Let me set the story up.
There is a lot of buzz in the fitness world about Crossfit recently. Crossfit work outs include intervals of high intensity plyometrics, olympic weight lifting, powerlifting, gymnastics, calisthenics, and girevoy sport. It is commonly associated with people who are very muscular and athletic, but is becoming more and more "average person" friendly. Crossfit truly is it's own culture. People who stick with Crossfit and join a Crossfit gym become like a close proud family almost.
As someone who studies athletics and fitness as a major in school (I am a Kinesiology major) I have shied away from the topic of Crossfit because many fitness professionals are skeptical of it. Many are against it because the high intensity can lead to a much higher risk of injury. If you are not properly trained on the equipment you have an even higher risk of injury. Some say Crossfit does not promote a healthy mindset to apply to long-term physical activity, especially later in life. But there are some fitness professionals out there that do condone Crossfit as a great way to get in shape if you do it under the right conditions. Crossfit is very popular among college aged people. I hear about it on campus quite frequently. I was excited to try it for myself and apply what I am learning about fitness to the experience!
It was a friday afternoon and a group of my friends and I were excited to try a free womens only crossfit class offered by my school's recreation facility. None of us are "athletes" but we all are normal active young people in our 20s.
The room was a large dark windowless gym in the basement of an old building on campus. Full of weights, dumbbells, and many other weightlifting and gymnastic equipment pieces. This atmosphere heightened my fear I had and built the anticipation I had been feeling leading up to the work out. We did high intensity intervals of burpees, crunches, dead lifts, and kettle bell swings. Honestly, I walked out of that gym feeling good, feeling the burn of a good work out. It was a hard work out, but like any exercise, I could see it getting easier if you stuck with it for a long time. I walked out of there just fine. Maybe Crossfit wasn't so bad after all…
It was the next 48 hours after that changed my mind. We were all sore after that, as anyone is after performing tasks their muscles aren't used to doing. But my lower back was in pain. It has been for the last 4 days since doing Crossfit. My friends's legs can barely move 4 days out from the work out. In retrospect it seems to me we were not properly trained on the form and techniques of dead-lifts or kettle bell raises. And when lifting weights are involved you need to be very well prepped and monitored on form so that you don't injure yourself. So it's no wonder I'm experiencing a minor back injury! We were very much thrown into the intense exercises with little training.
In my opinion doing those intense intervals for years would result in toned muscles, yes. But would also result in irreversible wear and tear on the body and probably injuries to numerous places. I believe I could tone the same muscles in a traditional gym setting if I wanted to, save myself hundreds of dollars, and prevent overuse injuries while I was at it. There truly were no exercises we did there that I couldn't have done on my own (after I was PROPERLY trained on technique). Seems like you would have to be into Crossfit more for the atmosphere, the prestige that comes with it, and the community aspect than the work out itself.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Things I wish I could tell my freshman self
There are a lot of things about my freshman year that I would not change for the world. For the most part I think I killed it my freshman year of college! I found the love of my life, an extraordinary community, solidified my major and career path, and had a blast while doing it. But I had my share of insecure moments, thoughts that I wasn't doing something right. Moments where I felt lost or overwhelmed even if I was playing it off cool, like I'm sure every college freshman has felt.
So here are a few things that I would go back and tell my freshman self if I could that aren't typically told to freshman, in no particular order. These obviously don't pertain to every college freshman out there. I hope these pertain to at least one other person out there and maybe even helps some girls who are shy college freshman right now!
-You don't have to have your career path all planned out. Nor do you have to explain your career ideas to anyone when they ask, and lots of people will ask. It's ok to explore your options. It's ok to know what you want to do and not know how to get there.
-Say "yes" way more often than you say "no". Go on adventures.
-Take it easy on the coffee, I know it's good, I know it keeps you awake. But at the rate you are going by the summer you will have caffeine headaches before 11 am if you don't have coffee right away. Pace yourself.
-Stay on campus on 3-day weekends. They are the some of the most relaxing and enjoyable days of the school year. Campus is quiet and you can just do chill activities or catch up on a lot of sleep.
