Oh summer, where have you gone?

The cool thing about God's perfect plan is that you never have to "resign" to something. I've had that misconception before, and God has blown that idea out of the water.
His plan is so not boring, nor is it disappointing.
In fact, it's one of the most exciting things to follow.
I have no idea where I'll be in the next few years, but I know that it's going to be good so long as I keep submitting myself to His will.

Okay, I'm done being inspirational.

Oh blog, I'm sorry it has been so long. Lately, most of my posts have been apologetic in this manner.
I think you guys can forgive me for not writing, right?
...if not, too bad. I do what I do.

Well, let me tell you how the three weeks of working daycamp went.
It was fantastic.
I could stop with that statement, but I'll go into greater detail.

I adored my cabin. Me and my girls were tight.

You don't sing "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee" 20 times in a row together without bonding just a little.

I taught it to my campers one day without thinking. We were trying to get over the cabin's fear of bees, and I think the song helped.
After I sang it once, that was all they wanted to sing when we were walking from activity to activity.

Bringing home a baby bumblebee
Won't my mommy be so proud of me? 
Bringing home a baby bumblebee
OUCH!! It stung me!


...okay, maybe not the best song to sing for bee fears...but the girls loved it. We do go on to squish it up...

Squishing up a baby bumblebee
Wont my mommy be so proud of me? 
I'm squishing up a baby bumblebee
EWWW! It's all over me! 


and then we go on to wipe it off and wash it off...

Speaking of bees, there were a lot of those fuzzy creatures at camp. I've never been stung by one , so I have absolutely no inhibitions when it comes to bees. I think they're cute.

I let them land on me, and I even carried one around a few times just to prove that there was nothing to be scared of.

8 year-old girls are apparently petrified of bees.
I'm proud to say that my cabin learned to conquer their irrational fears.

At the end of the week, I had campers asking me to come and live with them. One little girl insisted that her parents had room for me to stay with them.
Can you say cute? 


My fellow staffers were fantastic.
One of them taught drama, and oh boy he was dramatic. I did promise not to upload the video of him acting as a velociraptor...I'll keep my word.

My co-counselor and I were a fantastic team. We were also both redheads (like I said before) so we had that connection that only redheads understand. I had such a fun time counseling with her.

Another thing that I loved about camp: Friday afternoon crafts.

The campers would make their counselors drawings/cards for their final craft.
It is precious! I love the misspellings, cute wordings, and funny portraits.

If ever I need an ego boost, I will be re-reading these:

"Thank you for being the best, the Best teacher/counselor.
you seved me lunch,
Love,
Vada"

"Thank you for all of the fun you have given us. I enjoyed the blue slide the most.
You are the best counselor Ever.
Love,
Cilla

"I love you Mackenzie!
Thank you so much for helping me have fun
and learn about God!
Your Awesome!"

A funny little camp horse. I think he is tired because he has red eyes...
It's the best. 

"Thanks Makenzie for everything u do
u rock
<3 u soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo etc.
much.
Written with love,
Anna your camper

This is me. It is accurate. Enough said. 

"Dear Mekeanze,
Love you.
I will miss you so much.
Thank you for being the best counceler.
Victoria"

This is the best drawing anyone has ever done of me. 

I've learned a few handy counselor tricks over the past three years of counseling, and this year was no exception.
I've learned even more, and I know that if I get a chance to work at a camp next year, I'll be even more prepared, if that's possible. (I am the always over-prepared one. True story)

I'm Boring!

The last five weeks have been spent at camp.
I love camp.
Camp is a place where being fun is always a necessity.
How can anyone not like camp?
...sure there are bugs.
Sure you have to go outside.
Sure  you get to be cooped up with 16 other people.


This past week, I got to go to the camp I grew up attending. This past week, I was a counselor.

Don't get me wrong, I  really love the new camp I'm working at, but there is something to be said for the camp that brings back nostalgic memories of being 9.

This last week was quite interesting.
Friday night was the last night of the other camp, and so as I got home at 11:30 that night (11:30 because I like talking to other staff)
I realized that I needed to do some major washing so that we could leave the next day at noon.
It was a feat. I had many errands to run, clothes to wash, and things to pack.
 It started early on Saturday morning, when I had to run around like a crazy person trying to be prepared.
After a few hours, I was ready.

Oh boy, was I prepared.

I love crates, and I brought many  filled with goodies and counselor supplies (candy, decorations, gifts, markers, bracelet-making supplies and the like)
So after I had crammed my junk in the trunk, we went to pick up two very sweet (and sometimes sassy) girls, N and J, who were going to be campers for the week:

At Breakfast Sunday Morning

A tangent to my point:

N & J have really fun accents, since they're both from Congo. 

An odd little tidbit: Without even meaning to, I totally pick up their accent when I hang around them.

They also understand me more easily if I speak using their accent. 

Weird, but true. 

When I speak in a normal American accent, they say, "huh?!?" 

But if I use their  way of speaking, they say, "ohhh!" 

