Almost The End

And somehow, it all comes to a close. It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here at 11:45 on our last night of camp. Our last night of hearing all the shouts and laughter from the campers. Our last night of lights out. Wow.

I'll start with last week I guess. It sure has been a busy last two weeks. Week 6 we had 96 campers total, our largest all summer. And as large as it was and more stressful than the others, I loved it. So many dynamics and the group grew together so fast. We had almost zero problems with adults or campers and that was fabulous. I loved going out on site visits, I even got to jump in on a devotion time and have lunch with some campers! Our campers were such a blessing and even in our cozy little program space God moved like never before. I got to watch kids surrender to the Lord two times last week and every time I'm blown away. The power of God is way beyond what I expect. Every. Single. Time.

We did have a lovely visit from the Dr. Workcamp himself, Toby Rowe. One of the best things about this job is that we have such wonderful support from Group in Loveland. Toby is no exception. Some people might feel strange about having your boss just show up and visit your work but I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time. Toby is just one of those guys that is so easy to related to and is so real with people and he has an incredible sense of humor. WHSAN considers themselves lucky to have been graced with a full 24 hours of Toby's presence. It was a good pick me up to go into our last week and 1/2.

We ended last week completely exhausted however, Kaitlyn physically being sick and myself being emotionally drained. Thankfully we got two nights in a doubletree hotel room (thanks to Toby) and got to "relax" on the weekend with SeaWorld, Lucha Libre, and a day at Mission Beach. I can't get enough of San Diego.

This week was set up to be a challenge. Even before the group got here I knew they would be different to work with. This week was a (dun dun dun...) CUSTOM CAMP. It's like a swear word. I wouldn't be surprised if God loved putting customs in my way so that I am tested just a little bit further. This group was so kind and definitely have the right intentions there's just a significant language/cultural barrier. We had a Korean group from Irvine, CA. Basically they were so laid back that it seemed to me that they didn't care and didn't listen to anything I said. They switched things around all the time, I never could keep track of how many campers were actually present because people kept coming and going, and they were late to EVERYTHING. Like seriously, I know you're laid back but lights out means you're asleep at 11. Don't mess with my sleep.

I think I realized though that it didn't really matter. If they were having a good experience why did it matter to me that they were late, or didn't think their girls could actually do any physical labor, or kept switching crews without telling us. Their decisions only affected them so if they wanted to serve seaweed at breakfast, why not?! I definitely didn't feel a part of this camp because they were already in community but even just our few touch points I found connections and commonalities between us. They were difficult to work with but a pleasure to talk with.

Low point of my summer? Hitting a palm tree. Yes. I hit another tree. Although this time it's just a scratch. But then the following day (today) I got a ticket for "texting and driving" aka using my phone at a stoplight, I guess that's illegal in California. Needless to say, I was a hot mess.

Best God Sighting I've heard so far? Week 6, the salty pea.
Me- Do you have any God Sightings today?
Camper- So today we were at the garden and we ate some peas and I got this pea that was SO salty. I mean I put salt on all the other peas and they still tasted normal but this pea was SO salty.
Me- (Not even trying to hide the laughter) And how did you see God in that?
Camper- I mean, it was the ONLY salty pea. I got the only salty pea! (He was seriously so excited about this)
Me- Well if you saw God in it that's great... Thanks for sharing.

Other great God Sighting: "Today we saw a dog and realized that dog is God spelled backwards."
My response: I'm glad you learned something today.
My thought: Wow...You're so observant. I'm glad you can spell...

More to come, I promise.

A Gentle Reminder

This is just a quick one but I felt like I had to share...

So as of late April one of my best friends and I decided to make a pact with ourselves and God that we would focus on Him instead of finding a boyfriend. Too many times we found ourselves talking about our singleness or dwelling on getting the perfect guy and we realized that we're not going to find anyone close to good enough if God isn't the center of our lives. We needed to be the one, not find the one. And so, I find myself in the middle of this pact that involves not dating until I finish reading the Bible. Call me crazy, but I've really enjoyed it. I may only be in Exodus right now (2nd book of the Bible) but I'm learning a lot and I wanted to share with all of you something God is teaching me right now. The following is my journal entry from tonight.

