"There's a things called RESPECT YOUR SISTERS!"
What a week! I am so excited to finally have time to write about it! (I appologize in advance for spelling/typing errors. I'm real tired...)
I fully intended to update on Wednesday during my night off, but due to circumstances beyond my control (a storm that honestly made me think the world was ending) I didn't get a chance to. More on this adventure later.
So this week we had Rodeo camp. When they told us, I seriously was NOT excited. After a week of not having campers at all, I was ready to do summer camp. And then they were like, "you have Rodeo camp, and it's different." BUT can I just say that I had SO MUCH FUN. There I go again thinking that I know what I want and what I need. And the Lord is like, "Yo, don't worry about it, I got it."
There were two Rodeo cabins this week, a girls cabin and a boys cabin. Because of this we had Sky 1 and Sky 2 age kids, but it actually turned out really well. Despite the age differences, all of our girls got along great for the most part. An hour into the first day they were all friends and playing and laughing with each other- SWEET how that works. :) Because we were Rodeo, we had a different schedule than the rest of camp. And because it was so small this week, they only made ONE schedule for the guys and girls, so we were together at EVERYTHING. I think this was really good for our kids, because by about Wednesday, we sort of just became the "Rodeo cabin," instead of sperate groups. All of the kids seemed to get along, and I think it was really fun to see them build relationships and friendships with each other throughout the week. It was also neat for me as a counselor to get to be with the boys cabin all the time, becuase I got to know all of those kids well too! HOW FUN.
The kids this week have been such fun. I love Rodeo camp because you get kids with names like Tag and Boone, which is AWESOME. Also, a bunch of them stinkin' brought their own horses to camp, which is also AWESOME. It was fun to see them take care of and love on their horses, and also fun to let them teach me things about them.
We spent every morning at the arena. Our kids would go on trail rides, practice the barrels and poles, rope and goat tie. They put on a rodeo for the rest of camp on Wednesday night and one for their parents this morning. They worked really hard this week and did an awesome job. Rarely did they complain about being hot or tired or bored with running the barrels. This week I also learned how to rope, tie, and do the barrels and poles AND saddle a horse. HOW LEGIT IS THAT?! Also, the wranglers said that there is another Rodeo camp Session 5, and they are going to make sure that we (us and the guy counselors from this week) get to do it again because "we have been so great this week." SO, I AM PUMPED FOR SESSION FIVE.
Storries from this week:
- "Throw them in the bathroom with some sharpies."
So like I said, Wednesday night brought pretty much the WORST STORM EVER. It was my night off, and my CMD had us all over to her house for dinner. (Which was DELICIOUS, by the way.) So we get there and I notice this crazy lightning outside. This soon turns into a ridiculous storm, so we call camp and ask what they want us to do about getting back to our cabins from staff parking (aka, stinkin' a long way). They tell us basically not even to come back because the weather is so bad. So I end up stuck in Lindale for about another hour or so, but it was a good hang out/chill time. We call camp again, and they tell us we can come back and park on camp, but to be careful driving because apparently a TONADO hit real close to camp and knocked down a ton of trees. So I'm thinking, "Oh gosh. I bet my girls are scared to death right now."
I wasn't there during all of this (obviously), but here is the story I got from my co-counselors:
Wednesday was the rodeo they were going to put on for the other campers, but they only got halfway through before they had to cancel because of weather. Our girls apparently were the last ones to leave the arena and were scared/crying by the time they made it back to the cabin. Then, they all had to cram in the bathroom as a "precautionary measure" (which means, "There's a tornado, but we don't want to announce it over the radio and scare all the campers.) So apparently what happens is we throw all of the 11 campers in the bathroom (which will NOT hold 11 people...) with matresses to sit on and construction paper to draw on. There's only room for one counselor, so they shove them all in and shut the door. HOWEVER, somehow they ended up with sharpies instead of the washable markers. SO, all my campers, in the bathroom, with sharpies, and the world is ending outside. SWEET. Meanwhile... we find out that our cabin window leaks... a lot. So basically the whole evening was a mess of an adventure that was REAL funny the next day.
