Tenth Avenue North and Dance Camp!

So the week I was at Leisure Ministries, I was asked to come back to Aldersgate the next week and counsel Elementary Dance Camp, so I definitely wanted to. So the Saturday I was to leave LM, my whole family came and picked me up (well, my sister was there for Princess Camp that wk too) and we went to Uncle Lee and Aunt Debbie's house in Lexington. Staff and volunteers have to be back at camp on Sunday evening, so there was no reason for me to go our 2 1/2- 3 hr drive home that night and back the next day, so I was just gonna stay w/ Aunt Debbie and Uncle Lee. But of course, all I had with me was the stuff I'd had for LM that wk, so I did some laundry really quickly, then we went to the Tenth Avenue North concert I'd been waiting on, and it was so incredibly wonderful! I finally got to see my favorite band in concert, and I was soooo happy. The words to their songs were projected hugely on a wall in the auditorium so everyone could sing along if we wanted, and that was super cool. They were very very good. They were very down to earth but very sincere in living for Christ. It was an amazing concert.

After their concert there was a really great speaker who was absolutely hilarious and really really good. I can't remember his name at the moment, but I'll put it on here when I find out. He knew what life was all about- Jesus.

Then there was like an intermission, then Sanctus Real had a concert. I've seen them a couple times in concert, but they're really good too. So it was a wonderful night! And afterward, I got to meet my favorite band! Yeah, I know! I was pretty excited. Ok, really really excited. And when I was standing in line to meet them, I saw Nathan from my small group at Sr high camp, so we talked for a couple minutes. And then when I met the band and told the lead singer Mike that they were my favorite band, he was like "Really?" I think he was pretty shocked. But I don't know why cause they really are good. So I was like "Yeah," and I talked to him for a few minutes (well, seconds probably). But I explained that I loved their songs because when I hear them they are like God is speaking right to me, and Mike thought that was great and said that he hoped I was as impressed w/ and felt the same way about their next album coming out soon. So I'm super excited about that!

So after the concert my parents dropped me off at my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Lee's house in Lexington, and I spent the night there, went to church w/ them the next morning, then went to lunch w/ Uncle Lee and Andrew's youth group at Gatti Town. I ate a lot of food.

After that, we went back to my cousins' house, I quickly packed up the laundry I had hurriedly done that morning and night before, and we packed up and drove back to Aldersgate. I fell asleep on the way because I was so tired from my extreme, adventurous, epic week before. lol.

We got to camp, I unloaded my stuff at Uncle Lee's house, and I went up to the lodge to eat the delicious dinner the cooks had prepared for us. Lasagna! Yum!

Then we went to the chapel where we had worship, went around and said our name, where we were from, what we were doing that week, and what our favorite head covering was (such as a hat). I said mine was my neon orange fuzzy hat. Hey, actually I have a pic of me wearing that last summer. (I'm actually just putting this on here because I didn't get any pics of us that wk at dance camp, or many at the concert, but I like putting pictures w/ my posts, so I'll just do this one. lol) But anyway, here's my favorite head covering:

I spent the night at Uncle Lee's house, then had our breakfast of biscuits and gravy the next morning at the lodge, got moved into our cottage, made nametags made for the kids, and had lunch. Then Thom and I (Thom was going to be the guys' counselor that week, although there only ended up being two guys coming to dance camp- they were brave little souls) went back to the cottage and awaited for the arrival of the nine kids that were coming. It turned out to be a fun week.

So Lauren Lile, a cook on staff, was the dean of dance camp because she danced for like 12 yrs and she is really really good. She taught the kids a dance that they performed at the end of the week, and they did so well. They were really good dancers. One of the little guys (he was about 10 yrs old, I think) was an amazing hip-hop dancer. He could dance so well, and he made me laugh a lot.

Since I was still tired from LM the week before, though, I found times to squeeze in little naps, like one day at pool time, and another day when we were letting the kids watch Monsters Inc. It was kind of a muggy day outside, and the kids were exhausted, so they all got in the floor of the cottage in their sleeping bags and were allowed to rest and nap if they wanted to during the movie, and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. It was a nice nap.

But although I was kinda tired, it was a very good week. One day I got to the lead the kids up to Sugar Camp Cave, and another day to the clay wall, and I led a couple Bible Studies. So I had a really good time. And even though sometimes I tried to nap at pool time, the kids really wanted me to swim, so on Friday, since it was the last day, I decided to get in. I didn't really want to at first, but then when I did, the water felt really good, and I played football w/ Shumar and Roberto (the two boys), and it ended up being really fun. So that week went well, and I had a really good experience counseling. I enjoyed it, and the kids were good too. So I had another very great week, and I was so glad that I got to spend it at Aldersgate.