-Don't be so afraid to ask friends with cars for rides to places like the grocery store. Chances are they need to go or are planning on going soon anyway.
-Spend more time reading your bible.
-There is no such thing as being too organized with school work. All your folders and binders are a good thing. Get better at time management.
-Showering in the dorms will never be very pleasant. Relish in the nice showers you take when you visit home and just power through while you are at school.
-Go to more sports games and things that make you have school spirit. It makes the environment more enjoyable and chances are you will get a free shirt or something.
-Lots of places off campus give student discounts but don't advertise it. Utilize all the savings you can get! Just ask when you are paying or check online before.
Thats all the ideas I have for now! Feel free to comment things you wish you could tell your college freshman self!
So here are a few things that I would go back and tell my freshman self if I could that aren't typically told to freshman, in no particular order. These obviously don't pertain to every college freshman out there. I hope these pertain to at least one other person out there and maybe even helps some girls who are shy college freshman right now!
-You don't have to have your career path all planned out. Nor do you have to explain your career ideas to anyone when they ask, and lots of people will ask. It's ok to explore your options. It's ok to know what you want to do and not know how to get there.
-Say "yes" way more often than you say "no". Go on adventures.
-Take it easy on the coffee, I know it's good, I know it keeps you awake. But at the rate you are going by the summer you will have caffeine headaches before 11 am if you don't have coffee right away. Pace yourself.
-Stay on campus on 3-day weekends. They are the some of the most relaxing and enjoyable days of the school year. Campus is quiet and you can just do chill activities or catch up on a lot of sleep.
-Don't be so afraid to ask friends with cars for rides to places like the grocery store. Chances are they need to go or are planning on going soon anyway.
-Spend more time reading your bible.
-There is no such thing as being too organized with school work. All your folders and binders are a good thing. Get better at time management.
-Showering in the dorms will never be very pleasant. Relish in the nice showers you take when you visit home and just power through while you are at school.
-Go to more sports games and things that make you have school spirit. It makes the environment more enjoyable and chances are you will get a free shirt or something.
-Lots of places off campus give student discounts but don't advertise it. Utilize all the savings you can get! Just ask when you are paying or check online before.
Thats all the ideas I have for now! Feel free to comment things you wish you could tell your college freshman self!
Friday, February 6, 2015
Life Lessons from Winnie the Pooh
With friends anything is possible
Being a good, loyal, and available friend is what Pooh and his gang are all about! Pooh is always available to help Eeyore find his tail, protect piglet from his fears, “help” Rabbit tend his garden (though Pooh always knows he is getting hunny in return, so sometimes his motives are flawed), he will always go on an adventure with Tigger, and will always be there to listen to Owl droll on about the impossibly boring history of his ancestry.
Take time to think things through
Pooh has a thoughtful spot right outside his house. He sits on his log, and says “think, think, think” when he is trying to figure out a problem. He is in no rush to figure out the solution, he wants to process his thoughts first! We should all slow down, we should take a second and just think it through….
Spelling doesn’t have to be perfect
He doesn’t have the most grammatically
correct vocabulary. I don’t believe he or anyone else in the Hundred Acre Woods
could pass a 1st grade spelling test if they tried. Which makes
someone like me, who is not good at spelling, feel a lot better about myself!
You can still lead a perfectly satisfactory life without knowing how to spell
everything perfectly!
Seeking help is a good thing
Seeking help is a good thing
When Pooh Bear needs help
with something, or wants to accomplish a task, he immediately looks to his
friends for help. He is not afraid to admit he doesn’t know how to do
something, or to admit one of his friends might know better than he does.
Especially his main pal Christopher Robin. Pooh often depends on him for guidance
and advise. We should all take a page form Pooh’s book here to put away our
pride, and admit sometimes we need help, that there might be someone who knows
better than we do.
You always go home to your hunny ;)
You always go home to your hunny ;)
Be it a pot of golden gooyness, or that special someone who you hold dear in your heart, it’s always the one
that makes you the happiest to come home to.
These things and many others prove that this silly-old-bear teaches you all
the important things in life. Winnie the Pooh will always have a special place
in my life, I will never stop learning the simple things in life from him!
