Living The Camp Life

It was college spring break and with no money or plans, I tagged along with my parents to the annual Christian camping conference. I spent most of the week walking along Lake Michigan, napping, laughing with camp staff and attending sessions.

At the time I had no plans of someday joining the ranks of full-time Christian camping professionals but God did. So here I am, 8 years later (8 years?! How did I get so OLD?!) attending that same conference.
So... a few highlights!

We're camp people. It's what we do. 

1. This year I was asked to present a seminar! And not just one but two, one with a co-worker and one on my own. I struggled with feeling inadequate and unqualified until some wise people spoke truth over my insecurity and challenged me to banish those thoughts. The preparation process was BRUTAL. February and March are typically 2 of the hardest months of the year for a myriad of reasons and this year has been even harder than I anticipated.

I tend to have high expectations for myself and as a result I burned more emotional energy worrying and fretting about doing the workshop well than actually preparing. In the end both seminars went so well and I loved teaching. The response from other attendees was really positive and affirming. Yay!

Title slide from my workshop on theme integration in camping ministry. The whole workshop was spy themed.  

2. It's a family business. If Christian camping had celebrities, my dad would be one. Having both my parents, sister and even my Nana also working at Christian camps meant they were at the conference. My sweet Nana even came to my workshop to support and cheer for me!

3. Unique friendships and heart to hearts. Beth is a friend I met through the camp world. We were both women who started as program directors and got married in the same year. Now she's moved up to an Associate Director and has a baby but the chance to sit down and talk over a meal once (or maybe twice if we're lucky) a year is one of the most life-giving moments of the conference. She just gets it in a way that others can't. Melissa was an intern at the camp where I work when I first got here. She met her husband here and now they both work full-time at another camp, just like my hubby and I. We had a ton of time to talk, laugh, reminisce and encourage one another. We even planned a summer camping trip together! Woohoo!

That's the beauty of the camp world, we're not competitors or rivals, we're supporters, cheerleaders and coaches. There are former neighbors, mentors, babysitters, and co-workers who have moved into another ministry and we get to sit down and connect. It's the body of Christ in the truest sense.

Do you have connection points? Friends in your same stage of life that you can connect with? It's worth it. I'm thankful for this life-giving break in the midst of a crazy season.

She Shares Truth: Psalm 130

I've been in the depths.

Lying on the cold, hard bathroom floor of my college dorm room sobbing to the Lord. My heart was broken and after so many months of stone cold hardness it was crying out to Him.

O Lord, hear my voice! 

Even though it may not sound familiar, it has been a while since I've called to you.

Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. 
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 

Because I know I cannot. The weight of my choices, my sin, my shame has become too much. It drives this stubborn soul to my knees.

Oh, sister. Have you been there? 

And then, a light shines through. Because there is still hope. There is always hope.

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The good news for you and me. The better news? The darkness NEVER WILL overcome the light.

Oh, sister. Have you been there? 

Have you felt the freedom, the joy and the peace that come with forgiveness? In total surrender we find the One worthy of receiving our all. It is not too late. It will never be too late.

I will wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. 

I pick myself up from the bathroom floor or wherever the latest depths have been.

For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 

I am forgiven. Loved. I am redeemed, cleansed, free.

And you are, too. 

So I will live a life of anticipation. I will fear my Lord and wait for him, breathlessly watching for his hand at work.

Will you? Will you chose to live in your identity as forgiven? Will you chose to walk out of that dark place into his glorious light? He hears you. Call out today. There are no depths too deep, no iniquity too dark. 

This post is part of the #SheSharesTruth link up with She Reads Truth. If you are stopping by from there, welcome! As I was writing this I got goosebumps thinking about other women sitting on their computers with their Bibles open pouring over the same verses at the same time. I wrote a little more about the She Reads Truth community on their one year anniversary in this post.

The Word In, Word Out Project

One of my goals in 2014 is to read through the Bible. Although I was raised in a Christian home and work for a ministry it's something I've never actually done and I found myself embarrassed to admit that. I believe in the life-changing power of God's words so why wouldn't I have read them? How could I encourage and exhort others to read their Bibles if I hadn't done it?

The real kicker to my guilt trip was when I finished counting the books I'd read in 2013 and realized it was 103. I'm pretty sure that if I stacked those books up they would be a whole lot bigger than a Bible.