So I get back to the cabin about 11 and all the girls had just gone to bed. The weather outside had calmed down, but not for long. About 2 I am woken up by a HUGE thunder/lightning display and several of the girls downstairs being real scared. By the time I wake up Syndey is already talking to them, so I decide to not get involved. But basically it was one of those "get under your covers and hope everything ends well" things. Not gonna lie, I was real scared... This goes on for a while and then proceeds to happen again around 5. Needless to say that none of us got that much sleep that night.
- "But I need to trim my toenails."
So we had a camper this week that was just obnoxious. She was always doing something to make us laugh or look at each other and say, "Really?" One night, we are sitting in the cabin during showertime, and she is sitting on her trunk talking with us. We look over and she seriously has her foot in her mouth (no, she hadn't showered yet). But yeah, she has her big toe in her mouth. So we tell her to get her foot out of her mouth. We look over a second time and she is doing it again. So we are like, "girlfriend!" and she goes, "but I really need to trim my toenails." AWESOME. I basically died.
- "There's a thing called RESPECT YOUR SISTERS."
One of our cabin rules is "Respect your Sisters." So yesterday the girls were playing a game and I think someone cheated or was being unfair or something. So from upstairs in the loft we hear one of the girls go, "HEY. THERE'S A THING CALLED RESPECT YOUR SISTERS." ...I don't know, it was really funny at the time.
- "Maybe she just pulled a Tucker and left."
On Monday one of our campers was riding a horse named Tucker. He is a legit pro barrel racing horse, so I have NO IDEA why my eight year old camper was riding him. Anyway, when you tell him to go, he GOES, if you know what I mean. SO, she told him to go, and he WENT- full speed, out of the arena, into the pasture next to the area we were in and BEYOND. She finally fell off before any of the wranglers could catch up to them or catch the horse. No worries, she was fine, just a few scrapes, but HOW SCARY IS THAT? You're 8 and on a runaway horse going a billion miles an hour. Poor girl, she was scared the rest of the week.
Frustrations and others.
- This week has been so much fun, but challenging too. It was my first week this summer with campers, so it took me a while to get back in the swing of things. I found myself getting frustrated a lot because I wouldn't do things right or I wasn't patient enough or I didn't have the right thing to say at the right time. I really need to work on being patient with these girls. Even when I tell them not to do something and they go and do it right in front of my face, I must love them. And even when I ask everyone if they have their towels with them and we get to the pool and someone forgot hers, I must be patient and love them. Even when they are disrespectful or whiney, I must love them.
The Lord is teaching me more and more every day that I can't do this on my own. I get frustrated. I get frustrated that their stuff is a mess even after we tell them to clean up, or that I asked them to shower ten minutes ago and they still haven't even gotten their shower stuff out of their bag. But I have been trying to take these things to the Lord. I have asked Him to help me love them the way that He does, with they kind of love that He has. I have asked for patience and have tried my best to keep a good attitude and be kind even when I don't feel like it. The times I have done this this week, He has taken care of me and given me what I needed to get through the rest of the day.
- I am trying to be so intentional about starting each day in prayer- for the day, for my campers, for my heart, and for Singers in the fall. Some days it happens and some days it doesn't, but I'm trying.
- This week has also been hard becuase I am finding out more and more ways that this summer is different than last summer. Not worse or better, just different. It is taking me some time to get used to things and build new relationships like the ones I had with my co's last summer. I love my cabin and my co's but I am still struggling with this a little. It's just different, harder in some ways, better in some ways.
- I have been at camp for over a month and I have gotten ONE letter. I know this is such a lame thing to be unhappy about- it's MAIL, no big deal right? But I am upset about it, so I guess that's just me. Last summer I got lots of mail, and I had more people tell me that they would write to me this year. But I have only gotten one letter, and that wasn't even from my parents. Usually I get at least one or two things a week from Mom, but this year, nothing. No one from Singers has written me, which makes me really sad because I miss them all and think about them often. None of my friends from home have written me, but I don't think I am surprised by this.