Leisure Ministries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Well, where to begin...

Ok, I guess I'll just start on Monday. The way down to camp is sooooo long because it's so exciting to know you're about to go spend a week at one of the best places on earth- Aldersgate Camp!!!
So I got there, super super excited, and I found out I was in a cabin w/ my cousin Chelsey, my friends Mash, Sarah, Lindsay, and my two new friends now: Brittany and "Kri". Oh, and my amazing counselor Cara. So of course I was already so pumped for the week. Then when we got to choose our majors (there are four amazing ones, btw- Adventure Learning, Outdoor Adventure, Drama, and Production), Chelsey and I decided to do Outdoor Adventure! (something I didn't think I'd do, or at least this yr!) But oh my goodness, it was like the most incredbile major I've done! I loved it! The people in my major were Chelsey and me, obviously (lol), Savannah, Anna, Josie, Zane, Brent, William, Alex, and Luke. And, of course, our fearless leaders Matthew (the same counselor of the guys cabin in my small group at Sr High Camp) and Sarah Noble. They were amazing. My whole group was amazing, and we became very close friends.

So every morning we started out w/ morning platform, then had breakfast, then the rest of the morning was our major time. So on Monday afternoon, we made compasses out of a bowl of water, a sponge, a needle, and a magnet. Tuesday our major group was gone all day because we were at Red River Gorge rock-climbing and canoeing, and it was soooo much fun. It was like one of my favorite days of the week. And that was actually the first time I'd ever rock-climbed, and I loved it! It really was challenging, but it was so extrememly fun. So was canoeing. Anna and I shared a canoe, and it was so great and peaceful on the little lake. There was like no one else there. We jumped off a huge rock into the lake (fun but scary- I screamed as I jumped! =]) and one of the coolest things about it was that we had Bible Study in the middle of the lake that day. We just all canoed to the middle, and the lesson that day "happened" to be about Jesus walking on the water. It was way too cool. Then on our way back to shore (we were dried off now, of course), Brent and Zane just felt the need to tip our canoe, so sure enough, over the side we went into the water. But it was ok. Actually it was really fun. =]

For Wednesday's major time, we learned how to build fires, then our group of ten was broken up into two groups and we had a contest about who could build a fire and burn through the twine (tied between two trees) first. All we had was a box of cheap matches, and anything else we could get to burn. Our team won, but only because the other team gave us matches when we ran out. It was a fun morning.
This was us after our fires were burning, and we were having our daily Bible Study.


Thursday morning during major time we went to Windy Cave. It was sooo incredible. The hike up part of the mountain was really hard, but the cave was so worth it. Once we got inside the cave, we had to get down on our stomachs and wiggle through a hole/tunnel sloping downward. It was actually really cool. Then once everybody got into the lower part of the cave, we had to climb up ropes and then go through another larger tunnel above us into a room called the "Cathedral Room" or something like that because it had like 60 foot ceilings. It was really awesome.

The people in the pic on the right are Brent, Luke, Alex, Anna, me, and Chelsey.

So below are pictures of us after we all got out of the cave. In the pic on the left, my major friends were (in the back) William, Luke, Brent, (then in the middle) Savnnah, Chelsey, me, Zane, Alex, (and in the front) Anna, Josie, and our leader Sarah. Matthew Tolliver was taking the pic, so he's in the next one. Ok, and I don't know if you can see it or not, but if you look really closely in the middle of the first pic, between Chelsey and me, there's a little rubber duck w/ a Hawaiian shirt on, and his name is Zerxceys and he was our mascot.

Friday morning we went to the backpacking area at Aldersgate and made shelters that we would sleep in that night. We had to make a three-sided shelter, and all we had was three tarps (one large and two small ones), twine, and duct tape. I have to admit, the girls were pretty awesome at creating our shelter. The guys did great too, it just took them a while to get started cause they argued for a while. lol. But it was ok. It ended up being wonderful. But since we girls got finished a little early, we went and gathered pretty leaves and picked flowers, and put a little "garden" outside the back of our shelter. It was so cute and fun. (I still think the guys were jealous of our shelter and garden.) :)
This is us after we finished making our shelters.

So after major time in the morning, we had lunch (and we actually only ate two lunches at the lodge because Tuesday we had our sack lunches of peanut butter and jelly when we went rock climbing, and Thursday we had turkey sandwiches at the cave because we wouldn't have made it back in time for lunch at the lodge), then quiet time. We would choose minors at lunch, then have them after quiet time.

