We're Here!!

Okay, its 9:30 pm and I am EXHAUSTED. That is most likely because I went to bed at 2 a.m. and had to get up at 4:15 a.m. to get ready to meet all the teens at the church at 5:30 a.m. It has already been totally worth it though!!

As you can see, the day started bright and early. We had a little trouble loading all of us and our stuff on the bus, but we were still able to depart the church by about 6:15 a.m. None of us have ever been to this camp, so we were definitely excited, although we really had no idea what to expect.

The trip was a pretty long one, about 7 hours. We did make 2 stops for bathroom and food, but they didn't take long, so we spent most of those 7 hours on the road. I am SO proud of these teens!! They didn't complain at all and the ride, although long, was very enjoyable. We even spent a good portion of it worshiping together!! (I think we leaders enjoyed it because none of us had to drive!).

We arrived at the camp around 1:00 p.m. and were all immediately in awe of the beauty all around us. We unloaded the bus in front of a huge and absolutely beautiful lake.

By this time, we were VERY excited!!It took about another hour to get all of us registered, screened for lice and on the boat that would take us to the Island where the teens will spend their week. Of course, this was all happening during the hottest part of the day, so some complaining did happen, but I think it mostly came from the leaders, haha. We are certainly going to sweat a lot this week!

We have a total of 18 teens with us this week, 8 girls and 10 guys. All of the girls are in the same cabin, and the guys are split into 2 cabins. We all really believe that the teens that are here were hand picked by God to be here and we are SO excited to see what He has in store for them!!

Once we were all checked in, we all boarded our transportation to the Island.

(The leaders get to ride in this several times a day as we go back and forth from our housing to the teens!)

After everyone arrived on the Island, all of the teens met their cabin counselors and signed up for fun activities for the week. Aside from their normal daily activities, which include: daily beach time (which includes a 200 foot water slide into the lake and a blob where they can bounce one another into the lake), daily team challenges like volleyball, dodgeball, etc., a climbing tower, water skiing, tubing and MORE; the teens also had the chance to sign up for optional fun activities that would cost a little bit extra. These options included; paintball (which I'm pretty sure all the guys signed up for), a high ropes course, arts and crafts (which I'm pretty sure none of the guys signed up for, haha), an all you can eat ice cream party and a party barge cruise around the lake that includes all you can eat food and ice cream. It was really fun watching them all get so excited about all the activities for the week!!

(I don't know if you can tell, but what you are looking at is the blob where the teens will launch one another into the water, and the water trampoline).

Once all the teens met their counselors and were signed up (and paid for) all of their activities, all of us leaders decided to head back across the lake to get settled into where we are staying for the week. We have 4 leaders this week; 3 guys and me, haha. J, D, A and I boarded the boat, went back across the lake to pick up our stuff and checked into the Word of Life Inn. This place is SO nice!! We are staying in the cheapest rooms, so we aren't sleeping in style, but it doesn't matter at all. Aside from incredible views every where we turn, we also have a ton of opportunities ourselves for the week.

Since we are here as leaders for our teens, we are welcome to participate in any and all activities that they do. In addition, there are several activities (like day trips to Vermont, jet ski rentals, white water rafting, and more!) that we can participate in without the teens. Also, on the property where we are staying there is an indoor pool with jacuzzi, access to the lake, a miniature gold course, tennis courts, a volleyball court...and so much more that we haven't even found yet. We are all so excited!!

And, apparently...we are going to eat quite well. Here is what dinner looked like for us tonight:


J and I kept commenting that it felt like we were on a cruise, it was all so nice!!

Unfortunately, they do have a "dress code" for some of their dinners which means that the guys have to wear a sport coat and I have to wear a skirt. I think we will be eating with our teens on those nights. :)

After dinner, we leaders decided to head back to the Island to check on our teens. We arrived just in time to hear a lot of yelling and excited chanting as they teens we learning all about what was in store for them this week. The entire island (which consists of several hundred teens) is split into 2 teams, the Red team and the Blue team. All of our teens are on the Blue team. The two teams will be competing throughout the week in many different competitions in order to win the overall prize at the end of the week. Our teens love competition, so this should be good!!