The cool things about reading the Bible is that you can just pick it up, it's totally acceptable to write in it (encouraged really!), and it's a living book. It's a book that guides me, teaches me, and sometimes just hits me square in the face. For example, I got some quiet time on Sunday morning and was reading the beginning of Exodus when it hit me how God used Moses. When God appoints Moses to the enormous task of bringing His people out of Egypt, Moses replies that he was never an eloquent speaker and this job of going to talk to the Pharaoh of all people might not be for him. He refutes God's call. Then the Lord ends the conversation with "Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."(Exodus 4:12). It wasn't about what Moses could or couldn't do, it was about what God had planned, what God was going to do with Moses. God worked beyond Moses' weaknesses to bring the entire nation of Israel out of Egypt. If God can do that, he can certainly work above and beyond my weaknesses. Just like when I finish a program and begin to think about all the things I did or didn't say, all the things I did wrong, all the things I shouldn't have said, God already has a plan. No matter how many times I doubt it, He will reign no matter what I do. I am the vessel, He has all the power. All I need to do is trust in that.

Shoes

It's hard to believe how much time has passed, feels like yesterday I was in the middle of deal with difficult people and now we just finished our best camp yet! Ill start out with a run down of last week. 

Basically, we didn't even try to get this youth leader to follow the schedule. Despite multiple reminders about the 4th of July their group still came back at 1 am that night. I was so happy to see the back of their vans on Friday morning. What did happen though is that as the week went on I started paying less attention to the overwhelmingly large North Dakota group and began to interact with the other three and realized that they were actually having a good time. Once I began to see things clearer I could notice the value there was in not letting the ND group and how I felt about them affect how camp was run. Those three groups were some of my favorites yet. We went to the fireworks show with one, got $10 Starbucks grift cards from another, and got taken out to breakfast by the third on Friday morning. In the end we were so blessed by the other groups that the large one didn't even matter anymore. I'm really thankful for that change in perspective. 

This week was the best yet. We had 4 equally sized groups and 67 wonderfully kind and serving hearts. I was overwhelmed by the way these campers came together this week to serve with patience and dedication. It was great! Both Kaitlyn and I were blessed by the enthusiasm and energy of the adult leaders, their leadership helped our camp so much. It was a joy to serve these campers rather than the work it can sometimes be. We also had the wonderful opportunity to work with Nicole, who served as our volunteer this week and was just hired to work full time at Group. We had a great time showing her the ropes of Week of Hope and getting some quality bonding time with the newbie. She was so great. Nicole brought an energy and joy to this week that I feel like I had lost from doing this for so long and she was a great reminder of what it looks like to serve God and serve others whole-heartedly. I am really going to miss her and the rest of the campers from this week. 

One incredible thing that happened this week was Wednesday night. I feel like this was the first week that God not only moved in the lives of campers but also in my life. For the first time this summer I got to sit and watch His work unfold as people stayed in the chapel for over and hour after program, talking, receiving prayer, and all of that. I also got a chance to talk with one youth leader and have a conversation I never would have expected. At first Kat really intimidated me, she's got a very short way of talking and is a little rough around the edges but I realized Wednesday that her heart is very heavy but oh so soft. She got to talking to me about how the theme was hitting her and all the things she and her family were struggling with and then asked how she could pray for me. A) just cool. Why pay attention to me? Your kids need you more. So of course I got to talking to her about my future and how it very much scares me and how I don't know where I should be going and etc etc. She explained how she also had those feelings in college and someone told her this analogy that I'm telling you all: Jesus wants to buy us shoes. So he takes us to a shoe store and says "Buy some shoes." He doesn't say buy the red ones, or the Velcro ones, or the ones with the light up stars. He says "Buy shoes" and we get to pick. It's our choice and when we're serving The Lord and following the Word then the shoes we pick don't matter, it's the heart that does the work through the shoes that does. B) wow. Most of you know how much I've struggled with this and how little peace I've had about the direction my path is going and how I love analogies. Kat's words spoke straight into my heart and not only that she prayed over me. I'm so appreciative of her and her caring heart that even with everything she is going through she took the time to sit with me and give me someone to talk to. She might not have given me all the answers but she brought me a lot of peace. That's what happens when you let God use you. 

These last few weeks are gonna be tough ones. Kaitlyn and I are definitely feeling the stress and need a good amount of sleep and God in order to make it and make it strong.  

"We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thessalonians 1:3

A dark (but still quality!) picture of Kaitlyn and our favorite youth group from week 3, watching fireworks from the top of the van!

Getting the chance to watch the sun set on Tuesday night!

When the going gets tough...

