what do you get when dinosaurs crash their cars?
…TYRANNASAURUS WRECKS.
Oh gosh. I am proving to be awful at the whole idea of having a summer blog. Staff training has been a crazy mess of things and I have yet to have a chunk of time to sit and write a blog. My “off nights” have been filled with eating food that is NOT camp food, trips to Wal-Mart and Sonic drinks (duh). Spare time on camp, which has not been a lot, has been spent journaling, attempting to catch up on sleep or writing letters/emails. Once camp actually starts, I will have a more routine schedule and specific time off every day, SO hopefully I will get better. Also, my off night for the summer is Wednesday, so for sure expect updates then!
So you are probably thinking that two weeks in a crazy long time for a bunch of counselors to be at camp without campers and what on earth we could be having to “train” for for this long. Well, let me tell you.
I got to camp last Monday, the 18th, with all of the other Senior & Senior Assistant (SA) counselors. We spent ALL DAY Tuesday getting certified in CPR and first aid- which is a GOOD THING. Strangely enough this is the first time I have been certified in either, even though I was an athletic trainer all 4 years of high school. …go figure. Monday night the rest of the counselors arrived, and training took off full swing the next day.
Our first week was spent attending classes such as Camper Care 101-501, Health Center 1 and 2, Tips for Surviving the Summer 101 and 201, Child Advocacy, HR and Bible Study intro. Literally all we did was breakfast, class, lunch, class, dinner. These classes always amazing me, because I’m like, “oh my goodness, they have thought of EVERYTHING.” Literally, all I ever would need to know- from how to deal with homesickness, to how get money before I get my actual paycheck, what lice look like and how to tell if our campers have them, and DON’T make you campers buy you milkshakes at Café Sky. Seriously, “everything you ever need to know about being a counselor” week. We also had night events, and a barn dance that made me miss Singers and going to Midnight Rodeo.
We also found out our skys, cabins, and co-counselors for the summer. I am Sky 2 this summer, which is 10-12, I think. I will be in cabin 18, H-Hut (reason for the name coming in a later post), which is OLDER Sky 2, so I think most of my girls will be somewhere around the 6th grade. I am SO EXCITED, but also nervous! They are going to be SO different from the 6 and 7 year olds I had last summer. They will be able to pour their own drinks and put on sunscreen and probably won’t want to hold my hand when we walk to activities. But I think they will also be old enough to have some really cool conversations with, so I am pumped. J
My Co’s are all stellar, and I know that the Lord has some cool things in store for us as a cabin. My senior, Sydney, was senior of H-Hut last summer as well, so she already knows how things work and should be done. My other co is one of the FIVE of us here who go to Texas. How crazy is that that two of us are in the same cabin?! I am SO pumped. Her name is Kaity and she is in Phi-Lamb with me AND we go to the same church in Austin. We know a lot of the same people, so I am really excited to have someone to talk to this summer who actually will know who and what I’m talking about when I refer to Austin and/or Singers and Phi-Lambs. HOW NEAT. Lauren will be replacing me as SA for second half, and Kate will be replacing Kaity. While I won’t actually get to work with either of them, it has been fun to get to know them at training and see their hearts for the Lord and these girls.
The second week of training has been filled with ACTIVITIES! As counselors, we go to all activities with our campers. We are trained on rules and how to run them. They put us in training groups with our brother and sister cabins, so it is a sweet opportunity to get to know the other counselors that you will be spending time with and start building relationships.
Since I am Sky 2 this summer and my kids are older, I get to do lots of cool things that I didn’t get to do in Sky 1. This week I have learned how to belay people on the rockwall and the pole, so I feel SUPER LEGIT. No worries, your life is in my hands. I have also learned how to drive a jet ski, which will probably scare some of you when you read this. I’m sort of really bad at it, but hopefully this will get better as the summer goes on. We have time with our cabins to go over/prepare the Bible study curriculum and make cabin posters like the activities schedule and chore chart. Other than that, we have done crafts, waterslides, the blob, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We have also had classes to learn rainy day games and what to expect as Sky 2 counselors. They teach us what they like/don’t like, what books and TV shows they are in to, what questions they will probably have, and lots of jokes that they will like, such as the one in the title to this post. This week is fun, because it’s pretty much just like camp with no campers. We get to do all of the stuff without the kids!
…but I am SO EXCITED to get campers this Sunday! We move into our permanent cabins tomorrow, so I can’t wait to start putting up our posters and verses we made.
Between then and now.
For the last two weeks I have really been struggling with my heart and where it is/needs to be. When I came to camp I did NOT feel ready at all, my brain and heart were focused on other things that did not involve Sky Ranch.