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
I'm being robbed...
If a robber walked into your house and started taking all the precious
pieces of your home, one would not just sit there and let it happen right? You
would stop them and the injustice that is being done to you, call the police,
grab a weapon, any means necessary to prevent it from happening while you are
right there in plain sight, right!?
Well, I’m letting myself be robbed. I’m straight-up letting
a thief into my life to take the things he wants at his will. This thief knows
me well, he knows what he wants and how to get it from me, and I realize I am
doing nothing to stop him.
The thief has a name, it is Comparison, and he is
continually taking my joy, my self-worth, the little victories, and life
milestones from me.
“Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt.
If you are a Pinterest person chances are you probably have
this quote in some decorative hipster font pinned to your “inspirational
quotes” board cause you thought it was neat one night while laying in bed
scrolling through Pinterest. I’ll be the first to admit that I fall under that
category of human being. But I started to really think about it today for
whatever reason. In too many areas of my life I am letting comparison rob me of
the full joy I could be getting out of life. Comparing my relationship to other
relationships around me, does nothing but rob me of the energy I could put
towards loving my man even better, and places it in the hands of the thief, who
uses that energy negatively. Comparing my grades to those around me robs me of
my self-worth. I’m not and never have been the top of my class, school is
something I have to work hard at to maintain average achievements. So when I
compare myself to my friends who have an easy time academically I am instantly invalidated.
Whatever my little accomplishments were became for-not because theirs are
“better.” I often find myself thinking “ I can not compare to her in this
subject so why even try?” Comparing where I am at in life to where older
friends are or where older relatives are robs me of the here and now, takes
away from whatever stage of life I’m in at the moment because I’m constantly
looking at the totally different place in life they are in and saying “life
won’t be good until I get there.”
Then I miss out on all the great things that come with the here and now.
This world is built on comparison, the empire of contest
based reality shows. Are you a better singer, builder, painter, ect. than the
person next to you. Don’t even get me started on the blatant comparison game
played in politics. In athletics, who can run the fastest, kick the farthest, jump
the highest. Comparing one player to another, they have entire news shows
dedicated to people comparing players to each other.
Because it is so woven into the fabric of our society I can’t
promise to “never let comparison effect me again from this point forward” as
much as I would like to. But I am going to take steps to stop this robbery in
action. I’m going to get my weapon ready and call on the best cop I know of. My
weapon is the Bible and my cop is Jesus. When I start to compare my life to
those around me I am going to remind myself God has made me perfectly in his
image the way I am suppose to be. The bible says “Do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)
So if you are being robbed by this thief too, I encourage you to take
this tiny step with me and see if we can prevent ourselves from being robbed of
some of life’s little joys.
Monday, August 11, 2014
LTSP Wrap Up
Project ends in two days. The three main directors have come back to close up camp. We have spent all day cleaning up camp. Our cabins are empty. The family room is bare. Basketball hoop taken down. The kitchen is closed…. It is raining and grey here, which fits the mood. Nobody likes the idea of leaving.
We all had our last day of work on saturday. Which I was pretty pumped for, not going to lie. I didn't make super strong connections at work, or at least I thought I hadn't…. Until my superior had tears in her eyes as we walked out of the store! And my other co-worker who is high school aged and accepted christ with us while we were here got emotional too. We really did make an impact there in the little k-mart…. I'm sad I can't continue to see the transformation God is doing in these people's lives! That's where I have to trust that we planted a seed God will grow.
It rained yesterday during our last beach sharing time. Which put a damper on things. But we stuck it out under some covered picnic tables and played card games and still made the best out of the day. Though I didn't pack warm clothes (cause we were at the BEACH) and I was freezing in my swim suite and light jacket by the time I got back to camp! I didn't warm up for hours.
It's weird to think we are leaving. It really hasn't hit me. After 2 months of living so closely with all these people it feels normal. To think we won't have the crazy adventures every night like we have been is saddening. Everything from hiking a mountain at 2 am, swing dancing parties in the middle of the woods under the moonlight, coffee dates at Starbucks, movie nights, mini golf, girls night eating every piece of junk food in sight, thrift shopping for ugly prom dresses, shaving cream fights, girls vs. boys prank wars (we girls definitely won), going out to the docks late at night to look at the moon, spontaneous ice cream runs, and those are just the little things we got to do when we didn't have things planned to do!