"Ohhh...there's that feeling of camp stress again. I gotchu God, I see you."- Me after campers left morning program.

So my first two weeks went by pretty smoothly, surprisingly so and I was definitely questioning how God was challenging me those first week. It's almost like God knew that I would let my guard down a bit! I was thinking this camp week would be easy, I was uneasy about the fact one group would account for 2/3 of our camp but I convinced myself it would be okay because they were from North Dakota/Minnesota and those are nice people! I don't even know what I was thinking. These campers are still high schoolers, we're all still humans. Enter aggravating youth leader.

Warning: This next paragraph is a venting paragraph.

Honestly my first impression of this guy was good. He seemed nice, like he had it all together, he had all his forms and everything. Sunday with him went just fine but then on Monday morning we noticed things were a bit off. Problem A) He decided not to show up to morning program. Problem B) One of his leaders asked for the shower times to be changed to all girls and all boys shower times to guard the minds of the teenage boys. So we fixed problem B and changed the shower times for the entire camp and I thought problem A was just because he had something he had to address and that's fine. I understand that once. Except he then just did whatever he wanted to this morning as well and skipped the majority of program and decided to leave right after and not report to the main youth leader touchbase. Cool dude. Don't get a blessing from us, I won't take offense. Problem C) After program Monday night everyone was told they could take as much time as they needed in the chapel to process, pray, whatever. Mr youth leader then proceeds to stand up, tell his entire youth group to stay in the chapel, and then talk to whoever he wanted to talk to. Seriously? There are other people that want to take the activity seriously. If you don't, then leave the program when it's over. While all the other groups were herded out of there I stayed to clean up like usual and he has the nerve to ask us to leave. THIS IS NOT YOUR CAMP! Problem D) Our volunteers found said youth leader outside of his work location today on his laptop while all of his crew members were inside doing their job unsupervised. Why even pay to come all the way to San Diego if you're just going to be on your laptop. Seriously, man. What is your problem? The fact that this guy has 40 other people following his lead is absolutely aggravating to me because he is completely missing the point of this trip. It's almost like he cares more about being in charge than actually doing the work.

Moral of this story is we're struggling, I'm struggling. It's hard to love on someone who doesn't want to participate fully in everything and isn't respecting others' wishes to enjoy the program. It's frustrating because he doesn't really talk to us and he gives off this vibe like he doesn't really care what we think. I have yet to find a way to address all of these problems but hopefully I will by the time everyone comes back this afternoon. I know God has a bigger plan in all of this but right now my blood is boiling.

My prayers this week are obviously centered around this problem. That God would give all of us redshirts patience and love to deal with these problems with Godly grace, that we would still be able to minister to the other 3 youth groups that are here and enjoying themselves, and that God would consistently be teaching us and we would be malleable in his hands. He is greater than all things.

Some days it hits me harder than other how blessed I am with the people God has placed around me and today is no different. We are blessed with two of the most willing and kind and experienced redshirts yet, (sorry dad!) one of them who is a youth leader and a mom and extremely supportive of us. And even in my frustration I'm reminded of the wonderful support of my summer staff friends and my friends back home. Today I thank God for Lauren, for reminding me to "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer." (Romans 12:12) I'm thankful that even when I'm a little homesick and a lot frustrated I'm still an extremely blessed daughter of God.

Two down!

Well. I can now say we are done with two weeks of camp. By now we're definitely into the swing of things. I'm so thankful I have a partner like Kaitlyn, I don't know how I got so lucky two years in a row! I'm loving on my partner, this location, and (almost) everything about camp life. You know I can always use more sleep... :) 

This past week was great. The only issues we had were logistical things that together Kaitlyn and I were able to solve (really it was all Kaitlyn though). We were blessed with 5 awesome youth groups this week who were positive and flexible all week. I'm going to miss them a lot. 

After these first two weeks I'm pretty surprised at how I'm feeling. The challenges this summer are not as obvious as past summer and I don't know if its because I'm less stubborn than I was last year or God is challenging me to see things in a different way. I have realized that my role is way more supportive of Kaitlyn than I was of Caitlyn last year. She needs a lot more support not because she is less competent but because the logistics of Week of Hope San Diego are way more involved than the Indy camp and most of that I don't know how to do. I think this is going to require me to be more on top of my game so that I can be available for Kaitlyn. 