I know that the fall semester brings big things and big challenges. I want to be in prayer about this constantly over the summer- for myself, for Singers and for how I can serve and love them. I know that a lot need to happen in my heart this summer before I am ready for the fall. The Lord has a lot to teach me, and I pray every day that He will prepare me to lead and serve well.
However, I know that my heart needs to be fully here at camp and with my girls this summer. It is a battle, and I must constantly be in prayer -- for my campers, for my co-counselors/our cabin, for energy, for patience, and that the Lord will give me each day what I need to serve here and glorify Him.
I am finding it increasingly harder to focus on both. I want to stay in touch with people over the summer. I want to be involved in what is going on and not lose the friendships that were so strong at the end of the spring. But I also need to be here. I need to be focused on my girls and what the Lord has for me to do here. I need to find the balance between my heart for Singers and my heart for camp. How can I pour into both things at once?
I must say that I wrestled with this a lot yesterday, and found myself missing all of you very much. It has taken me a while to get used to the fact that on one here echoes my “wah-doos“ or laughs when I mention MirandaSings. I have tried to explain her to them, but I don’t think it’s nearly as brilliant if you aren’t a singer in the first place. One of the full time staff said, “Love you, mean it.“ in a class the other day, and I smiled really big on the inside. I also started singing Footloose on the way to a class the other day- the rest of the counselors started singing too, which made me happy. But don’t worry, it’s not the same without you! I have been doing okay being away from all of you for the last two weeks, but yesterday it was REALLY hard. I needed a roommate night or another h2h on the Winship stairs.
How neat it is that the Lord sees my heart and provides. He gives me just enough right when I need it. How cool is it that he takes my struggles and turn them into ways to show me more of Him.
I’m sure I could write volumes on this and how He has worked in my life over the past year or semester. However, I have neither the time nor energy, and this post is already stinking 3 pages in Word. So I think I will call it quits for now. Like I said, hopefully I will get better at this. Also, no pictures yet, but camp starts soon, so get excited! New address up on the Write Me section, so make sure and check it out. AND SERIOUSLY, WRITE ME. I will leave you with prayer requests, and please feel free to send me yours.
Love and miss you all.
Prayer Requests:
- Camp starts Sunday! Pray for my session 1 girls, and for our cabin during the first week!
- For us as counselors in cabin 18- unity, energy/endurance, selflessness.
- For my heart and what the Lord is doing. For finding my balance on how to serve Singers and camp at the same time.
Also, is there a difference between leading well and being a good leader? Maybe not, but I’ve been thinking about it. Thoughts?
Oh gosh. I am proving to be awful at the whole idea of having a summer blog. Staff training has been a crazy mess of things and I have yet to have a chunk of time to sit and write a blog. My “off nights” have been filled with eating food that is NOT camp food, trips to Wal-Mart and Sonic drinks (duh). Spare time on camp, which has not been a lot, has been spent journaling, attempting to catch up on sleep or writing letters/emails. Once camp actually starts, I will have a more routine schedule and specific time off every day, SO hopefully I will get better. Also, my off night for the summer is Wednesday, so for sure expect updates then!
So you are probably thinking that two weeks in a crazy long time for a bunch of counselors to be at camp without campers and what on earth we could be having to “train” for for this long. Well, let me tell you.
I got to camp last Monday, the 18th, with all of the other Senior & Senior Assistant (SA) counselors. We spent ALL DAY Tuesday getting certified in CPR and first aid- which is a GOOD THING. Strangely enough this is the first time I have been certified in either, even though I was an athletic trainer all 4 years of high school. …go figure. Monday night the rest of the counselors arrived, and training took off full swing the next day.
Our first week was spent attending classes such as Camper Care 101-501, Health Center 1 and 2, Tips for Surviving the Summer 101 and 201, Child Advocacy, HR and Bible Study intro. Literally all we did was breakfast, class, lunch, class, dinner. These classes always amazing me, because I’m like, “oh my goodness, they have thought of EVERYTHING.” Literally, all I ever would need to know- from how to deal with homesickness, to how get money before I get my actual paycheck, what lice look like and how to tell if our campers have them, and DON’T make you campers buy you milkshakes at Café Sky. Seriously, “everything you ever need to know about being a counselor” week. We also had night events, and a barn dance that made me miss Singers and going to Midnight Rodeo.