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay long after we arrived on the Island. Cupcake was starting to feel pretty sick and needed to come back with me and get some rest in my room. She was actually in the hospital most of Thursday night and into Friday with an infection in the cartilage around her rib cage. She is fine and will heal completely soon, but the healing process has just begun, so she needs to take it easy activity wise for a while. I told her counselor this, but they still ended up walking her (and the rest of the girls) all around the Island for several hours. It was too much for Cupcake and she needed to rest. So, I picked her up and brought her back to my room with me so she could rest for the night and hopefully return to her cabin tomorrow.

It actually worked out great for me because all of the stress, chaos and exhaustion of the day (we were in the extreme heat for a very long time) plus my lack of sleep was starting to catch up to me. I was in charge of all the paperwork and all the communication before we left (which was basically 2 weeks of crazyness with tons of phone calls, emails, photocopies, etc), and I am the designated "trip leader" so all questions were directed at me. I was the one who had to make sure all the teens had everything they needed, turned all their forms in, I had to take care of any issues that arose, etc. It was a lot of work!! (But has already proved to be totally worth it!) I was actually starting to feel really light headed, so Cupcake provided me a good excuse to come and rest (although I really wanted to hang out with the teens! I had to remind myself that we will be here for a week!).

So, Cupcake and I are resting in the room, getting ready for tomorrow...which will be when the week really kicks off. D and A are swimming on the pool and relaxing and J is over on the Island hanging out with the teens. Oh, and did I mention that it is pitch black outside and totally silent??? This is so amazing!!

Anyway, there you have our first day! I can't wait to hear a report from J about how everyone is doing on the Island, and I'm even more excited for what God has in store for tomorrow!!

**Oh, and did I mention that all of this is FREE??? Word of Life offered us FULL scholarships for the teens to come, AND provided us transportation to and from the camp. That's worth over $7000, not including the free accommodations for the leaders!!!! This is SUCH an AMAZING blessing!!!

Upcoming Schedule

I am leaving in 4 and a half hours to take 20 teens to upstate New York for a week at an awesome camp. That will begin several weeks of insane travel that is already making my head spin! I will have internet most places that I am going, so hopefully I will be able to keep up with my blog while I'm away (Shera says I am on tour, haha). I know I still have God's Girls stuff to share! (This was a VERY different year for me). For now, I'm going to share with you what the girls and I will be up to.

Aug. 15-21 - Word of Life Camp with the teens (we got scholarships for them to attend for free!)
Aug. 22- Cornerstone Block Party
Aug. 24-26- Cornerstone Staff Retreat
Aug. 27-Sept. 2- visit my parents in NC (Linda, Bonita and Cupcake are all coming!!)
**Aug. 31- First Day of Cyber School for the girls!! We're starting the year in NC! FUN!!
Sept. 4-8- I will be in Indiana visiting some VERY good friends that I haven't seen in forever! The girls will stay with my roommate on the 4th, and then their mom for the weekend (they have off from school that Monday).

Then I will finally be home, for at least a little while. I am traveling some more in Sept. and Oct., but I will think about that once I make it through this part of the "tour". :) We are really praying that the house will sell sometime while we are traveling so we can come back, pack up, and get settled in our new home!! We'll see though, so far we haven't even had any showings. I'm finding it hard to trust in the Lord, but I know that He is SO GOOD!!!

For now, I need to get some sleep. This should be a really fun week, but I'm not expecting to get a lot of rest. Let the tour begin!

CRAZY!

Life is INSANE right now! I actually only have a minute to write, but I needed to get some of this stress out, so I thought I would take that minute to share the craziness with all of you!

