jealous. Who knows what is in store for tomorrow.

Jess.

Camp: Day 1

Well, it is great to be back at camp. I love it here and I feel like it is home.

Today, I got out to the ropes course despite the rain. I picked up loads of sticks with the help of the maintenance crew. I think that it will be a good summer. We have no male staff up in ropes this year, but it should be okay. I think we are implementing a team building aspect to our programming. This is exciting because the focus has been solely on climbing. This is an important element to any course.

I will be blogging when I can. Perhaps more frequently as the kids aren't here.

Jess.

Something Like A Prayer Voyage

Today, in about 3 hours, I will set off for Maine. I am excited. I was thinking today of ways to maybe help keep me focused while driving the 18 hours. I am going to pray. I am not very good at prayer for many reasons. Nonetheless, this is the schedule for my voyage.

Hour 1: Thanks God.
Hour 2: Family
Hour 3: Societal Concerns
Hour 4: The Summer Ahead
Hour 5: Friends
Hour 6: Nations
Hour 7: Service
Hour 8: Me
Hour 9 Thanks God
Hour 10: Friends
Hour 11: The Future
Hour 12: The Past
Hour 13: The Present
Hour 14: Thanks God
Hour 15: Fears
Hour 16: Joys
Hour 17: Hope/Love
Hour 18: Thanks God

Jess.

Hope

There's a book by Maya Angelou entitled, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. It reminds me of hope. I recommend it, though it is rather difficult subject matter. Angelou embodies hope. I think if I could meet someone it might be her.

Romans 5:3-5 reminds me of hope as it relates to suffering.

What is hope though besides an abstract concept or maybe emotion?

It is far beyond the hope that a basketball player has as the last second shot hangs on the rim for an eternity and with a tilt either direction producing drastically different results.

It is far beyond the wishful ideations of what we might do if we were to fall into a great sum of money.

It seems to me hope is stashed in the idea that the outcome of ANY situation will glorify God, serve others, or draw us closer to Him. It is not the hope that we will gain or be blessed. If our goal in different situations is to rack up blessings or to have it inherently bless our lives, then I think we are on the wrong track.

I struggle to have hope. It seems to me that some things are perhaps too difficult to understand in a way that would allow us to have hope.

Heck, I don't know.

Jess.

El Crap-O

Man, I haven't felt real swell all day. In fact, I never really get sick, so this is pretty lame-o.

___________

On another note:

I feel like I am doing a lot of running from things (figuratively speaking). I have made some decisions that have placed me on the brink of huge breakthroughs in regards to what I may need to do to discover who I am as a person, and yet at the same time, the risk of failure is also always present.

This journey must involve God and at the end of the road lies forgiveness. Forgiveness is the absolute key to joy. It isn't a clean cut process nor is it simple.

Somedays, the task looks less daunting than others.

Jess.

The Reasons Why I Love Camp...

Not that I somehow need to be convinced, it makes me remember how much I am looking forward to going.

1. D and L and Korner Store - Okay, D and L is a gas station, but an awesome one. They have good cookies and the best sandwiches. I love it. In fact, I sometimes crave it during the winter. Korner Store has some fantabulous BBQ Chicken Pizza. Yum.

2. The Lake - I love the lake that Matoaka is on.

3. The willow trees - I dreaned of having willow trees at my house as a kid. I love them because of Pocahontas (which Matoaka was her nickname apparently).

4. That it is in Maine - As a kid, I wanted to move to Maine because there were very few tornadoes.

5. Todd - I can't say enough about the male "mean machine" (a guy counselor) assigned to my bunk. He has become like a brother.

6. College League during Orientation - OMGosh, I love the relay race. It might be my favorite thing at camp.

7. Dodgeball - Well, cause I pretty much dominate.

8. Skiing

9. The kids - really I do love my bunk of girls. I have seen them mature over the years.

There are many, many other things, but typing this out on my phone has been somewhat time-consuming. I am really stoked to go!

Jess.

A Prayer

God,

Ease the fear in my heart for it is paralyzing. You are evident in the sounds of the day - birds chirping, the laughter shared between friends. However, you do not fade as the sun sets. Rather you are here in the nights when the tears soak pillowcases and when sleep evades me. In these sounds, even then, you are evident. It so happens that I often don't believe this very readily.

God, I do not ask you to convince me of your goodness nor do I ask you to be evident in my life. To do so would be asking you to do what you are already doing. I only ask for the heart that would be open and searching for opportunities to discover that on my own.

Amen.
Jess.

Dead and Gone

Rap music is sometimes perhaps not the most wholesome music. However, I stumbled upon this song by T.I. and Justin Timberlake. This song is high quality, especially the chorus and the end.

It speaks redemption. I identify with it more than I would perhaps like to admit.

-Jess