We also found out our skys, cabins, and co-counselors for the summer. I am Sky 2 this summer, which is 10-12, I think. I will be in cabin 18, H-Hut (reason for the name coming in a later post), which is OLDER Sky 2, so I think most of my girls will be somewhere around the 6th grade. I am SO EXCITED, but also nervous! They are going to be SO different from the 6 and 7 year olds I had last summer. They will be able to pour their own drinks and put on sunscreen and probably won’t want to hold my hand when we walk to activities. But I think they will also be old enough to have some really cool conversations with, so I am pumped. J
My Co’s are all stellar, and I know that the Lord has some cool things in store for us as a cabin. My senior, Sydney, was senior of H-Hut last summer as well, so she already knows how things work and should be done. My other co is one of the FIVE of us here who go to Texas. How crazy is that that two of us are in the same cabin?! I am SO pumped. Her name is Kaity and she is in Phi-Lamb with me AND we go to the same church in Austin. We know a lot of the same people, so I am really excited to have someone to talk to this summer who actually will know who and what I’m talking about when I refer to Austin and/or Singers and Phi-Lambs. HOW NEAT. Lauren will be replacing me as SA for second half, and Kate will be replacing Kaity. While I won’t actually get to work with either of them, it has been fun to get to know them at training and see their hearts for the Lord and these girls.
The second week of training has been filled with ACTIVITIES! As counselors, we go to all activities with our campers. We are trained on rules and how to run them. They put us in training groups with our brother and sister cabins, so it is a sweet opportunity to get to know the other counselors that you will be spending time with and start building relationships.
Since I am Sky 2 this summer and my kids are older, I get to do lots of cool things that I didn’t get to do in Sky 1. This week I have learned how to belay people on the rockwall and the pole, so I feel SUPER LEGIT. No worries, your life is in my hands. I have also learned how to drive a jet ski, which will probably scare some of you when you read this. I’m sort of really bad at it, but hopefully this will get better as the summer goes on. We have time with our cabins to go over/prepare the Bible study curriculum and make cabin posters like the activities schedule and chore chart. Other than that, we have done crafts, waterslides, the blob, and all sorts of other fun stuff. We have also had classes to learn rainy day games and what to expect as Sky 2 counselors. They teach us what they like/don’t like, what books and TV shows they are in to, what questions they will probably have, and lots of jokes that they will like, such as the one in the title to this post. This week is fun, because it’s pretty much just like camp with no campers. We get to do all of the stuff without the kids!
…but I am SO EXCITED to get campers this Sunday! We move into our permanent cabins tomorrow, so I can’t wait to start putting up our posters and verses we made.
Between then and now.
For the last two weeks I have really been struggling with my heart and where it is/needs to be. When I came to camp I did NOT feel ready at all, my brain and heart were focused on other things that did not involve Sky Ranch.
I know that the fall semester brings big things and big challenges. I want to be in prayer about this constantly over the summer- for myself, for Singers and for how I can serve and love them. I know that a lot need to happen in my heart this summer before I am ready for the fall. The Lord has a lot to teach me, and I pray every day that He will prepare me to lead and serve well.
However, I know that my heart needs to be fully here at camp and with my girls this summer. It is a battle, and I must constantly be in prayer -- for my campers, for my co-counselors/our cabin, for energy, for patience, and that the Lord will give me each day what I need to serve here and glorify Him.
I am finding it increasingly harder to focus on both. I want to stay in touch with people over the summer. I want to be involved in what is going on and not lose the friendships that were so strong at the end of the spring. But I also need to be here. I need to be focused on my girls and what the Lord has for me to do here. I need to find the balance between my heart for Singers and my heart for camp. How can I pour into both things at once?
I must say that I wrestled with this a lot yesterday, and found myself missing all of you very much. It has taken me a while to get used to the fact that on one here echoes my “wah-doos“ or laughs when I mention MirandaSings. I have tried to explain her to them, but I don’t think it’s nearly as brilliant if you aren’t a singer in the first place. One of the full time staff said, “Love you, mean it.“ in a class the other day, and I smiled really big on the inside. I also started singing Footloose on the way to a class the other day- the rest of the counselors started singing too, which made me happy. But don’t worry, it’s not the same without you! I have been doing okay being away from all of you for the last two weeks, but yesterday it was REALLY hard. I needed a roommate night or another h2h on the Winship stairs.
How neat it is that the Lord sees my heart and provides. He gives me just enough right when I need it. How cool is it that he takes my struggles and turn them into ways to show me more of Him.
I’m sure I could write volumes on this and how He has worked in my life over the past year or semester. However, I have neither the time nor energy, and this post is already stinking 3 pages in Word. So I think I will call it quits for now. Like I said, hopefully I will get better at this. Also, no pictures yet, but camp starts soon, so get excited! New address up on the Write Me section, so make sure and check it out. AND SERIOUSLY, WRITE ME. I will leave you with prayer requests, and please feel free to send me yours.
Love and miss you all.
Prayer Requests:
- Camp starts Sunday! Pray for my session 1 girls, and for our cabin during the first week!
- For us as counselors in cabin 18- unity, energy/endurance, selflessness.
- For my heart and what the Lord is doing. For finding my balance on how to serve Singers and camp at the same time.
Also, is there a difference between leading well and being a good leader? Maybe not, but I’ve been thinking about it. Thoughts?