After some digging I dusted off a chronological one-year Bible from high school that I'd started and committed. I haven't necessarily read every day but sitting here at the beginning of March I'm pretty excited to say that I'm all caught up with my reading plan!

Here are a few things I've done to help myself be successful:

1) Invite others to join in. My husband and one of the interns I supervise are also reading through the Bible this year. Accountability is huge!

2) Make it pretty. This is the most frivolous thing but I bought a brightly colored Bible case and special notebook just for the Bible I'm using. It makes it more noticeable and since I have a weird and undying passion for school supplies makes me more excited to use it.

3) Build a routine. Morning person is not a word you'd use to describe me so I do my reading mostly before I go to bed at night. That means my Bible (with case and notebook) sits on my nightstand and I develop a pattern.

4) Apply! The notebook that I've kept for this Bible is just for these readings, not for prayers, personal reflections, lists, or other thoughts. Those things go in my other (pretty) journal. *Sidenote: This is a great excuse to buy more than one notebook if you are a fiend like me!* I'm using colored pens to underline and star verses that stick out to me and to write out things I'm realizing. It's fun to flip back through and see what I'm learning.

The Bible to me isn't just another book for my list so I want to make sure I'm doing more than just reading it. Enter the Word In, Word Out Project. This year I'll capture some of the highlights from my reading that have stood out to me. It might be a verse, lesson, story or simple pondering that I've realized or something that inspired or convicted me.

As the word of God comes in to my life and heart, my prayer is that it would reflect out of me, that the God-breathed words would stir my heart, convict my soul and change my thoughts and action. I hope it does the same for you. Join me in this Word In, Word Out Project?

Beyond Four Walls

It was technically only 4 walls, a box, a shell, a building.

But it was so much more.

It was home. It was dozens of talent shows, hundreds of friends, thousands of meals, millions of memories.

Those 4 walls were literally shelter from the storm. The winds would howl, thunder and lightning rage and we'd ring that big brass bell and run to our safe place. I remember huddling in the basement singing songs and laughing as a camper. Later as the counselor staging impromptu skits, leading the songs and comforting tears.

It was countless chapel sessions, raising my hands in worship with my brothers and sisters, sitting too close in the uncomfortable folding chairs sweating from our arms being pressed together in the summer heat.

Every Thanksgiving we gathered, all 60 of us starting with my great-grandparents to share a meal, a service and to give thanks together. We put together puzzles, played made up game shows, looked through Black Friday ads, ate Grandma's rolls, flew the turkey around the room, turned our tables to face one another, shared our triumphs and struggles from the year and always, always sang the Doxology and Great Is Your Faithfulness.

When a tornado threatened to strike during my high school graduation party it was where we took shelter, grabbing the ice cream bowls, pictures, gifts and running inside to beat the storm.

And after I said, "I Do," it was where we went to celebrate our life as newlyweds. Where 215 of our friends and family gathered together to toast us and wish us well. In those walls my Papa said a prayer for our marriage and I've never felt so very loved by so many people in my life.

On Monday I got a call from my dad at 9am. He was using "that voice," the one I've heard more times than I'd like this year. My dad is terrible at breaking bad news. He sounded burdened, choked up.

"Last night the roof of the Lodge collapsed."

It was totally unexpected and with no warning but this extreme Michigan winter and the weight of the snow proved to be just too much. The Lakeview Lodge is the dining hall at the camp where my parents and sister currently work and I lived at from age 2 till I went to college. It's the place my great-grandfather helped to found and my parents met. It's home.

It's just a building yet that day I cried and mourned as I would the loss of a friend.

Yet, God is still in this. At 6pm there were 150 people in the building and 0 when the roof fell. Insurance will help. Hundreds of supporters of the camp have rallied around them and my parents as they lead through this difficult time. They are my family. People are hearing of this little camp who may not otherwise.

It feels dumb writing a blog post to a building but it's so much more than a building. This will be a story that we get to tell of God's faithfulness. We have seen him work through this building and we know He will do it again. We will continue to sing Great Is Thy Faithfulness. We'll make new memories.

So what I'm learning right now is that when the roof crumbles, the foundation cracks and what you've always known to be steady is no more, He is there.

