.round one.

Ehhh....well I'm struggling with this blogging thing over the summer. Oops. Guess it's because I'm not on the computer all that often, unlike the school year.
I don't think it would be possible for me to sit down and collect all of my thoughts from my 2 1/2 month adventure at camp. This post has been designated at "Round One" since this will probably only cover the most basic lesson that Our Wonderful Creator pounded into my head over the summer. The biggest lesson I learned this summer was DEFINITELY on judgment. It is SO easy for us to look at people different than us and label them as weird, different, less than us.....SO EASY. Even when living in a community where judging others' abilities/differences is at an extreme minimum, it still happens. One of my favorite memories from the summer was during one of our first Challenge Days. One camper, who APPEARED to communicate non-verbally and only use a wheelchair, just ABSOLUTELY blew my mind throughout the week. Long story short, by the end of the week I had multiple verbal, humorous conversations with this camper AND on his Challenge Day, he walked 150 steps with his walker. AMAZING!!! Between 4 staff members and 25 minutes, our camper walked from the dining hall to the health center to cross his "finish line". Looking up and seeing his accomplishment (and the tears of all the other staff members) was just AMAZING. Definitely a moment I won't forget. I was able to help measure his walk with yarn.......150 is put into perspective when you are rolling it up around your hand!! SOOOO cool...and just to think that upon meeting him, I never would have guessed he was capable of that. That's one of the things I love about camp...people CONSTANTLY surprising you of their capabilities. And not only with campers....
I have been blessed this summer with getting to know an AWESOME guy at camp (who is "officially" my boyfriend at the time of this post)!! We worked together last summer at camp; although we hardly talked last summer, we had hung out a bit at camp throughout the school year. Naturally, we started conversation easily during CHIPS training. The more we talked, the more we realized we had in common. Things just kept going so well as we continued to talk all summer, followed by several dates, and ta-da! But honestly, I still sometimes am in disbelief that someone I have known for over a year has SO much in common with me once I started talking to him and actually getting to know him. Although he looks very different and has quite a different set of interests than any guy I've dated before, this is something VERY cool. :) A year ago, if you told me I'd be dating this guy, I would have probably laughed, but after actually getting to know him, there's no surprise that I am! :) <--- Pathetically cheesy I know, but I suppose that's how I get after being single for awhile.....:)