Here is what is going on with me right now:

1) God's Girls. Pretty much takes up ALL of my time on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Tonight is the sleepover, so at least half of tomorrow will be spent recovering

2) Preparing to take 20 teens to a camp in upstate New York next week. We just found out about this camp 2 weeks ago, so we are in the crazy process of last minute permission slips, shot records, millions of phone calls, transportation planning, etc.

3) Getting the girls ready for school. Bonita is ready to go, all of her stuff has arrived and she should be ready to start on time. She is taking 2 self paced courses this year, which makes me a little nervous as I will have to be the one really keeping her accountable. There is some hang up with Linda's stuff, although I have no idea what that is and can't seem to find anyone who does. The girls and I will be in town for a total of 2 days between Saturday and when school starts (and we will be in NC when they start school), so I need to get Linda's stuff worked out ASAP!

4) AIM has a BIG project that I am working on that needs to be completed on the next 2 weeks. Normally its the kind of project I would enjoy, if I didn't have a million other things going on. Its very time consuming, and means I am not sleeping much.

5) Selling my house. It has to be spotless clean all the time in case anyone wants to come see it. Apparently, the girls and I are kinda messy. :)

6) Getting my finances together to be ready to buy/sell a house and still not go broke.

7) Training for a half marathon. I have to admit, this one is last on my priority list and has gotten pushed aside several times. I am committed to doing this, though, so the training must happen!!!

WHEW! Can you see why I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed? I also have my newsletter to write, several support raising trips in the coming weeks, the fall season of Kid Club to prepare for, and 2 teenage girls living with me that (for some reason) actually need to eat 3 times a day.

So, if you think about it, say a little prayer for me. :) (And everyone that has to deal with me, haha). Everything on my list is totally worth the stress, its just one of those crazy times.

Off to God's Girls prep!! :)

God's Girls Day 1 :)

So, today was the first day of God's Girls, and it was GREAT! We had 12 girls and they are all so beautiful and wonderful. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do!! I honestly had to hold myself back from crying a few times as I looked around at these incredible young women. As we talked about how we see ourselves and how GOD sees us, I was heartbroken to hear them talk about the way they see themselves. The lies of the world get into our heads so easily!! It was a HUGE blessing and privileged to share with them the truth...they are PERFECT!! (Ezekiel 16:13-14).

We also had a lot of fun, laughing as we talked about, well girly things. :) I think its really weird for several of the girls who have only known me as their Kids Club leader. They are used to me singing silly songs and talking about my cat. Now, they are listening to me talk about our bodies and boys. Its going to take some getting used to for them!!

So, day 1 is over and I am VERY excited for day 2. Many of these girls have older sisters who were God's Girls, so I am REALLY excited to get to know them for THEM, and not as so and so's little sister. I forgot how much fun God's Girls can be!

For those of you who are wondering, here is an overview of the day:

What do we do on DAY 1?

The girls choose their supplies, each one getting a folder, highlighter, pen, pencil (which say God's Girl on them!), journal, and a bag.

We quickly got started with introductions, reminders to be kind and respectful, and prayer time. The girls each select a brand new Bible to keep too! They use their new Bible throughout the program, so we give it out on the first day.

We then dove right into our first topic: Beauty.

The girls each draw their version of a beautiful woman, this is always fun! Then we dive into God's word to see what HE has to say about beauty...
We have the girls take some time to focus on their own unique traits...After a healthy snack break, we begin with our discussion about modesty. We talk not only about dressing modestly but also acting modestly (flirting and such). The most fun is when the girls jot down their notes on our lovely stick woman...
I lead them through the different areas of dress and some tips and suggestions for how to maintain modesty.
The 3 hours went by way too fast (as always), and it was really fun! The girls are great, they were really kind and attentive (they aren't always that way, so that was nice). Now, we get ready for Day 2 tomorrow!!

Where is the Self-Control???