As the director of the camp, my Dad gets to deal with the brunt of the collapse. As he said to me, "Now is when we get to practice what we preach. When we get to show people that we truly believe and trust."

And as he's told me many a time, "To God be the glory, great things He has done."

103 in 2013

In 2013 I set out to track how many books I read in one year.

Drumroll please... the answer is 103! That wasn't quite as dramatic as I imagined because I gave away the answer in the title. Whoops.

One hundred three books?! Are you kidding me?! I don't know whether to be proud or embarrassed.

Since people have found out that I love to read so much I've been asked what my favorite books of the year have been. While it's hard for me to narrow it down I'll do my best!

Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist
My Pinterest board is Foodie Wannabe so this book spoke my love language, community, real talk and food around the table. I love Shauna's writing style, the way she relates to life and the recipes I've tried have been delicious! If you read it try the vinaigrette, my mother-in-law asked me for the recipe! Score!

Love Does by Bob Goff
After a lot of buzz about this book I was excited to read it but it was so different than I expected, in a good way! Full of short stories of love in action this book was refreshing, fun and light. I laughed, I cried. But really, I did. I actually found myself savoring the chapters and forcing myself to put it down so it would last longer. That's a good book!

Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
Yes, these are written for kids but they are so fun to read! Plus, since I learn new things about Greek mythology with each book I feel like I'm getting cultured as well. The downfall to this series is that I feel like it's never going to end, I'm into the third spin-off and currently I'm reading, "House of Hades". I'm not enjoying nearly as much as the others and find myself wishing it would just wrap up and be over.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio
You caught me, another kids book! Heartwarming would be a good way to describe this, written from different perspectives about a boy who is "different" from the others.

Room by Emma Donoghue
When you find yourself surprised and reading as fast as you can to figure out a book, you know the story has you hooked. Room is so unusual and different from most books and I really enjoyed that.

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
It seems like there are a lot of end of the world and dystopian society books out right now. This book fits the category but does it in a way that is slower and more focused on the people and the story than the action. It was interesting, unusual and had me hooked.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
Switching from past to present and set in England, this book is long but keeps you guessing till the end. It's dramatic, interesting and best enjoyed on a rainy day with a hot cup of tea.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova 
Alice can't remember and it keeps getting worse. While reading this book I felt like I was watching a friend walk down Alice's journey and it stuck with me. This was a fascinating look into Alzheimer's disease in an engaging way.

Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
This book contrasted the beauty of flowers and words with the realities of a hard life. I loved the story, the kindness of people and the way it made me feel hopeful.

If you want to see more of what I've read and my ratings, check out my books list and goodreads. Hopefully this gives you an idea, go pick up a book and if you have any recommendations for me, I'd love to hear!

Pay It Forward

This morning on the radio I heard a story of 50 people choosing to "pay it forward" at Starbucks. It all started with one person who offered to pay for the car behind them and just kept going from there.

I love this story because 1) I love Starbucks, 2) I love the mystery of it all, 3) It restores my faith in humanity, just a little bit.

Did the first person ever even know what they started?

Did order #30 know they were a part of something so big?

Did the last person who ended the cycle know what they had done?

We're all a part of a story bigger than our own and God is the author and creator, the perfecter of our faith.

This holiday season I'm so thankful to be a part of what He is doing and that my life is just one in a string of pay it forwards.

Do you know you're a part of the story, too?

Day Tripping: Art Prize

In college my husband started as an art minor and switched because he wasn't "weird" enough to understand the projects. I am a clumsy crafter so it'd be quite a stretch to say we're art enthusiasts. We are enthusiastic about ArtPrize, Grand Rapids art competition that spans the city for a few weeks each fall.

On a beautiful sunny Monday we drove down to explore! I went to college near Grand Rapids and worked downtown so I'm pretty familiar and love that city. One of my favorite things about ArtPrize is that you get to go into businesses and buildings you wouldn't normally experience, I always find something new!

Here are some of our favorite entries. 

Where else do you see a giant coming out of the earth, mosaic made of sequins and room spun of wool? Did I mention it's FREE?! Add a delicious Thai lunch, local roasted coffee and a fro-yo stop and you've got just about the perfect day. Thanks for being so awesome, Grand Rapids. I'm a fan.