Outdoor Adventure didn't have a minor on Tuesday because we were gone all day, but on Wednesday I did high ropes (and did all the elements, which was really cool), Thursday we had girl/guy time in the chapel (which is a nice, relaxing time where all the girls and counselors just rest in the air-conditioned chapel and talk and share stories and have a fun time. It was really great.), and Friday I did a games minor, where we learned how to play/teach games to a group of people. That was fun too.

So after minors we had swim time, which was always a lot of fun except that I only swam on Friday. But it was still nice to just go hang out at the pool, and talk to friends and stuff. But I did put my feet in each time, and the water felt really good. So everyday that Chelsey and I would do this, our friends would beg us to get in, but it just takes so long to change into/out of swim suits, and we were always tired from our morning "adventures", so we'd just sit there and put our feet in. So finally they convinced us on Thursday that we had to get in on Friday since it was our last day to swim. So, we got in, but it was kinda cool that day cause it had rained earlier, so we were very cold, and then after we were only in there for like 20 mins. it started to pour the rain. So much for swimming that day. lol :)

After swim time we had free time where we just hung out in the field in front of the lodge, and just talked, or played frisbee or basketball or football or four-square, or pretty much anything you wanted. That was always a good part of the day. And then directly after that we would go up to the lodge and eat. Yum yum!

Community Life was always after dinner, and it was always fun. Monday evening, they brought us inflatables (yes, us 10th- college freshmen) and we raced down the inflatable slide and jumped in the bouncehouse. It was great. And I don't know if you can tell, but in the pic on top, I'm going down the slide. hehe! =]

Tuesday we played one huge game of capture the flag. Wednesday we played a game where we were broken up into 4 teams, each w/ a different colored flag in our back pockets, and we had to get the "gold" from everyone else's area/ zone thing w/out getting our tag snatched away, or we'd have to go to jail. I don't remember what it was called. Thursday we had folk dancing which is always so much fun! And Friday we had the talent show. It was great (everything but our own act!) But we seriously didn't know we had to do anything, so Outdoor Adventure made something up spur- of- the- moment. I still don't know if I regret it or not. Haha, just kidding, although it was pretty pitiful.

Always after community life, we'd go get ready for campfire, then go have snack time w/ everybody, then go straight to campfire. The cool thing about LM campfires is that you never know exactly where they're gonna be, cause they're not always in the campfire ring. But they are always super incredible with absolutely amazing worship. Monday night we had campfire out in the horse field, and there was a humongus bonfire (I mean, seriously, they were burning logs instead of sticks). Tuesday night it was by the creek, and that day was about getting out of the boat to follow Jesus, so near the end of campfire, Derek Robinette (our absolutely wonderful dean) said they would play a song, and when we felt led, we could take off our shoes and go wade in the creek. So we did. It was cold, but it was amaing. Awesome actually. Wednesday night campfire was at the campfire ring. Thursday it was behind the chapel, but we took the long- way to get there-- like a mini hike. That day was about Jesus' last day before He died, and we watched a clip from the Passion and had a really powerful service. Friday night we carried and followed the "body of Jesus" (someone was actually lying stretched out on boards w/ a sheet over them- it was really cool) around to different points of the field, then went and finished our campfire at the large pavilion, and had Communion and everything.

See, a really sweet thing about LM is that there's always a drama major, so all through the week there are great skits and dramas. And LM is like on a four year rotation kind of thing- the Beginning, the Prophets, the Life of Jesus, and Revelation. This year was the Life of Jesus, and all week it was like we were His disciples. So the drama major would always do scenes from Jesus' life, and it was kind of like His last week. On Thursday "Jesus" was taken by the Roman soldiers, and Friday He was beaten and nailed to a cross. And a really amazing thing about this was that it hadn't rained all week, but on Friday, the day Jesus was to die, it rained. We were woken up that morning to shouts of "Crucify Him", and after lunch, right before quiet time, they did. They "crucified" Him. (her, actually) And it rained. It was pouring the rain. So for quiet time, instead of spreading out like we usually did, we all gathered around the cross. And we prayed, and we contemplated, and we realized our Jesus really went through all this for us. It was amazing.

After campfire on Friday night, instead of sleeping in our cabins like we usually did, our Outdoor Advenure major got our sleeping bags and went to the backpacking area where we had put up our shelters. We built a fire and made s'mores, and it was really fun. Then we slept. It even rained on Friday night, but our shelters must've worked, because not one of us were wet!