Well, this wasn't the God's Girls post I expected to write today, but I read this article and HAD to write something about it. Before I go on, you need to read this:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538701,00.html?test=latestnews

I read this first thing this morning (it was a pretty prominent article on Foxnews.com) and I became pretty upset. Okay, borderline furious. No wonder God's Girls is so hard for me!!!

First, the title was just annoying. It should be: "Can't Wait for Sex? Actually, yes you can!". Why aren't churches teaching that it is possible to wait instead of how to get around waiting??

Next, the following statistic FLOORED me: "More than 93 percent of adults 18 to 23 who are in romantic relationships are having sex, according to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. For conservative Protestants in relationships and active in their faith, it's almost 80 percent." WHAT?!? I was actually in a very committed relationship at that age, and we were most definitely NOT having sex. I knew many people around us were, but I had no idea that it was THAT many. I'm a 29 year old virgin...apparently I'm about as rare as seeing the Lochness Monster...seriously.

After getting over that shock, I continued to read on o discover that many Christians have given up on the idea of waiting and have decided to promote young marriage so that we can protect one another from sexual sin. Apparently, that is more dangerous than entering into a bad marriage. Really?? That's what we want to promote??

To me, this is the equivalent of: "Is Marriage too hard? Get a divorce and start over!". Seriously. If we are saying that when things get to hard, stop fighting, then what are we setting people up for?? I am floored and frustrated with the idea that people think that asking young people to wait until they are married, which for some may mean waiting until their late 20's or into their 30's (ahem, ME!), or possibly wait forever, is somehow "asking too much". Come on! We are not the ones setting this standard, GOD is! And He makes is very CLEAR in His Word that this standard is POSSIBLE and WORTH WHILE!!! Why aren't we teaching that?!?

Now, I'm not saying that I am against marrying young. I have many friends who did and have wonderful marriages. I also have many friends who did and had to battle through 4 or 5 years of their marriages because it was HARD, and many of them now say they wish they had waited. I'm not promoting one over the other. However, I do believe (strongly) that God has a different plan for everyone. For some its marriage at 20, for others its not until 35. Either way, God calls us to seek Him and His plan, not our own.

The idea that marriage is a simple solution to waiting for sex is absolutely ludicrous. Yes, once you are married you no longer have to wait, so that part of the battle is over. However, marriage is HARD. I have enough married friends to know that no matter how wonderful your spouse is, you will face some very hard times with them. You have to be ready to battle through the hard times. If you couldn't battle through those hard times before you got married, how are you going to stay strong in your marriage? (Of course, God is a redeeming God, so I am not saying that if you mess up before you are married, that your marriage is doomed. Not at all! I'm simply saying that if you have the mindset that the battle is too hard so you have to find a way out, you might be in trouble). Once you're married, there is no "way out", you have to have the perseverance to fight. We need to be teaching that...perseverance...not giving up.

Okay, at this point, I have to talk about 1 Corinthians 7. In it, Paul very clearly states that, "But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion." (verse 9). This verse would seem to support the main argument of the article, that if its too hard to wait, then you should just get married. And in some ways, it kinda does.

However, it also ignores the first part of Paul's statement. In verse 8, Paul states, "But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I". Paul is making it clear that it is GOOD to stay single, and POSSIBLE because he himself is doing it! Its only if you can NOT exercise self control should you get married. Here is a point that I think is missed... self-control is a fruit of the spirit. If we are in Christ, then the Spirit is in us, and that Spirit produces fruit. The Spirit produces self-control. The Spirit makes it possible for us to exercise self-control; to wait.

The other part that is ignored, are verses 10-12 that make is VERY clear that you shouldn't get a divorce. So, if you decide that self-control is too much for you, then you are making a commitment that you can NOT turn back on. Again, when God has called you to get married, this isn't a problem. However, if you are simply seeking marriage as a way out of chastity, you are in trouble.

