It's been a bit since I last wrote. As always, it's been a bit busy here. We had two set of visitors. My sister, nephew and brother-in-law were here for a few days. Then they left and the very next day we had friends from back home visit. The two kids I babysat in high school and then was a nanny for each summer during my college years and their parents came for a brief but wonderful visit. Wow, it blows my mind that Lauren is going to grow to be that old too. They were just her age a minute ago- what happened? The day after they left LebCamp started.
I'm going to be as honest as I can, because I've never before done work for the Lord and felt so miserable in my life. This is my fourth year of helping out with this camp full time. I have felt so blessed and over come by God's presence each year. This year though I was crawling home begging for sleep, sleep, and more sleep. Yes, I had a good time. Yes, I felt God's presence. Yes, I look back and feel like I was where God called me to be. But I don't know how I did it. I was so sick and so tired and I was putting in 18+ hour days. Thanking God for a wonderful husband, daughter, and good friends who supported me the whole time. Let's just say that next year I won't be taking such an active roll (this year I was co-director)- or I pray God doesn't call me to such an active roll because I just barely made it out alive. (I know I can be a bit dramatic at times, but drama aside I'm telling you the bitter truth here).
I have to add something very important here. Thursday after giving my sh-peal during evening worship one of the youth came up to me. He was visible upset and wanted to talk to me. I pulled him aside and he started telling me how he was in a relationship with a girl. They were the best of friends but he had started feeling more for her. She was off dating other boys and drifting away from him. This was upsetting to him, as it would be to any teenager, and he didn't know what to do. I was praying the whole time for the right words to calm his anxious heart. What I told him, I have to take to heart myself when reflecting back on the week of camp. I told him to rearrange his relationships. Put God first, self second, family third, and friends fourth. If he focused more on God and himself that God would eventually show him the right path. If I put God first that week, which I feel like I did, then God will be sure to help me down the right path for me. So, tired or not, ready to give up and go to bed, I put God's plan first. A plan on pray I continue to carry out.
Still, it took me the better half of last week to recover. And when I was just feeling like life might return to normal...Lauren and I got sick. It started for her on Wednesday with a stuffy nose and yucky boogers and I fell victim to the nasty about 24 hours later. We had planned a nice trip to visit some great friends who live 2.5 hours south of us. Amanda's husband was on a missions trip in Africa (very cool). We decided since it was just a stuffy nose, we'd keep our plans. Well that was the best decision I've made in forever. We had such a great time. She feed me like I queen, we chatted and got caught up and Lauren loved playing with the boys. By the time we left (less than 48 hours later) I felt like a new woman. It was like just getting away from home, the dust bunnies taunting me as they rolled by me, was all I needed to get my feet back on the ground. My head out of the clouds, and my emotions back on track. Oh, I'm so glad we took that small but significant trip.
After getting back home the weekend went well too. Lauren and I played outside in her kiddie pool while Matt took care of our poor lawn (neglected for about a month, it looked like the weeds had taken us over). We just enjoyed ourselves. Then Sunday we enjoyed church and then came home and Lauren and Matt helped me wipe this house into shape. I conquered the upstairs while they battled the downstairs. By the evening I felt like my life wasn't in shambles and I could take whatever the week had coming.
As tired as I was, God found a way to rejuvenate me. In ways I didn't figure he give me the strength, calmness, and stability I was lacking. What an awesome God we have!
So now onto summer, where we relax, kick back, and enjoy the sun...right?
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