This Thing Called Purity pt. 2

Part 2 of the blog I wrote for www.girlsliving4god.com :

So, last time we talked, I mentioned that purity begins with the mind and the heart. If we can fight for purity there, the other aspects of purity are a little easier to wade through. Now I promise you that we are going to get to talking about physical purity, but this next part is something I have only recently thought about, but I believe it is an important aspect of purity…

Emotional Purity.

What is that?!

To be honest, I’m still figuring it out myself, but we’ll go on this little adventure together.
Emotional purity has a close tie in to the purity of heart and mind that we were talking about last time, only it has to do more with our emotions than our thoughts. As girls, we are generally governed by our emotions more than our male counterparts, and we find satisfaction in finding relationships (be they familial, friendship, or romantic) that satisfy our emotions.

Think of it this way. When we are feeling sad we are going to call the friend who will either cheer us up or be sad with us, depending on how we want that emotion satisfied at the moment. We can do the same thing with boys. We use them to satisfy the emotional desires we long for in a romantic relationship. Have you ever liked a guy, or been “friends” with a guy only to feel devastated when he starts dating someone other than you? It is possible to have a broken heart and never even dated before, because we as women become emotionally attached to men more quickly than we become physically attached to them. I forget who said it, but I once heard someone say that girls will have sex with guys to get the emotional intimacy they long for from the guys, and guys give the emotional intimacy to have sex with the girl. But you don’t have to have sex in order to get the emotional intimacy you desire from a guy.

A lot of times we as girls like to sugar coat our emotional impurity with another name… “best friends”. Now I’m not saying that guys and girls cannot be best friends, I just personally think that it is near impossible. Think about it this way, do your parents have best friends of the opposite sex that they spend as much time with as they do their spouse? Does your mom tell her secrets and hang out with a guy other than your dad? Most likely the answer is no, and if they do, I’m pretty sure the other parent isn’t happy about it. Why is that? I believe its because there is only one context where men and women can be true best friends without it being weird, and that is in the context of marriage. That is when you are supposed to be best friends, until then we are just kidding ourselves.
Now I don’t think its wrong to be friends with a guy, and in fact I think it is possible, but we as women just have to be careful with how much we reveal of ourselves. You and I both know that the more we tell a guy about ourselves, the closer we feel to him. It is very tempting when we are single and desire to have a romantic relationship to call up one of our “guy friends” and talk to them for hours, or hang out one on one with the guy for hours on end. This is something we must be careful of, even when dating a guy. Leslie Ludy in her book Authentic Beauty calls it the “Feminine Mystique”. We must be care for to guard our hearts will all vigilance, as Proverbs 4:23 says, and that includes guarding our emotions that will cause our hearts to go down a path that it is not yet time to go down.

Over and over in the book of Song of Solomon we are reminded not to awaken love before its time. That includes all aspects of love, even the emotional part of love. And yes its hard, and at times we will fall, but remember, that is the beauty of the Gospel, knowing that we cannot do it on our own.

If you want to read more on this subject I would suggest 2 books: Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy and Emotional Purity by Heather Arnel Paulsen. These books are great and have really spurred me on in my walk towards purity. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to writing again!

In Him,
Raychel

This Thing Called Purity pt.1

Here is a blog I wrote for www.girlsliving4god.com:

“Oh, when is the wedding?”
“Are you engaged?”
These are questions that I get a lot wherever I go. I blame it on one little thing… my purity ring. My dad gave it to me when I was 13 (actually, this is my second one because I lost the stone in my first one) and I have been wearing it every since. So usually this is the conversation that happens after I get asked about being engaged:
“no. This is my purity ring.”
“Oh, what’s a purity ring?”
“It’s a promise I’ve made to God, myself, my parents, and my future husband to stay pure and a virgin until marriage.”
“Oh” (awkward silence) “That’s… um… good for you… I guess…”
Generally my conversation ends there with the person I’m talking to, but this is a conversation I continually have with myself. I remember around the age of 15 or 16 seriously asking myself, “what does it mean to be pure?” I mean, I understood that the technical sense of the word means not having sex until you’re married and then only having sex with your husband for the rest of your life. But I could think of people in my life that hadn’t had sex yet, but I wouldn’t consider them a pure person. Since I was interested in the topic, I started reading books written by godly men and women, and the Lord used those books to show me what purity really is. Purity is so much more than waiting to have sex, purity means guarding your heart, soul and mind for the glory of God. If you can do that, staying a virgin is easy. Most people think that losing your virginity is something that happens in a moment of weakness, but it is actually a slow decomposition of values that lead to giving your body to a man. If you want to remain pure it must begin with your heart and mind. Scripture says, “ Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23) and “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)

Now purity of the heart and the mind is not something we talk about all the time, and it is something that the Lord has had to teach me over and over throughout the years. Honestly, I believe if we can practice this type of purity, all other forms will be easy. Purity of the heart and mind are really one and the same. What ever is in your heart is what you think about, and whatever you think about is what is in your heart. Do you think a lot about Justin Bieber, or your best friends, or losing weight? That is what your heart is concerned with. Do you imagine or daydream about boys (or a certain boy) liking you? Whispering sweet nonsense in your ear? Hugging you, holding your hand, giving you gentle kisses? I know as girls we like to pretend that we don’t ever do this, but ladies lets be honest, it happens more times than we like to admit. Plus, you are talking to the queen of making up love stories in her head. But this is where purity begins, making sure that even our thoughts are not causing us to desire things other than the Lord. Because when we desire things other than the Lord, He is no longer glorified. And remember our first definition of purity? We do it for the glory of God. So try it, as 2 Corinthians 10:5b says, “and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

