.capture.

I have the answer to the question. Not any sort of important and/or significant question, but rather the question asked by a dear friend last week at church. She asked me the most important lesson I'd learned this summer. The pastor at my church finally brought this lesson to my attention: love. Love is the answer to the question. Although it seems like such a simple and extremely obvious answer, it is the most important thing that allowed me to survive the summer. :) I suppose I should have learned this from the first week of kids' camps this summer....living with eight 8-11 year old boys with Down Syndrome will TRULY test anyone's sense of patience and love. While I think about how absolutely crazy/non-stop/chaotic this week was, I can only help but think about the happy memories and the hilarious comments from our boys. For every crazy/ridiculous thing that our boys did, I can only help but to love them a little more because they are such WONDERFUL children of God. This morning at church, our pastor gave an AMAZING sermon about creating a "rebellion of compassion" in the US.
There was a skit portraying two different families' reactions to seeing another family who had a child with a disability. One family complained about the child's behaviors while the other family accepted the child and invited her to play with them. Seeing a skit like this REALLY brought to life the reality of how my campers live on a daily basis. They are the ones catching the attention with their out of ordinary behaviors. The pastor brought in the "rebellion of compassion" by relating this skit to the story of Jesus raising the widow's son, found in Luke 17. The sermon focused on finding the people who desperately NEED to be loved on and how we can do it. This week seemed to focus a little bit on individuals with special needs, as our church has a very large ministry, dedicated to children with disabilities.
The following questions were posed at the end of the sermon:
-Do these people capture our attention, or are we blind to them?
-Do these people capture our hearts?
-Are we willing to do something our of the ordinary?

AHHHHHHHH. This sermon just blew my mind. It was simply a confirmation that I needed to hear. Although this summer was MASS chaos, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Given the opportunity to love on these children, I couldn't have asked for anything different! Learning to love like Jesus has been a lesson I've truly experienced in my summers at camp. :) I thought I would quote a lil' Chris Tomlin right here from his Hello, Love album:

Love is the answer. Love will find a way. When we love one another, it's a brighter day. <3

.emails.

God is SO good. All the time, no questions asked. Seriously, tonight I felt closer to Him than I have in quite a long time and it was just plain AMAZING. :) I'm on such a high right now and I hope and pray that this continues as I begin what could be my last year of school! So today we had to go to orientation for the first years to meet our mentees (side note: it's SO weird that I'm a second year now!!). It was the first time I had seen all of my classmates in 3 1/2 months, so it was great to see everybody again, but I'm definitely not ready to start classes again, that's for sure! This evening, I just got back from church and being reunited with my woooooooonderful church community. It was beyond words epic. I hadn't really told anyone that I was back in Indy yet, so when I showed up at church tonight, people freaked....and I felt loved! :) There was lots of hugging, smiling, giggling, and story telling. I LOVED that soooo many of my friends told me that they enjoyed my email updates but they were glad to have me back in person. I was told that no emails could compare to my actualy enthusiasm in real life. SUCH a warm fuzzy feeling. :) But it was AWESOME to be back and I honestly feel like Indy is home, more than ever now. I am just SO thankful to be back and SO blessed to have found great friends here. When talking with my friends, I was challenged with the question of "What was the most important lesson you learned this summer?" And I am still stumped on that question....more on that question later...as soon as I figure something out....hmmmmmmmm......

.round two.

So....I'm thinking about what else sticks out from this past summer and I have drawn the conclusion of the importance of confidence. NOT OVERconfidence, as displayed by the competition of my alpha male lifeguards (WHICH would require pages and pages to describe, so I will refrain), but just a recognizable amount of confidence to be an effective leader. This summer I realized the importance of being confident in your decisions and making things work, even when you have NO clue what's going on. Having people trust you even when YOU don't know what's going on is a beautiful thing in the world of camp, and I'm hoping it's semi-applicable to the real world. The "fake it 'til you make it" theory has been suggested in my OT classes, so I feel like making rational and/or irrational decisions this summer on the fly, as the person in-charge of the waterfront, can only help in my future endeavors as an OT, right?!? :) In addition to that, I have realized the insignificant value of makeup this summer. I believe that our society places such a HIGH (and unspoken) demand on women to constantly be looking "the best"/wearing makeup or whatever. I've realized that the people most important to me in my life are the ones I wear NO makeup around. Why do I need to try to cover up who I REALLY am to impress people? Shouldn't people like me for ME and not what I look like? Needless to say, going 2 1/2 months with wearing ANY sort of makeup a handful of times, is quite a free-ing experience. I DID wear makeup when I went out several weekends for kicks, but Sunday-Friday I generally went with no sort of makeup. Best of all-- I still made friends (and somehow found a boyfriend...haha) even without makeup. Learning to be confident even when I felt like I wasn't "pretty enough" or "I look like crap" was quite a lesson and I loved being able to experience it. Since being back, I've even found myself wearing it less and just being ME! :)

.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.....:)

.communication.