Going to miss the morning devotionals, the monday night life group talks where we can be vulnerable and open about things in our lives, the tuesday night worship night, the thursday night teaching nights, and the training we received in seminars on friday nights, the bible studies on sundays after church, the intentional sharing on the beaches sunday afternoon, leadership meetings where we helped each other learn to lead our life groups and support each other in our common positions.
This community is some this so special it's hard to describe in words. Which makes how much I'm going to miss it even harder to describe. Just the way we lift each other up, are willing to share in the hardships of life, and find commonality in our love for Jesus Christ is something special. When one person is down we are quick to come alongside them and pray for them, offer support in any way we can. I can't think of any other group of people who quite do life like we do here on summer project. God is truly at work here at LTSP. He has done transformational work in our lives. Even throughout the little adventures we are able to see how God is using us to influence those around us. We've had people come up to us out of the blue and ask us what it is about us…. They see that there is something different about us. And every time we say it is Jesus. He is the common thread that bonds us together is such a visibly transformational way. It's amazing.
God is amazing. And I've learned more than anything to trust in God and his timing. That even when I don't understand why I'm doing something he does… And I can rest my hope in him. After this trip I have all the reason in the world to trust in him for everything.
We all had our last day of work on saturday. Which I was pretty pumped for, not going to lie. I didn't make super strong connections at work, or at least I thought I hadn't…. Until my superior had tears in her eyes as we walked out of the store! And my other co-worker who is high school aged and accepted christ with us while we were here got emotional too. We really did make an impact there in the little k-mart…. I'm sad I can't continue to see the transformation God is doing in these people's lives! That's where I have to trust that we planted a seed God will grow.
It rained yesterday during our last beach sharing time. Which put a damper on things. But we stuck it out under some covered picnic tables and played card games and still made the best out of the day. Though I didn't pack warm clothes (cause we were at the BEACH) and I was freezing in my swim suite and light jacket by the time I got back to camp! I didn't warm up for hours.
It's weird to think we are leaving. It really hasn't hit me. After 2 months of living so closely with all these people it feels normal. To think we won't have the crazy adventures every night like we have been is saddening. Everything from hiking a mountain at 2 am, swing dancing parties in the middle of the woods under the moonlight, coffee dates at Starbucks, movie nights, mini golf, girls night eating every piece of junk food in sight, thrift shopping for ugly prom dresses, shaving cream fights, girls vs. boys prank wars (we girls definitely won), going out to the docks late at night to look at the moon, spontaneous ice cream runs, and those are just the little things we got to do when we didn't have things planned to do!
Going to miss the morning devotionals, the monday night life group talks where we can be vulnerable and open about things in our lives, the tuesday night worship night, the thursday night teaching nights, and the training we received in seminars on friday nights, the bible studies on sundays after church, the intentional sharing on the beaches sunday afternoon, leadership meetings where we helped each other learn to lead our life groups and support each other in our common positions.
This community is some this so special it's hard to describe in words. Which makes how much I'm going to miss it even harder to describe. Just the way we lift each other up, are willing to share in the hardships of life, and find commonality in our love for Jesus Christ is something special. When one person is down we are quick to come alongside them and pray for them, offer support in any way we can. I can't think of any other group of people who quite do life like we do here on summer project. God is truly at work here at LTSP. He has done transformational work in our lives. Even throughout the little adventures we are able to see how God is using us to influence those around us. We've had people come up to us out of the blue and ask us what it is about us…. They see that there is something different about us. And every time we say it is Jesus. He is the common thread that bonds us together is such a visibly transformational way. It's amazing.
God is amazing. And I've learned more than anything to trust in God and his timing. That even when I don't understand why I'm doing something he does… And I can rest my hope in him. After this trip I have all the reason in the world to trust in him for everything.
Monday, July 28, 2014
LTSP I think it's time for an update...