This is not a plea for everyone that reads this to write me and send me things. It really isn't that big of a deal, and God is good regardless of how many letters I get. It has just been hard to be away from everyone, and it sort of feels like they don't miss me at all. (seriously, this isn't me trying to guilt trip anyone or anything like that. This is just me writing about my current struggles and being honest. But I know that everyone is busy, and serioulsy it isn't that big of a deal. I'm not mad at anyone or anything like that. Please don't take this the wrong way and don't feel like you have to write me a letter.)
Anyway, I suppose it this is just me in serious need of contact with friends outside of camp. But no worries, like I said, God is good no matter what. And I'm not getting mail for a reason, so I will learn to rely on Him for encouragement instead of notes from friends. And I will have more time to read his Word instead of reading letters. So there is good in my struggle.
I love camp, because it is a different kind of hard than regular life. It is a struggle, and tiring and hot, but the Lord is there at the center of all of it. And I know that He is obviously there in "the real world" too, but I feel like at camp it different. I don't know how to explain it other than it is just different.
I think it's about time to wrap this up. Tonight I am in Forney for Robert's birthday. Me, Herb and a bunch of his family all surprised him with a birthday dinner, and Herb and I are staying the night here. I have to be honest and say that being here is a complete culture shock from being at camp. After being there for so long, the differences between here and there stick out like a sore thumb. Their way of thinking is so different, and it is so obvious that thier lives are centered around different things than mine and my friends at camp. They need Him so bad that it breaks my heart. They need Him so bad and they don't even know it.
Full cabin this coming week, regular Sky 2 camp! Hopefully an update Wednesday-ish, but I'm not promising anything. I won't list prayer requests, because I'm sure you can find plenty just by reading this post. And seriously, please send me some of yours. Like I said, I miss you and love you a lot, so let me know what is going on in your life.
And please don't trim your toenails with your teeth. :)
I fully intended to update on Wednesday during my night off, but due to circumstances beyond my control (a storm that honestly made me think the world was ending) I didn't get a chance to. More on this adventure later.
So this week we had Rodeo camp. When they told us, I seriously was NOT excited. After a week of not having campers at all, I was ready to do summer camp. And then they were like, "you have Rodeo camp, and it's different." BUT can I just say that I had SO MUCH FUN. There I go again thinking that I know what I want and what I need. And the Lord is like, "Yo, don't worry about it, I got it."
There were two Rodeo cabins this week, a girls cabin and a boys cabin. Because of this we had Sky 1 and Sky 2 age kids, but it actually turned out really well. Despite the age differences, all of our girls got along great for the most part. An hour into the first day they were all friends and playing and laughing with each other- SWEET how that works. :) Because we were Rodeo, we had a different schedule than the rest of camp. And because it was so small this week, they only made ONE schedule for the guys and girls, so we were together at EVERYTHING. I think this was really good for our kids, because by about Wednesday, we sort of just became the "Rodeo cabin," instead of sperate groups. All of the kids seemed to get along, and I think it was really fun to see them build relationships and friendships with each other throughout the week. It was also neat for me as a counselor to get to be with the boys cabin all the time, becuase I got to know all of those kids well too! HOW FUN.
The kids this week have been such fun. I love Rodeo camp because you get kids with names like Tag and Boone, which is AWESOME. Also, a bunch of them stinkin' brought their own horses to camp, which is also AWESOME. It was fun to see them take care of and love on their horses, and also fun to let them teach me things about them.
We spent every morning at the arena. Our kids would go on trail rides, practice the barrels and poles, rope and goat tie. They put on a rodeo for the rest of camp on Wednesday night and one for their parents this morning. They worked really hard this week and did an awesome job. Rarely did they complain about being hot or tired or bored with running the barrels. This week I also learned how to rope, tie, and do the barrels and poles AND saddle a horse. HOW LEGIT IS THAT?! Also, the wranglers said that there is another Rodeo camp Session 5, and they are going to make sure that we (us and the guy counselors from this week) get to do it again because "we have been so great this week." SO, I AM PUMPED FOR SESSION FIVE.
Storries from this week:
- "Throw them in the bathroom with some sharpies."