This week my dad was our volunteer (HTM) as well as two other girls so we were over staffed. It was honestly great to have 3 HTMs because everything got done without a lot of stress and we all worked together quite well. I loved having my dad here because now he knows exactly what I do in the summers and he can see why I love it so much. Even though we didn't get a whole lot of time together we still got to escape to Starbucks for a few minutes and handle a few issues together. I'm so thankful for the man I'm lucky to call my dad. Even though I know it was hard for him to step back and let me be the leader I'm so glad he got to work with me this week. And it also helped that all the kids and adults loved him :)

I can't wait to see what God has in store for the rest of the summer but I'm trusting he has some valuable lessons for us along the way!

It's been a while

Since I haven't blogged for a while I figured it was time to catch everyone up. 

So we made it to San Diego... Yay! Not like there was ever any doubt. I realize that a lot of things have happened since I last updates but we've been busy to say the least. 

Leaving Colorado was quite hard. And it seems impossible that that was only two weeks ago but it was. Saying goodbye to the rest of the summer staffers was not something I wanted to do but I was so ready to get our California adventure started. It's a good thing we'll see most of our friends at the end of the summer :) Travel week went smoothly, very few glitches during our road trip and so much beauty. Sometimes we just wanted to stop and gawk at all the different things we were going through: mountains, deserts, hills, rivers, forest, cliffs, the colors of Colorado, the reds of Utah, it was some pretty awesome stuff. Getting to San Diego though was the highlight. It was like home and we had just gotten there! 

The welcome we received from our local coordinator and our facility host was fabulous. I knew instantly we were going to have a lot of support from them with any trip ups we might encounter this summer. I could rave on and on about our lodging host AND site leader Susie, but I won't. Basically she spoils us like a grandma would: cookies, brownies, chocolate covered strawberries, yes please! Set up flew by and sooner than we knew it camp was starting!

We were caught a little off guard on Sunday but this week went by with way more free time than I expected. Kaitlyn and I did a great job at getting all we needed to done before lights out so we too got 6-7 hours of sleep a night! It was fabulously unexpected. We were blessed with an adult leader who stepped up and took control of the kitchen for us which took a lot off our shoulders. Greg was absolutely our God sighting this week. We only had 30 campers so we had a nice easy start into the summer, great adults, great campers, the only thing that could've been better would have been a worship team but you win some, you lose some. 

This weekend my dad came into town and we went kayaking by the shores of La Jolla. It was fabulous. Beautiful day, great people, and the ocean was fabulous. It was nice to finally do something just because we wanted to and we were in San Diego. Kaitlyn even got seasick and threw up 5 times... No big deal ;)

My dad is in town to be one of our hospitality team members this week. I'm stoked he's here. Now he gets to fully understand what it is I do in the summer and why I love it so much. I think it was a good break for him too, he's just not getting as much sleep as he thought he would!

I think that's all I have time for at the moment but I promise I'll post again soon. These beginning weeks have been a bit crazy for us but we're getting there. Until next time!

Don't Blink...

And all of a sudden it's Saturday. Whoa. It seems like yesterday the trainers were all gathering to prepare for the incoming summer staff and now we're almost ready to send them into the real world. I'm (unsurprisingly) sentimental about this! I've grown pretty close with this wonderful group of Program Leaders and it feels strange to me that just tomorrow we'll be starting our cross country adventures to our locations. We're all gonna be separated! But I realized last night when I was passing out everyone's hard earned red shirts, they're ready. These Program Leaders have worked their butts off memorizing, practicing, learning, asking endless questions, and now they get to fly on their own. I'm excited to hear all the stories of their greatness and how the Lord used them to influence the thousands of campers they have this summer. Hard to let them go, but I can't wait to see what they do!

As for me, it hasn't quite hit me yet that I'm going to San Diego. Yes, I'm obviously really excited about it, but I still have this strange mentality that I know what I'm doing. (And now that I've said that God's surely going to show me that I do not.) I don't think I'll fully grasp what I'm doing this summer until I get to our church. This is a new summer with new groups, new youth, new program, new everything, and God is going to challenge me in different ways. I just pray I can rely fully on him for all I need this summer.