I have been so bad about updating you all! I have just not had any spare time to sit down and write! Our schedules here are extremely packed. All with good things! But leaves us to chose between sleep or update social media most nights. And to be honest I chose sleep every night! haha
But this afternoon is a rare occasion where I got off in the afternoon and everyone is out either working or tubing on a river, so I have nobody to meet with, I'm all caught up on my reading, and there is nothing in town I need to go do! So I get to sit outside and write! Yay!
The easiest way to go about updating you I think is to bullet the highlights of the past few weeks since project was turned over to us! So here we go!
-Leading life group has been an awesome growing experience. I am forced to go in depth in my studies and it has been really good for me to learn how to do that without someone kinda telling me to. I also learn something from my life group girls every day! They are such an awesome support system. I also have a whole new support system of other life group leader girls who help me lead my girls, and we have become close as well, which is awesome!
-The power went out last sunday in all of Lake Tahoe, so we had to scramble to get sandwich fixings and do our meetings by headlamp light. In a lot of ways that was a stressful situation and could have ended poorly. But the whole camp was just so graceful about how we handled that unexpected thing. Our student directors were awesome and lead with authority and all of us went along with them. It was kinda fun for a while to disconnect from the world and only have the camp to turn to for entertainment!
-Timothy Keller is quickly becoming my favorite author. I highly recommend his books. I am currently finishing up his book Jesus The King and currently starting The Meaning Of Marriage.
-My free time is very very limited, I get one full day off which I usually use to meet with 2 of my life group girls to just talk and see how they are doing. But I find time to read during our morning devo time and sometimes in an awkward time gap before dinner. But nights that we don't have certain activities I usually spend running errands, doing laundry, showering, and just trying to catch up on the daily chores life seems to demand. I have my moments where I want nothing more to be 7 again and have my biggest problem be which lollipop to pick out at the check stand! Being a grown up is hard!
-We had a "$5 Prom" where we all went to thrift stores and bought ugly cheap clothes and wore it to a dance we had on saturday night. It was really fun to dress ugly and dance goofy with everyone. Just have a night to hang out and goof around. We got lot's of looks as we went out to eat before the dance. :)
-Church is going ok, the community loves having us here and that is super nice, but the lay out and structure of the service is not what I am used to, which is hard to deal with sometimes.
-Work is long and as I have already conveyed, is not my favorite activity on project. I have yet to really get to know any of my co-workers really well, which is kinda what they encourage us to do. Prayers for my work relations would be greatly appreciated!
-Sharing on the beaches has been a challenge the last two weeks, cause last sunday a giant storm came throughout (that knocked out the power) so nobody was out on the beaches or in town to really talk to. Nobody seemed to be in the mood either. And this last sunday, I went sharing with someone who wasn't really confident in his sharing, so I was forced to step up and really lead the conversations we had, which I had never done before. I was super nervous, and probably didn't do it perfectly, but I am able to reflect back on the 3 conversations I had and learn where I could have done better, and hope and pray that we planted a seed with the folks that we talked to. Sharing is one of the most challenging parts of project by far!
-I've had some of the best ice cream ever while I've been here. There are a handful of authentic home made ice-cream shops around town that we have made our goal to try! I think we have hit them all once by now… Time for round two!
-We've had lots of visitors on camp. Everything from parents, siblings, past summer project goers, to complete strangers stopping in to see what we are all about. As well as two of my very best friends visiting one evening to see me! ;)
Over all, I am beginning to see the effects of project really hit home in my life. I have been convicted of a lot of things in my life, have more of a heart for the unbelievers in this world, and feel a million times more prepared to go back to school and join up with my Cru ministry there! I can tell it will be a hard transition back into "real life" after this. Living for such a long time in such a solid christian community has been so good and I'm already beginning to miss it… and it's not even over!
But this afternoon is a rare occasion where I got off in the afternoon and everyone is out either working or tubing on a river, so I have nobody to meet with, I'm all caught up on my reading, and there is nothing in town I need to go do! So I get to sit outside and write! Yay!
The easiest way to go about updating you I think is to bullet the highlights of the past few weeks since project was turned over to us! So here we go!