So like I said, Wednesday night brought pretty much the WORST STORM EVER. It was my night off, and my CMD had us all over to her house for dinner. (Which was DELICIOUS, by the way.) So we get there and I notice this crazy lightning outside. This soon turns into a ridiculous storm, so we call camp and ask what they want us to do about getting back to our cabins from staff parking (aka, stinkin' a long way). They tell us basically not even to come back because the weather is so bad. So I end up stuck in Lindale for about another hour or so, but it was a good hang out/chill time. We call camp again, and they tell us we can come back and park on camp, but to be careful driving because apparently a TONADO hit real close to camp and knocked down a ton of trees. So I'm thinking, "Oh gosh. I bet my girls are scared to death right now."
I wasn't there during all of this (obviously), but here is the story I got from my co-counselors:
Wednesday was the rodeo they were going to put on for the other campers, but they only got halfway through before they had to cancel because of weather. Our girls apparently were the last ones to leave the arena and were scared/crying by the time they made it back to the cabin. Then, they all had to cram in the bathroom as a "precautionary measure" (which means, "There's a tornado, but we don't want to announce it over the radio and scare all the campers.) So apparently what happens is we throw all of the 11 campers in the bathroom (which will NOT hold 11 people...) with matresses to sit on and construction paper to draw on. There's only room for one counselor, so they shove them all in and shut the door. HOWEVER, somehow they ended up with sharpies instead of the washable markers. SO, all my campers, in the bathroom, with sharpies, and the world is ending outside. SWEET. Meanwhile... we find out that our cabin window leaks... a lot. So basically the whole evening was a mess of an adventure that was REAL funny the next day.
So I get back to the cabin about 11 and all the girls had just gone to bed. The weather outside had calmed down, but not for long. About 2 I am woken up by a HUGE thunder/lightning display and several of the girls downstairs being real scared. By the time I wake up Syndey is already talking to them, so I decide to not get involved. But basically it was one of those "get under your covers and hope everything ends well" things. Not gonna lie, I was real scared... This goes on for a while and then proceeds to happen again around 5. Needless to say that none of us got that much sleep that night.
- "But I need to trim my toenails."
So we had a camper this week that was just obnoxious. She was always doing something to make us laugh or look at each other and say, "Really?" One night, we are sitting in the cabin during showertime, and she is sitting on her trunk talking with us. We look over and she seriously has her foot in her mouth (no, she hadn't showered yet). But yeah, she has her big toe in her mouth. So we tell her to get her foot out of her mouth. We look over a second time and she is doing it again. So we are like, "girlfriend!" and she goes, "but I really need to trim my toenails." AWESOME. I basically died.
- "There's a thing called RESPECT YOUR SISTERS."
One of our cabin rules is "Respect your Sisters." So yesterday the girls were playing a game and I think someone cheated or was being unfair or something. So from upstairs in the loft we hear one of the girls go, "HEY. THERE'S A THING CALLED RESPECT YOUR SISTERS." ...I don't know, it was really funny at the time.
- "Maybe she just pulled a Tucker and left."
On Monday one of our campers was riding a horse named Tucker. He is a legit pro barrel racing horse, so I have NO IDEA why my eight year old camper was riding him. Anyway, when you tell him to go, he GOES, if you know what I mean. SO, she told him to go, and he WENT- full speed, out of the arena, into the pasture next to the area we were in and BEYOND. She finally fell off before any of the wranglers could catch up to them or catch the horse. No worries, she was fine, just a few scrapes, but HOW SCARY IS THAT? You're 8 and on a runaway horse going a billion miles an hour. Poor girl, she was scared the rest of the week.
Frustrations and others.
- This week has been so much fun, but challenging too. It was my first week this summer with campers, so it took me a while to get back in the swing of things. I found myself getting frustrated a lot because I wouldn't do things right or I wasn't patient enough or I didn't have the right thing to say at the right time. I really need to work on being patient with these girls. Even when I tell them not to do something and they go and do it right in front of my face, I must love them. And even when I ask everyone if they have their towels with them and we get to the pool and someone forgot hers, I must be patient and love them. Even when they are disrespectful or whiney, I must love them.