And clearly, the whole idea of "Can't wait, get married" isn't exactly working. The divorce rate among Christians is exactly the same as that of the rest of the world, and is actually significantly higher than that of atheists. Of course, many atheists probably aren't in a rush to get married since there isn't anything keeping them from sex. Still, this should tell us something. When someone, Christian or not, WAITS until they are ready for the COMMITMENT of marriage, and for the person they want to choose to commit to, the marriage is stronger and lasts. When they rush into it because hormones or fear are driving the decision, is much harder to make it work long term.

The problem, in my opinion, is not sex, its perseverance. Our culture today does make it MUCH harder to wait, and the older you get, the harder the waiting becomes (believe me, I understand that!!). But, that doesn't mean that we should be finding a way out, it means we should be digging deeper with God and seeking Him even more fervently.

If we teach people to persevere and to seek and trust in GOD, where can we go wrong??

When did it become okay to come up with our own life plans and solutions to problems? When did we stop seeking the Lord and start seeking self-help books and ideas that will "work for us"?

What happens when the incredible sex life that we expect after getting married isn't actually what we get?? What happens when the sex isn't enough to keep the marriage going, especially in the face of financial troubles, or even physical and emotional temptation outside the marriage?? (We haven't even talked about the rate of affairs among Christians!) Sometimes all we're left with is perseverance.

The bottom line is, if we choose to avoid self-control, we are in big trouble. And that, in my opinion, is what we, as Christians, really need to be talking about.

I'm more unique than I thought...and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one

How's that for a blog title?? Its the first thought that came to mind as I was thinking about what I wanted to update everyone on, so there you go!

So, I haven't been on the blog much recently, and that is mainly due to busyness. The girls and I spent a day in New York City last week and had an AMAZING time. We saw a lot of cool things, and the girls were absolutely WONDERFUL despite walking over 3 hours because we kept getting turned around (in 90 degree weather). They didn't complain once!! We saw Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Chinatown, and a bunch of other random stuff as we wandered around lost for a while. We also saw the broadway show "Avenue Q" which, despite what the website advertises, is NOT appropriate for anyone under the age of 18. Whoops. At least it led to a really good discussion about what the world thinks is acceptable verses what God says. And thankfully, the girls did NOT enjoy the inappropriate parts of the show. (There were some good moments too, so it wasn't a total loss. At least, that's what I keep telling myself). Kirsten took a ton of pictures, but she hasn't given me any yet (my camera is broken), so I will post them later!

The other big news is that my house is finally on the market. AHHHH!!! I decided on a realtor (and I am VERY happy with my decision), they came out on Friday to sign papers and take pictures, and now we just pray and wait! They were SO impressed with how nice my house looks and even bumped the asking price up by $6000 based on how nice it looks. The girls and I worked non-stop on Thursday and Friday getting the house ready, and it really paid off! (Again, the girls did not complain AT ALL about any of the work. I am becoming more and more impressed with them every day). You can check out the listing here. Of course, not we have to keep the house clean all the time so we are ready if anyone wants to come and see it. Again, the girls are being a huge help with me in that! We are really praying that it will sell soon so we can get settled into our new home! (They saw the size of their new room and they are ready to go now!).

Saturday was the church picnic and I didn't want to go (too much to do), but I am SO SO glad that I did!!! Its an all day thing (10 a.m.-7 p.m.) and its usually a lot of fun. In fact, its the girls favorite day of the year (seriously), so I knew I had to go. We have it at a local camp ground that has a pool, several playgrounds, a baseball field, a pavilion for eating...basically, tons of stuff to do all day long. It was a gorgeous day outside as well, so overall it was a GREAT picnic.

I honestly don't know what the girls did most of the day. I saw them some in the pool, playing with their friends, and some when we were eating (again, they were with their friends). I spent literally the entire day surrounded by kids. And...it was AWESOME!!!!!!! Every where I went my name was being yelled and I had kids asking me to play with them. I spent almost 3 hours in the pool alone playing basketball, letting them carry me around, flipping kids, and just basically giving attention to any kid that wanted it (which were a lot!). K, an absolutely adorable 3 year old that I can't get enough of, was even refusing to get in the water until I came to play with him!