-Leading life group has been an awesome growing experience. I am forced to go in depth in my studies and it has been really good for me to learn how to do that without someone kinda telling me to. I also learn something from my life group girls every day! They are such an awesome support system. I also have a whole new support system of other life group leader girls who help me lead my girls, and we have become close as well, which is awesome!
-The power went out last sunday in all of Lake Tahoe, so we had to scramble to get sandwich fixings and do our meetings by headlamp light. In a lot of ways that was a stressful situation and could have ended poorly. But the whole camp was just so graceful about how we handled that unexpected thing. Our student directors were awesome and lead with authority and all of us went along with them. It was kinda fun for a while to disconnect from the world and only have the camp to turn to for entertainment!
-Timothy Keller is quickly becoming my favorite author. I highly recommend his books. I am currently finishing up his book Jesus The King and currently starting The Meaning Of Marriage.
-My free time is very very limited, I get one full day off which I usually use to meet with 2 of my life group girls to just talk and see how they are doing. But I find time to read during our morning devo time and sometimes in an awkward time gap before dinner. But nights that we don't have certain activities I usually spend running errands, doing laundry, showering, and just trying to catch up on the daily chores life seems to demand. I have my moments where I want nothing more to be 7 again and have my biggest problem be which lollipop to pick out at the check stand! Being a grown up is hard!
-We had a "$5 Prom" where we all went to thrift stores and bought ugly cheap clothes and wore it to a dance we had on saturday night. It was really fun to dress ugly and dance goofy with everyone. Just have a night to hang out and goof around. We got lot's of looks as we went out to eat before the dance. :)
-Church is going ok, the community loves having us here and that is super nice, but the lay out and structure of the service is not what I am used to, which is hard to deal with sometimes.
-Work is long and as I have already conveyed, is not my favorite activity on project. I have yet to really get to know any of my co-workers really well, which is kinda what they encourage us to do. Prayers for my work relations would be greatly appreciated!
-Sharing on the beaches has been a challenge the last two weeks, cause last sunday a giant storm came throughout (that knocked out the power) so nobody was out on the beaches or in town to really talk to. Nobody seemed to be in the mood either. And this last sunday, I went sharing with someone who wasn't really confident in his sharing, so I was forced to step up and really lead the conversations we had, which I had never done before. I was super nervous, and probably didn't do it perfectly, but I am able to reflect back on the 3 conversations I had and learn where I could have done better, and hope and pray that we planted a seed with the folks that we talked to. Sharing is one of the most challenging parts of project by far!
-I've had some of the best ice cream ever while I've been here. There are a handful of authentic home made ice-cream shops around town that we have made our goal to try! I think we have hit them all once by now… Time for round two!
-We've had lots of visitors on camp. Everything from parents, siblings, past summer project goers, to complete strangers stopping in to see what we are all about. As well as two of my very best friends visiting one evening to see me! ;)
Over all, I am beginning to see the effects of project really hit home in my life. I have been convicted of a lot of things in my life, have more of a heart for the unbelievers in this world, and feel a million times more prepared to go back to school and join up with my Cru ministry there! I can tell it will be a hard transition back into "real life" after this. Living for such a long time in such a solid christian community has been so good and I'm already beginning to miss it… and it's not even over!
Monday, July 14, 2014
LTSP Project Turn Over
Recently things have been going routinely smooth. I'm getting used to the schedule and have been able to share more with people on the beach and around the community. I am even getting into spiritual conversations while shopping for clothes! I have been meeting with my life group and hanging out with them. I have been meeting with the staff women that decibel me back at school, and meeting with the other kids on project from my school to talk about what we want to take back with us to campus in the fall.
But last night the whole dynamic changed in the most spirit-filled and emotional way.
Yesterday everyone on project went to a private beach and hung out for the day, and in the evening we had a ceremony to turn the project over to us students. (For those of you that don't know the nature of this summer project, halfway through our time here at Tahoe the staff and directors of the camp leave. They completely leave the project and hand everything over to us students to run on top of doing all the things we've been doing.) So yesterday we all hung out at the beach, jumped off the docs, soaked up the sun, and hung out with our life groups one last time before our leaders left. It was a fun summer afternoon, but also was heavy with the burden of knowing the staff was about to leave us, and we did not know who they were going to appoint as leaders until the ceremony.