The Lord is teaching me more and more every day that I can't do this on my own. I get frustrated. I get frustrated that their stuff is a mess even after we tell them to clean up, or that I asked them to shower ten minutes ago and they still haven't even gotten their shower stuff out of their bag. But I have been trying to take these things to the Lord. I have asked Him to help me love them the way that He does, with they kind of love that He has. I have asked for patience and have tried my best to keep a good attitude and be kind even when I don't feel like it. The times I have done this this week, He has taken care of me and given me what I needed to get through the rest of the day.
- I am trying to be so intentional about starting each day in prayer- for the day, for my campers, for my heart, and for Singers in the fall. Some days it happens and some days it doesn't, but I'm trying.
- This week has also been hard becuase I am finding out more and more ways that this summer is different than last summer. Not worse or better, just different. It is taking me some time to get used to things and build new relationships like the ones I had with my co's last summer. I love my cabin and my co's but I am still struggling with this a little. It's just different, harder in some ways, better in some ways.
- I have been at camp for over a month and I have gotten ONE letter. I know this is such a lame thing to be unhappy about- it's MAIL, no big deal right? But I am upset about it, so I guess that's just me. Last summer I got lots of mail, and I had more people tell me that they would write to me this year. But I have only gotten one letter, and that wasn't even from my parents. Usually I get at least one or two things a week from Mom, but this year, nothing. No one from Singers has written me, which makes me really sad because I miss them all and think about them often. None of my friends from home have written me, but I don't think I am surprised by this.
This is not a plea for everyone that reads this to write me and send me things. It really isn't that big of a deal, and God is good regardless of how many letters I get. It has just been hard to be away from everyone, and it sort of feels like they don't miss me at all. (seriously, this isn't me trying to guilt trip anyone or anything like that. This is just me writing about my current struggles and being honest. But I know that everyone is busy, and serioulsy it isn't that big of a deal. I'm not mad at anyone or anything like that. Please don't take this the wrong way and don't feel like you have to write me a letter.)
Anyway, I suppose it this is just me in serious need of contact with friends outside of camp. But no worries, like I said, God is good no matter what. And I'm not getting mail for a reason, so I will learn to rely on Him for encouragement instead of notes from friends. And I will have more time to read his Word instead of reading letters. So there is good in my struggle.
I love camp, because it is a different kind of hard than regular life. It is a struggle, and tiring and hot, but the Lord is there at the center of all of it. And I know that He is obviously there in "the real world" too, but I feel like at camp it different. I don't know how to explain it other than it is just different.
I think it's about time to wrap this up. Tonight I am in Forney for Robert's birthday. Me, Herb and a bunch of his family all surprised him with a birthday dinner, and Herb and I are staying the night here. I have to be honest and say that being here is a complete culture shock from being at camp. After being there for so long, the differences between here and there stick out like a sore thumb. Their way of thinking is so different, and it is so obvious that thier lives are centered around different things than mine and my friends at camp. They need Him so bad that it breaks my heart. They need Him so bad and they don't even know it.
Full cabin this coming week, regular Sky 2 camp! Hopefully an update Wednesday-ish, but I'm not promising anything. I won't list prayer requests, because I'm sure you can find plenty just by reading this post. And seriously, please send me some of yours. Like I said, I miss you and love you a lot, so let me know what is going on in your life.
And please don't trim your toenails with your teeth. :)
hey hays.
it has been a privilege keeping up with your goings on while at camp. I did horses for 4 years at camp, and actually had a friend fall off a horse (he was a little older) but it was still scary, i know what you mean.
i find myself in a similar position when ever i go back to anything (well except singers- and even sometimes then) that things aren't the same. your blog has been really good to read and be reminded why im here, "not for the crazy times in LA" but to grow and to be taught where my strength comes from. keep it up girl. rely on HIM (like i know you are already doing). and i don't know how your cell phone works out there but gimme a call when you get some time off, id love to chat. (hopefully i will be with someone famous so you can talk to them).
-HIS,
CALE