Once I didn't feel well, and didn't have the mental fortitude to use their accent so I spoke in my urban-american accent, and the girls asked me why I was talking so funny. They said, "you do not sound right, you need to change how you talk" 

I spoke using their twang, and they were pacified.

Anyways...

We picked them up and drove the long drive to the mountians (I ALWAYS flip the a and the i in "mountains" uggh!) mountains. 

The girls are still somewhat new to English, and they decided that they were bored. They decided to announce this every 10 minutes. 

Another tangent: 

They were always bored, no matter what they were doing.

I think they liked that word.

Bored.

 They were carrying their luggage, and they would inform me that they were bored.

They were coloring pictures, and while they colored, they told me they were bored. 

They were running around having fun, and they would still tell me that they were bored. 

Kids these days. 

what made it hilarious is that J, didn't realize that when she was saying "bored", she was actually saying, "boring" 

It made my time of listening to them whine so much more enjoyable. 

"Ms. Makenzie, I'm boring!" 

hahaha. Complaining backfires! 

I corrected her a few times, and explained what bored meant, but she didn't seem to understand. She was dead serious when she would inform me of her boredom.

So, I got to keep hearing, 

"Ms. Makenzie, I'm boring!" 

whenever J lost interest in something. 

I can't relate, because I have learned that there is no such thing as boredom. Boredom is a state of mind that can be conquered. 

And though I tried to teach the girls the definition of bored, they just didn't get it...

Moving on. 

In the car, we watched Shrek (pretty fantastic movie that kept the girls from saying they were bored) and in no time, we were at camp. 

I got the fun of watching out for them overnight. Camp doesn't start until Sunday afternoon, so I had about 24 hours to entertain them. 

Why was I there so early? 

I had to be there early to set up, and my sister was a camper there the week before, so she needed some picking up. 

...to be continued when I don't think I'm about to pass out from sleepiness...

A New Chapter

Today is a new day of adventure for me.
This is a start of a fresh chapter.

Today is the start of camp!
...well, the getting-ready-for-everything-at-camp-before-camp-officially-starts week.

Hopefully I'll have some fantastic stories to tell, pictures to share, thoughts to relate...you know, the typical spiel.

I have a feeling I'm going to be growing quite a bit this summer. I'm stoked.

Ready to join me for this adventure?

I'm going to do my best to still keep up with this blog, but there might be a few days where I'll have to double up on posts. When I made this challenge to post every weekday, I didn't really think about camp...

I am SO EXCITED.
I positively adore camp.
Camp is a place where even the most menial tasks are made fun.

I feel fortunate to have the chance to serve in a job I love so much. This is a totally new venue to me; I feel so excited.

I'll keep you posted.


(also, I should start using a thesaurus...I'm in a rut with some of these words I'm using)

Of nerves and singing

I used to be not big on the whole "get on a stage" thing.
Public speaking? It gave me (and sometimes still gives me) the jitters.

In my thinking, stages were things to be of which to be frightened (just a healthy fear, you know)

If it's a character I'm portraying in a play or skit, let me at it! I love acting on stages. If I'm supposed to be a goofball? I'm sooo good at that.

But if it's me, no facade, up on a stage, I used to have a hard time.
Whenever I do get the chance to be on a stage as myself...well...I'm just not a fan. I'd get jittery and shaky. My hands got cold and my face gets warm.
Usually the chances I've had to be onstage as myself have been in the capacity of singing.

Which so happens to be another thing I'm not very confident in.

How do I go through with it?
The secret is faith.
When I'm relying on God, I find that I actually don't mind it (the singing and the being on stage).

God says he's with me, always, even when I feel like I'm on display for all the world to see. (ESPECIALLY then.)

I find that I can chillax in the realization that it's all for His glory.
No stress in that!
I'm not up there for me. I'm not up there to be judged.
I'm up there because I want to worship God.
When I finally get that fact into my noggin, most of the nerves vanish. I'm all right.
It's pretty much awesome how it works.

The same thing has happened before. At camp last summer, I was asked to lead the worship music.  I agreed, because I had done it before, and I really do like that sort of thing, but it still wigged me out. I was supposed to go up there by myself and lead worship. Before it had been a group.
Oh boy.

I'm not a confident singer when I feel self-conscious.

After a load of prayer and practice, the camp week came.
Then it was time for the opening evening service.
Oh boy.
I got on stage.
I talked to the campers, we had announcements.
We sang songs of worship to God together.
And that was all.
It was that simple.

It was an awesome feeling. Not because I was on a stage, not because I wasn't messing up (oh man, there were some flubs) but because, we were all praising God.

I wasn't thinking about me.


That experience totally built my faith up. If I had been up there in my own ability, I would have been a wreck. But when I trusted that it would be ok because it was for God, it went fantastically smooth.

Sounds a little hokey, but seriously, getting that privilege to lead worship was awesome. It seems like God takes the things that one feels insufficient in, and uses them.
Just so I can't say, "look, I'm really great! I have so much talent, right?"

Rather so I can say, "WOW, look at what God can do if you just trust and rely on him to carry you!"

God has given me God-confidence, and now (so long as I'm keeping it real and not letting my ego explode) I'm not so very frightened of the stage.