Well, I'm not sure if anyone has the slightest interest in what's been happening in my life the past 2 1/2 months, but I have now left "the camp bubble" and have unfortunately returned to a place we call "the real world". That means that my communication (or stalking) will resume over the next couple weeks, and then we'll see what happens when my POTENTIAL last year of school starts! Mass craziness...
Regardless, I don't think I could fit into one entry the changes in my life and the lessons learned in the last 2 1/2 months; I've decided to break it down week by week to TRY to explain how I witnessed His work through the lives of our campers, staff, and situations/incidents of Summer 2010.
I suppose to put things into a short summary, I learned the importance of communication this summer. A majority of the problems from this summer came from a lack of communication between staff members, but there is SO much more to be learned here than just the mass chaos of 10 weeks at camp. I neglected to take my designated "2 hour a day breaks" because my job simply didn't allow me to do that and be around my campers as well. Since I didn't take my breaks, I didn't make any phone calls except an occasional one to the parentals on the weekend. Relationships suffer without communication. For sure. Not only between people, but between myself and Christ. I know that I fell away from devotions/alone time this summer MUCH more than I should, but given the circumstances of the summer and needing to find time to seek physical rest overtook the importance of spending time in the Word, in my mind. Bad choice. Although I feel that some areas of my life are disconnected right now (and trying to return to "normal"), learning to communicate with campers was AMAZING. Seriously, as much as I complained about my job, I LOVED it. Learning to communicate non-verbally with so many different people has been such a cool learning experience and it makes me more excited to go back to school to take my AAC class!!!!
Regardless of whether or not this post made sense, I am back in the blogging world and trying to reflect on how I made praising Him a habit this summer. <3

.a-rick–a-bamboo.

So as I have been procrastinating on packing for camp, I've been looking at old videos, pictures and reading through the journal I kept while I was at camp last summer. And I love what I have to say about "ditties" while journaling. There is one ditty that uses the phrase "a-rick-a-bamboo" and it is by far one of my less favorite ditties, except for the fact that a-rick–a-bamboo is an awesome word. Other than the fact that I've made it over the hump of "oh my gosh I'm going to freak out because I have a leadership role at camp this summer" and I'm just starting to get plain excited about going there and meeting new people. YAY!!! Although I'm super pumped and can't wait to start everything, I know that there are two long weeks of training and PLENTY of ice breakers and people to meet before we can start things off! It is my prayer that we are able to bond quickly and integrate the new staff into the camp family, as we have a large number of returners from 2009. Prayers for intentional, drama-free friendships between the staff members would be much appreciated!!! :)

As for the blog, well, I will be taking a break from it for a while. I will try my best to post when I am up visiting Indy, but there's no way that I'll be able to post while I'm on property (3 computers + 90 people= mass chaos). However, I have pretty good cell phone service and I'll try to email when I can....Despite the fact that it's near impossible to keep in contact with so many wonderful people God has blessed me with, I am STOKED for another opportunity to live without relying on email/cell phones/TV/cars to have fun this summer!

.364.

When I head back to camp on Monday, it will be exactly 364 days since the first time I stepped onto property as a member of Summer Staff. I can't even believe that! The last year has absolutely flown by. It boggles my mind that there were so many things I hadn't experienced a year ago. Staff training seems like a couple of months ago, and I remember my first campout so clearly (although I can really live without the whole raccoon attacks during the night this summer)!! I was talking to one of my camp friends from Vancouver, BC tonight and we were talking about how fast the last year has gone. It's amazing how finding the "magic of the woods" has made me feel so much more complete. What a blessing. I suppose that blessing is the only word to describe what camp has done to me. If people could only experience the awesomeness of camp, then they'd see what an amazing blessing this is! Spending 24/7 in the beauty of His creation, with beautiful people made in His image, and serving others who are so easily overlooked by "normal" people. Just so amazing. I honestly don't know if I have truly seen anything as beautiful in all of God's creation until I started working at camp. AHHH....such an amazing amazing thing. Regardless, here goes nothing to a summer full of adventures, memories, growth, and friendships!

.raspberry lemonade.