We had a Baha Fresh catered dinner, and then got to have worship and hear from our staff one last time. The sun was setting across the lake behind us as the worship team sang my favorite worship song, and it was just one of the most peaceful things I have ever experienced. Going from there, they announced the 5 students who would be taking over the director positions, and I have to say I have full confidence in all the students they chose. It is a very well thought out group, and I'm excited to be lead by them. After that, they announced the new life group leaders, basically one student from each group who will take over the morning devos and monday night meetings. I am humbled and honored that I got chosen to be my life group leader. It is a huge responsibility, to help lead and disciple my fellow sisters in christ for the remainder of the project. I'm praying God will use me in the way he wants me in the position he has placed me in. Then after we were announced the organizing committees were announced. We then entered into a washing of the feet ceremony, to usher us new elders in. I've never washed someones feet before, but I understood it was very biblical, and it in a weird way humbled us all and brought us closer together. After that, they made a prayer circle around us and all took turns praying for us. As we finished up our time of prayer, we all looked up from the circle and the staff was gone. They had gone into prayer with us, but snuck out as we were praying. It was a cereal moment for all of us. Just like that we were on our own and the project was ours. It was an emotional and powerful thing. Reminded me a lot of the feeling I had when my parents left my dorm room and for the first time I was left alone to be in charge of it all. But the difference was after staff left I still was surrounded by this awesome community, and we all rallied around each other and sang more worship songs until it was time to go back to camp. Today has been our first real test of how camp will function with us in charge. Tonight will be my first time leading my life group, which have to go prepare for now.
Pray for all of us on project leadership and for the staff as they go home!
But last night the whole dynamic changed in the most spirit-filled and emotional way.
Yesterday everyone on project went to a private beach and hung out for the day, and in the evening we had a ceremony to turn the project over to us students. (For those of you that don't know the nature of this summer project, halfway through our time here at Tahoe the staff and directors of the camp leave. They completely leave the project and hand everything over to us students to run on top of doing all the things we've been doing.) So yesterday we all hung out at the beach, jumped off the docs, soaked up the sun, and hung out with our life groups one last time before our leaders left. It was a fun summer afternoon, but also was heavy with the burden of knowing the staff was about to leave us, and we did not know who they were going to appoint as leaders until the ceremony.
We had a Baha Fresh catered dinner, and then got to have worship and hear from our staff one last time. The sun was setting across the lake behind us as the worship team sang my favorite worship song, and it was just one of the most peaceful things I have ever experienced. Going from there, they announced the 5 students who would be taking over the director positions, and I have to say I have full confidence in all the students they chose. It is a very well thought out group, and I'm excited to be lead by them. After that, they announced the new life group leaders, basically one student from each group who will take over the morning devos and monday night meetings. I am humbled and honored that I got chosen to be my life group leader. It is a huge responsibility, to help lead and disciple my fellow sisters in christ for the remainder of the project. I'm praying God will use me in the way he wants me in the position he has placed me in. Then after we were announced the organizing committees were announced. We then entered into a washing of the feet ceremony, to usher us new elders in. I've never washed someones feet before, but I understood it was very biblical, and it in a weird way humbled us all and brought us closer together. After that, they made a prayer circle around us and all took turns praying for us. As we finished up our time of prayer, we all looked up from the circle and the staff was gone. They had gone into prayer with us, but snuck out as we were praying. It was a cereal moment for all of us. Just like that we were on our own and the project was ours. It was an emotional and powerful thing. Reminded me a lot of the feeling I had when my parents left my dorm room and for the first time I was left alone to be in charge of it all. But the difference was after staff left I still was surrounded by this awesome community, and we all rallied around each other and sang more worship songs until it was time to go back to camp. Today has been our first real test of how camp will function with us in charge. Tonight will be my first time leading my life group, which have to go prepare for now.
Pray for all of us on project leadership and for the staff as they go home!
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