And that's all I have to say about that right now.

take me home, country roads...

...my Mimi said that song would make her cry for homesickness.
It's high time that I come home "fer a spell"
Although my hometown is far from "country"...

I feel like I haven't been home but a week this summer. That one week was an outreach, so I wasn't really home at my house.

It has been a grand summer, for the most part.

the cliffs notes version of my summer:

• The SAT (what a way to kick it off!)
• Housesitting and dogsitting. That helped alleviate the stress of the SAT. 
• Serving in MTYC's kitchen
• counseling at MTYC for the middle girls 
• the SPORT camp outreach! 
• Cooking at HCBC
• counseling at MTYC for the little girls
• a week with my grandparents (on my mom's side) 
• a week in Hilton Head! 
• Back to my mom's parent's house
• My Grandaddy Henline's funeral
• A week with my grandparents on the other side

and now...
a few days here at home and I'm off again!

Well, this summer has been exceptional. I have learned much. Many lessons that I will be able to glean wisdom from in the upcoming years.

On another note: I'm glad that I know the Meaning of Life. Otherwise, I would be SO despairingly depressed. I would be in the absolute pits. Not knowing is a terrible feeling...

He's not finished with me yet...

Today I had that Brandon Heath song "Wait and See" stuck in my head...

There is hope for me yet


Because God won’t forget


All the plans He’s made for me


I have to wait and see


He’s not finished with me yet...

I'm trying to wait and see what His plans are. He knows them all of course, but to me, it is a mystery. I guess that's a good thing. God knows what I can bear. If I knew all about my future, I'd go crazy.  Life would lose some of its spice and excitement... anticipation is half of the fun.
I want my heart to be set up on those heavenly things, not the temporal things that will fade away. 
Matthew 6:23 is convicting to think about:

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 

I want to have what God wants in my mind. The things of men fade away. They don't last long.
As it says in Colossians 3:1-4:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

I am dead. My life is in Christ. I feel joy in the thought that God has got me.

It doesn't always make sense, but I know that what God has in store is SO much greater than anything I could plan out for myself. I know that I can trust Him.
Time after time, after time, after time, He has shown Himself to be faithful and never has He let me down.
I'm glad, exuberant, joyful in the fact that I am His daughter, His princess. He's my Friend, my Brother, my King. Hallelu!!

...I just finished another week of counseling. I promise that at some point I will post about the fun and craziness of two weeks of counseling. The week was wonderful.
There are MANY funny stories that I could tell. (8-10 year olds are very joyful. They can be goofballs, but they also teach much...from the mouths of babes and all that)



...as for right now, I can say that whatever my lot,
He has taught me to say
that it is well,
it is well with my soul.

Line, please!

Sometimes titles come to me instantly. Today, not so much.
Perhaps, if you are reading this, you might want to know what's going on in my sphere of influence.
Or perhaps not.
But, as this is my blog, I am going to post some of the happenings of the past two weeks:


After a fun week of housesitting, I was asked to come help out in a camp kitchen as a cook. Me? In a kitchen? heh heh heh.
No, really, I love cooking. I've just had some experiences with food that are potentially good stories (not now, but years later). I'm sure you can relate. Everyone has at least one crazy food story.
Anyways, back from that red herring. I went up the winding mountain road to camp with a broad assortment of bandanas (you have to have your hair covered to be in the kitchen) and a very full suitcase.


I'm an over-packer. I'm working on this issue.
 I always think that I'll be sorry that I didn't bring extra _________ (be it toothpaste, sunscreen or...) along with me. Because you know, that stuff is "impossible" to buy at the local wal-mart.


So I went up to camp (as you saw in my previous posts) and extended my cutting and saran wrapping capabilities. I worked with seasoned pros in the kitchen. They had all been there at least eight camp seasons.
I roomed with one of the cooks and her daughter, Julia. Julia was only 6, mind you, but her knowledge and ability was impressive.


The week went by quickly, Wednesday morning I went up the mountain with Meredith. It was about 6:15 or so, and it was GORGEOUS. The sun was already up. I was tired and I could tell that she was too, but it was a refreshing way to start the day. Overall, a very cool memory.

So the week flew by, and on the weekend, I went off-mountain with the summer staff to celebrate one of the staffers birthday. It was great fun. We ate at a Mexican restaurant that had some very cool t-shirts, grooved to live beach music, and saw a lovely and long fireworks display.


So, okay, the main deal: Middle Girl’s week.
Maybe it deserves its own post. I have a feeling that it will be long.

Camp season!

Camp season is here people.

It's a happy time of the year. 

I'm SO looking forward to next week! When I get to counsel. 

This week I'm serving in the kitchen. It's fun, and I'd do it again if I was asked.
Feeding people is always rewarding. 

I'm becoming a pro at cutting large quantities of things, breaking eggs, and I have MASTERED (or have a better grasp of) saran wrap. That stuff is crazy. It loves to wrinkle up. ugh. BUT, after much practice, I can indeed use plastic wrap to cover various  food items.
What a feat!