On another note, this is my address this summer:
Week of Hope San Diego
Elisabeth Heinen
8111 Orange Ave.
La Mesa, Ca 91942

There is a Starbucks across the street... wink wink nudge nudge ;)

SAN DIEGO

Let me just start off by saying, I'M GOING TO SAN DIEGO! Not to rub it in or anything, but I'm going to San Diego!! I'm so excited for this opportunity to be able to serve in such a beautiful location I can hardly even put it into words. That and the fact that my dad is going to be serving as our volunteer for week two is pretty stinking exciting.
However, as stoked as I am to be spending the summer in San Diego, probably the best part of this summer will be that I get to spend it working with Miss Kaitlyn Gathje! I think I must have a thing for Caitlyn/Kaitlyns from the midwest, or God just thinks he's really funny by giving me another partner named Kaitlyn. Prepared to be confused my friends, Caitlyn and Kaitlyn are two different people! But I am really excited about being able to spend the summer with Kaitlyn. Even in just the first few days together I can tell we're going to make a great team, eating chocolate, being sarcastic, loving on San Diego, and following the Lord.
That being said, let the training commence! The past week here in Colorado has been a bundle of fun and hard work at the same time. As trainers, we arrived on Wednesday the 22nd and worked hard preparing these two weeks of training, loading equipment, planning out our position training times, practicing program, and just generally making sure everything was ready for the rest of the summer staffers! Monday was all excited with our location and partner announcements and all but Tuesday quickly followed. While the program presentations were troublesome and obviously very nerve wracking I think we have a lot of potential in these program leaders. I'm so excited for them and the leadership they bring to week of hope and the passion for the lord that they have. These program leaders are gonna rock it! Of course I'll be pushing them hard and we still have a lot of work to do. But they are SO capable and definitely the cream of the cream of the crop. I can't wait to hear about all the wonderful ways God uses them this summer!
These next few weeks are going to be crazy and hard and intimidating but I can't wait to see what God does with my seven full weeks in San Diego.
One thing I ask of all you wonderful people reading this is that you would pray for Kaitlyn and I. Pray for our relationship to be strengthened in Christ and that we would be prepared for the challenging summer ahead. Also, I ask that you would keep 1 Thessalonians 1:3 in mind. We talked about it and prayed this verse over each other this morning in our devotion and I think it is just so fitting for this summer that is just beginning:
"We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
My prayer this summer (and maybe you'll want to pray this for us too!) is that our work is not done out of selfish consideration but an outpouring of our faith in the Lord; that our work that turns to labor continues to show the love of God and the love we have for him; and lastly that as our labor turns to the need for endurance (as in week 6/7) that we would be reminded and inspired by the hope we have in Christ Jesus.

San Diego. Get ready.

Summer Staff: Round 2

I can say right now, I'm way more excited for this summer than I was last year at this point. If you all reminisce with me, about a year ago my family and I were wrapping things up in Minnesota after my Grandma's passing and I was a hot mess of emotions. But last summer proved to be way more than I could've ever expected, God stretched me in incredible ways and I can hardly begin to describe the ways in which He strengthened my faith in Him. I headed back to school in August exhausted after my summer adventures, but full of stories about how I experienced God's grace, strength, and peace as well as a new best friend.
Now as I'm sitting in my kitchen, only 6 short days from heading to good ol' Colorado, I'm very much anticipating the challenges God will bring this summer. I know there are going to be early mornings, late nights, days where I can hardly imagine doing program, moments where everything seems to fall apart, and so many other taxing things but through all of it God will teach me. He will teach me how to follow Him, rely on Him, and be able to stand for Him even when all I want to do is sleep. I'm so looking forward to all the ups and downs that come with being a summer staffer.
Two things I know for sure that will be different are my partner and my role during training. There's very good chance that the only time I'll be seeing Caitlyn this summer is during training and that's just something I need to get over. Sure, she was a big reason why last summer was so incredible but that doesn't make this summer any less awesome. I'll just have someone else to laugh with when I do stupid things like clear the details from an entire camp week (reason #1 I'm not a Project Leader!). The other thing, is that this year I get the responsibility of being the Program Leader Trainer. Super awesome and intimidating at the same time. It's going to make training a lot more interesting than last year that's for sure! I know that by the time we all leave Colorado everyone will be ready to rock program and call youth leaders and order food but I'm not sure how that's going to happen! It'll be an adventure for us all! :)
Is my program memorized like it was last year? Nope, we're not quite there yet. Do I know where I'm spending my summer? Nope. Although both my parents know since my Dad is joining me for week 2 as my HTM! Am I ready for another incredible summer of serving our awesome God? Absolutely. One thing remains: God still (somehow) trusts me to run camps, train others, and be a representative of Him to all the students and adults I'll be in contact with this summer. He's in charge, I'm just pointing people to Him.