Roses In December

God gave us memories that we might have roses in December. ~J.M. Barrie

I realize that my entire reading audience may not know what exactly I mean when I have said in previous posts “camp this, camp that.” And, for slipping in a few camp-isms in every once in awhile with no background, I apologize. This blog was birthed in the valley of two peaks in life… camp had just ended and junior year of college was just beginning. Blogging everything seemed too intimidating so I just started with where I was. But, now that I’m settled, my memory never lets me forget the huge part of my life: CAMP VESPER POINT. I was so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to spend my summer: being a camp counselor, driving boats!, lifeguarding, loving on the girls in my cabin, showing them the Love of Christ and the joy He brings, meeting and working with amazing people, making new friends from all over, having omnivision, showering with spiders, being disconnected from the "outside world", eating and breathing camp life.....All for the glory of God. It rocked. My memory makes camp a part of my everyday life whether I want it to or not (and most of the time I do). I went, and I came back with a completely new focus. And a wonderfully vast memory to never let me forget it.

Now, about that quote up there and title of this blog… I realize it’s not December. But, if you compare today to the extreme heat my body felt about 1:30 pm every day this summer, you would argue that it’s very possibly a completely different season too. Ha. But, metaphorically speaking, it is December. Don’t get me wrong, I love December. Both Christ and myself have birthdays to celebrate in December and it always proves to be a fun time with family and friends. But, December is cold. December is a lot of the times sad and unwanted. And at times, December is even lonely. Praise the Lord for the gift of memories that we might have roses in December… and to forever remember May 19th – August 4th, 2008…

I totally learned to love CVP and completely fell in love with it and the people I met there. It was so neat to see God use and grow me this summer in ways I never imagined.

Here are some of the THINGS I LEARNED:
-That Isaiah 41:8-10 is perfect for camp staff.
-Camp has such a special way of forming bonds and relationships between people... two months at camp equals at least 2 years in the “real world”

-What it means to build others up in Christ

-That testimonies are powerful NO MATTER who you are or what yours is like

-That God goes before ALL things. (Col. 1:17)

-To be more intentional in relationships

-How humbling it is to see God use ME and how amazing it is that God provided us the privilegeand responsibility to lead others to Him

-A lot about maturity in general

-That first impressions aren’t always lasting impressions.

-To embrace the MAJESTY of His creation

-That we take a lot of things for granted

-That a world away from civilization (cell phones, electronics, cars, etc.) is actually refreshing.

-If you can’t say it in front of a camper, you probably shouldn’t be saying it at all.

-That the outdoors is a way of life

-Mamma Spider means Mamma spider friends and Mamma spider babies

-That prayer should ALWAYS be a solution.

-That childlike faith is so important

-Bracelet making and coloring books is a girl counselor’s dream come true

-To finally understand and appreciate Jerry’s humor

-That joy really can come out of tough times

FAVORITES FROM THE SUMMER: (aka mostly inside jokes, i guess this is my shoutout to fellow staffers....) :)

-Realizing with Allison Little every other morning that it was our turn for staff meeting

-Looking in my cabin box and seeing a letter with my name on it

-Border Patrol nights

-Raisin Bran Crunch

-Kristin's baptism

-When we used the word "paramount" in every other sentence.

-Passing by GG Ranch

-My first bonding experience with Julia and Rachel in the hole

-Chuff's motions to "The Lord Is a Warrior"

-The night Amy prayed about my problem children

-Seeing Ben Carr “play that beat” everyday

-Warm Fuzzies

-Chasing after Ryan Davis and Jordan Ridge the night they threw spray deodorant bombs in our cabin

-C.S. Lewis

-Bucket therapy after they've been through the hobe

-Everyone making me eat my first pb&j in front of everyone during the retreat

-Parker’s reactions to all the messages in the message box

-How you were feeling became numbers instead of adjectives.

-Waking up to “Jesus is my superhero”

-The game of 3 D's...

-late night talks with my co’s

-Completely busting when I first tried to get on the hammock

-Late night kichen raids

-The King and I

-The day lunch was late due to gymnastics on the rafters

-Parker: “You better not f.. fail?”

-The daily ritual of people getting welcomed to camp

-Me and CO Natalie being the exact replica of each other… “Yup!" haha

-Being married to my CO Katy

-The car ride to Nashville

-Really great chats with people who would join me on the lifeguard stand

-“this is the fi…this is the eighty eighth time..”

-The Birthday Rap

-Parker being my CO for a night when our water heater was broken

-Cheers… all the time

-Rebar..OoOo-Bethany Dillon

-The schedule babies…boxboxbox

-Learning the High School Musical dance

-Girls nights…. Mmm hmm...

-Hot Rob doing a belly flop off the high jump with all those life jackets on… wish I had it on video…

-“I’m outta here yall… peace.”

-Being partners with Ryan and beating anyone who competed against us during boat driver training

-Clara Lane (cutest camper EVER. miss her little guts.)

-"KRISTIN!!!"

-Reilly Liner every week at the sock hop

-Jonathan Buntin giving his testimony

-Jordan Johnson’s pregnant hugs
-Mine and Reilly's "trip" to Bowling Green

-Looking back with Bing and seeing that the banana and the boat were unusually far apart from each other

-Arts and Crafts with Sue Gamble

-Allison Little answering the question “Are we there yet?”...... ”umm.. are we in the woods? Yes. Are we in the dining hall? No. Then no, obviously we aren’t there yet.”

-pax

....To God be the glory, great things He has done!....
www.vesperpoint.org