Well, our amazing production major always makes us a cool DVD of our awesome week to give to us on Saturday. There are over 1,000 pictures on it, and a lot of little videos they took all week. But they also make a great highlight video for the end of the week, and I was gonna upload it on here because it was super cool, and it really helps show what a fantastic week we had and experienced, but unfortunately I couldn't get it to upload :( But if I figure it out, I'll definitely put it on here! =]

So the whole week was absolutely incredible, and God did some really awesome things. Leisure Ministries is an AMAZING camp w/ an AMAZING team working to make it go well, and an AMAZING God Who ultimately orchestrated it all. I love Him so much for that- and for everything He taught me that week. It was so wonderful. I loved it. My week was awesome, my major was awesome, my friends are awesome, and my God is INCREDIBLE! What an absolutely splendid week!!! :)

More Posts Coming! =]

Oh my goodness!!! This summer has been so wonderfully incredible, and I haven't even really been home! I looked on here, and the last time I posted was July 5. That was like 21 days ago. I've got sooooooo much to tell that it will take like three different posts, and I will get to that eventually. But right now I'm at Lexington at my cousins' house, except they are not here right now. It's been a really fun weekend, but I'll have to explain it later. But for now...
I guess I'll get started on my first post: my week of Leisure Ministries. It was like my best week of summer yet, so I'll need a lot of time and room to write that one. :)

My Week In-Between

Wow, it's been a really long time since I last posted on here. Well, just a wk, but I'll be gone again for another week at Aldersgate. This was my week in-between camps. I thought I'd try to give a debrief of this past wk, but I think it's going to be kind of long. It has actually been pretty eventful, I just haven't written. So......

Sunday: Our youth group went to get ice cream at Crisp's, then we went to Central Park. hooray!

Monday: We went swimming at our cousins' pool and we got a trampoline (our first ever!)

Tuesday: Jacqui, Gabriel, and I pulled weeds and cleaned out gutters at our Mimi and Papaw's house. Then Jacqui and I spent the night with Bethany.

Wednesday: We walked and rode the tire swing at Bethany's, then came home, I took Gabriel to Wal-Mart, and we had youth.

Thuraday: I woke up with poison ivy. And I think we stayed home that day. It was nice and relaxing.

Friday: We washed windows and cleaned bathtubs at Mimi and Papaw's house. Then our cousin Randee's fiance Mark's little brother Matt (you got that?) is Gabriel's age, and they went to camp together last yr. Matt was coming in to visit (they live in Pikeville), so we wanted to get him and Gabriel together. So Matt, Mark, Randee, and her brother Jesse all came over and jumped on our trampoline, then we went to Randee and Jesse's (and Chelsey's, but she was volunteering at camp this wk) pool and swam in the freezing cold water, and Matt and Mark kept pouring/splashing water on us. Then we went home, got cleaned up, and went back to their house to set off fireworks with them. Then after that (it was about 11 pm by then), we played a girls- against- boys basketball game and had a really good time. It was Mark, Matt, Gabriel, and Jesse against Jacqui, Randee, and me. The guys won (Gabriel made the winning shot, btw! =] ), but the girls actually led until the end of the game. We were playing to 24 points, and the girls had it all the way until 22, then we were tied, so of course whoever made the next shot won. It was unfortunate for us girls. :)

Saturday: Fourth of July! We went to our great Aunt Dale's for the big 4th of July family get- together. Then we went to our Nanny's house to celebrate too, then my mom, Jacqui, my Mimi, and I went to Morehead to meet up with our cousin Leanndra. She's at GSP this summer, and Saturday was family day- when the students could leave all day to be with their families (the name makes sense, doesn't it =] ). So she invited us to Dairy Queen to have ice cream, and we had such a fun time. We laughed a whole whole lot.

Sunday: Went to church, Matt came home with Gabriel, we jumped on the trampoline, packed, had our youth dinner this evening, I led worship at church, had youth group, and came home and packed some more. Actually, I am still in the process.

And I am so super- duper excited about this wk! This camp is called Leisure Ministries and at this camp it's like we live the Bible. The first year I went, one day we were Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Last year one evening we hiked up a mountain and went into "exile" and slept in tents. It was sooo cool. So I am so very excited. And this yr is the life of Jesus, so this will be a really great one too. And then to top it off, on Saturday on our way home from camp, we are going to stop in Winchester and see a Sanctus Real and Tenth Avenue North (my FAVORITE band!) concert. So that will make leaving camp not as sad, because I always am when I go home. So next week is going to be sooooooooooo great, and I'm very excited to see what God is going to do!