I think I had one conversation with adults, and I did spend some time with some teens, but every other minute was spent running all over the place with a kid...or 2...or 10. One of my friends sent me this facebook message after the picnic, "I didn't get a chance to say hi- you dashing across fields from one play ground to another." Haha, whoops! Did I mention that I LOVED it?? Cause I really really did! It was the best church picnic I've ever been to.

It never once occurred to me that it might be weird to some people that I would want to hang out with kids all day. Near the end of the picnic we usually have fun kids games...water balloon toss, sack race, etc. My friend J decided at that time that he wanted to start a volleyball game (I LOVE to play volleyball!!). He asked if I wanted to play and I of course said yes, but only after the kids games. They are WAY too much fun to miss! Anyway, the kids games ended up lasting until the end of the picnic (they were started after dinner), so I missed the entire volleyball game. As we were leaving, J mentioned something to me about missing the game and I replied that I was having way too much fun with the kids. He looked at me kinda funny and said "whatever" (not in a mean way at all) and that's when it hit me. He genuinely did not understand why in the world I would rather watch kids throw water balloons than play a really fun game of volleyball with adults. At the same time, I couldn't understand why anyone would start a volleyball game when all the really fun stuff was going on!

Thankfully, J and I are good enough friends that we can just accept our differences and still be friends, but it was really eye opening to me. It was one of the few times that I have really been able to see, and start to grasp, what God has called me to. Obviously, I really like kids and love working with them, but I never really thought that my love for kids was any different that anyone else's. At the picnic, I finally saw (better late than never, right?) that God has given me an incredible love for them that could NEVER come from me. He has given me a unique heart for the kids in my neighborhood; one that leads me to want to see them all the time, miss them when I don't see them, pray for them regularly, want to act silly so I can make them smile, want to see them know God in amazing ways...want to give everything I can just so they can know just how much their heavenly Father adores them.

And I know I'm not the only one with a unique, God-given heart for things. J has a passion for adults and while I could go the entire picnic without talking to any, he spent the entire time trying to talk to everyone. F has a passion for people struggling with addiction and while I wouldn't even begin to know what to say or so to help someone, his phone rings off the hook with people wanting to talk to him and get help from him. I know so many people that are so passionate about things that I just don't understand. I just didn't realize I was one of those people.

Its been 2 years since Carisa stepped down from Kids Club, yet Saturday was the first time I really started think that maybe I'm actually called to this role, not just a fill in because Carisa was needed somewhere else. Just maybe...

Okay, in a completely different note, God's Girls starts tomorrow! I am going to post about that tomorrow, but I would appreciate some extra prayer this week. God's Girls is traditionally the hardest week of the year for me as satan usually comes after me at full force. I teach the girls about their beauty in Christ as well as God's plan for their lives as the pure and spotless bride of Christ. The enemy doesn't want them to hear that and bombards me with lies that are, at times, extremely difficult to fight. I am one of, if not the only example of a woman who is waiting for the man God has for her (i.e. a virgin, and someone who doesn't date around) that any of these girls know...and the enemy knows exactly how to get me to doubt myself and even doubt God. I get beat up pretty bad, spiritually, every year (especially when we talk about our future husbands). Again, I will post more later, but I would appreciate your prayers this week!!

I would also really appreciate some extra prayer for Linda and Bonita as there is a lot of pressure on them too. They are former God's Girls and current Ms. Trish's goddaughters who live with her, and everyone knows it (they are also Kids Club leaders, so all of the incoming God's Girls know them well, and know their relationship with me). A lot of younger girls are paying a lot of attention to their every move, which is a lot of pressure, though they are handling it all extremely well so far. Still, I know the enemy is after them as well, so please help me surround them and fight for them!!