Ok. I will be honest, the title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with what I am blogging about. I'm just drinking some raspberry lemonade now, and reflecting on how this might be my all-time favorite drink. Seriously. It's just that good. MMmmmm.....
In more substantial news, I am ~57 hours away from camp, and I've only been on summer break for ~5 hours. I mean technically speaking, I've been on summer break for two weeks, but I don't consider 8 hour clinicals starting at 7:00 AM (with additional homework!) as summer. The plan for these last two days of freedom is to spend time packing/reading/sleeping/relaxing and getting things ready for an awesome summer. It blows my mind that it's been a year since I first started this whole camp adventure. The lasting impact it has had on my life is just incredible...thinking about life before camp just seems WEIRD. Even the friends I have from camp are close enough that feel like they've been around for my whole life. Recently, I've been really reflecting on how blessed I am to have been able to be involved with something as awesome as camp. I LOVE that God has made me passionate about these kids, and I love that I'm able to learn so much from all of these amazing kids. On top of that, it has made me well prepared for the world of OT. My fieldwork supervisor was quite impressed that I knew how to do some basic wheelchair stuff and that I was completely comfortable with getting clients out of bed and dressed. Apparently that freaks some people out....? <--I'm not going to lie, dentures do completely freak me out still...I suppose that is why I'm a pediatric person ;) Just thinking about how much one summer changed my view of the world, I can hardly wait to get back to camp and see how much another summer in a new role with new faces/friends will be able to impact my life. At the same time, I have been praying about this summer for awhile now and I pray that God just opens up some doors to allow me to be a powerful influence in the lives of people this summer. Cool stuff...after I get a little more sleep, I can HARDLY WAIT to be there!

.wave.

When my friend from Florida was visiting last week, we had a "catch up" discussion with a group of Bible study girls about what wave we've been riding. She defines "waves" as what we've been going through lately..and describing it in one word. I said that my wave was 'dynamic' because of all of the changes going on recently. Not only are there changes with graduation, OT school, moving, but recently I've begun to realize how different camp is going to be this summer.
Last night I spent the night at camp with a dear friend, who happens to be the assistant camp director this summer. We started out the night going to get ice cream with some of the year-round camp employees and some of the new summer interns! It was soo great to meet some new faces, but really strange at the same time. When my friend told me we were going out with the interns, I got REALLY excited thinking that they were the 2009 interns. I had to do a double-take and remember that I didn't actually know any of them. I REALLY clicked the international year-round employees; it will be nice to see them around property this summer for sure! The summer interns seemed pretty nice, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them a whole lot. I'm definitely anticipating MONDAY, when I'll meet some more new faces and be re-connected with old camp friends! :)
I think this night was the first time that I really realized that my close friends WILL NOT be back at camp next week and this summer is going to look completely different than 2009 which is a good/bad thing. Luckily my friend and I then spent the rest of the night talking about ways to shine for Him this summer, ways to create intentional relationships with a whole new set of 80+ staff members, and our excitements/fears in new leadership positions. We talked about how things will be very different, but that's not a bad thing at all. The "top dogs" from 2009 have all been replaced, so I'm anticipating a really different summer, but a GREAT one, nonetheless. Basically, it was the best bed chat I've had in a loooong time. I am SO thankful that God brought her back to camp this summer; she will definitely be a solid confidant for the craziness that is camp! She will definitely be a blessing and place to "vent" when needed through the changes that will be occurring this summer. I am honestly getting REALLY anxious/excited/nervous to see how God works throughout the summer!!
I suppose I will end this post with a quote about summer..even though I REALLY don't feel like I've been on summer break for 2 weeks...haha. I love this quote and it's currently featured on our camp staff 2010 facebook group :P (<-- look at me, citing my sources...I apologize for my inner nerd!)

"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." - Albert Camus

.shock.

I am in shock. Mainly, because I am updating this blog from the front of camp property which obviously means that there is wireless internet here! The actual camp is on the back of property where I'm pretty sure the wireless doesn't run, so WOOHOO for another summer of using the good ol' internet on slow computers! Not that I'll really have time to ever check email/blog/Facebook...I just was going through some documents that I'm supposed to look over for the waterfront and I can just tell it's going to be a busy busy summer! (On that note, I will probably not be blogging much from May 17-July 31...if you want to hear from me, LET ME KNOW and I will add you to my email list...although probably most people who read this are already on my list!)
In other incredibly shocking news, SOMEHOW our thesis project made it through the IRB (they have to confirm that all projects are safe to the participants; we were denied previously for 24 different things!). So we can do our data collection this summer...which is AMAZING since we are supposed to start that in less than 3 weeks. AND as I am updating this blog, I am doing it from a very dear friend's room here on property...which means I can't wait to spend this summer with her and see how God changes our friendship to use us to build each other up!!!