This is going to be difficult to accomplish. I know because I still struggle with it, but there is beauty in the struggle. My inability to constantly control my thoughts and desires forces me to beg the Lord for help. It also serves as a reminder to me that Jesus is the only thing that can save me from my sinful nature. He never struggled to the point of sinning in anything. He was the only man on earth who never desired anything other than glorifying the Father. That is the beauty of the Gospel and it is in everything, even our struggle to live a pure life. We can rest in the knowledge that although we cannot stay pure on our own, we can call on One who did stay pure and can help us to be like Him. Remember “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

So begin today to finds ways to set your heart and your mind on the Lord. I’ll be honest with you, it is not always easy. I struggle with it everyday. But I go back to Psalm 19:14 and make it my desperate prayer. Its says, “May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.” We will begin with this and later we will talk about other forms of purity. For now here are some practical ways to help our hearts and minds stay focused on the Lord. Some of these I do, others ideas I got from my friends.
- Write scripture on 3x5 cards and put them on your mirror, in your car, and around your room.
- Laminate a passage of scripture and memorize it while you’re taking a shower
- Make up a song or rap that you can sing to yourself throughout the day
- Spend time in the Word and ask questions: “who, what, when, why, how”
- Read a passage of scripture with a friend and discuss what it means to both of you
- Memorize scripture.


Well ladies, I cannot wait to write more on this topic. Know that it is something that I am passionate about and I desire to spread that passion to you and other girls. Hold strong, know that there are others fighting alongside you for this thing called purity, and live joyfully!

In Him,
Raychel

When I am weak, He is strong!

So this week has been good. Week 10 was the most different week I've ever had at Pine Cove. We had 16 out of the 26 families come to Pine Cove for the first time, and 5 of the families were single mom's. It was such a fun, draining experience, to show families what camp looks like, and for our male staff to pour into the lives of the kids (young boys especially) that didn't have a dad in the home. Although I must say, I had lots of fun, with my breath of fresh air family (shout out) the Casey's.

Although this week was exhausting, I finally got to the point this week that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I would do this summer over again knowing what I know now. Up until this week, I couldn't say that confidently. I think this week I just realized the extreme blessing of ministering to people. Although it is hard, it super rewarding, and the Lord has grown me so much, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

(this is where we pause. The first half of the blog was written Saturday night when I was in a serious mood, the second half below was written Sunday morning when I was in a goofy mood with friends)

Here are random messages from my fellow Bluff friends who are at Einstein's with me:

Jk this is Raychel I suck!!!!!!- from Porpoise

Nah this is Raychel and I suck.- From Fish Food

Hangin at einsteins with the peeps. Raychel was a peep the other day...she sucks. - From Patabronia

I love free hugs. - From Audiyoga

Peeps.free hugs.encoura-hug.the best day of the week. - From Pitter Patter

You cant beat hanging out with the cool Peeps at einsteins and giving out free Hugs. . . week 11 Here we come!!!!!- From Silly Sing

Raychel is tight. -From G-ma T

As you can see, the people at the Bluffs love me... Actually, they really do, but their love language is sarcasm, you have to read between the lines,
I love these people, they make me laugh and make my heart warm, and amidst all their sarcasm, we understand that we are bonded through Christ and serving together. I am truly going to miss these people. I've already had to say goodbye to a couple of my good friends, this week and it was not fun, But this week I am praying that I would stay attentive to the Lord's leading and that I would die to myself greatly this week. This may be my last time to work at Pine Cove ever... crazy thought. So I need to enjoy and make the most of it... hopefully, I'll try and process all I've learned this summer and write it out for y'all to hear as well.

I'm going to run, sorry for the randomness of this blog.
Talk to you in a week, Lord willing!
In HIm,
Raychel

2 more weeks... crazy

Hello World!

So I have 8% battery left on my computer. But I wanted to write you all and let you know that this last week was good... A lot of adjusting expectations and continually being shown my selfishness, but good none the less. I got to do crazy things like dress up like santa clause and pass out candy canes around camp, and then another day I dressed up like a giant peep and carried around a sign that said "free hugs" and hugged people all day. It was amazing.

Continue to pray for me and the staff this week, of energy, that I would continue to die to myself and serve the staff and families... Also, two of my good friends are leaving this week, so that will be sad.

Thanks for reading!!

In Him,
Raychel

My Week

Hello Bloggers,
There is a lot, yet not much to write about this week... but I thought this time I'd give you some snippets from my journal this past week...
"Coming into this week i feel beat down. I see i'm starting to believe a lot of lies again and look to man's approval. But often times, a leader doesn't receive man's approval or even recognition. So I know i need to worry more about walking in the will of the Lord"
"I'm tired and I realize I've been sitting here allowing the enemy to tell me lies and I've been believe them in many ways... So I'm gonna have to start speaking truth to myself hard core. I find myself wanting to go home, wanting to find approval in guys, wanting to do everything but turn to Jesus. I really do want Him to be my one desire"
"So, yesterday I had my one-on-one with Tilt. It was good and challenging...exposing parts of myself that need to change. Like, I haven't been giving my all or my best the past couple of weeks. I know I need to do that. Honestly, Lord, I don't want to because I don't FEEL like it... Shame, huh?"

So that was the sum of the beginning of my week... Sunday through Wednesday. After that I just prayed continually that the Lord would help me to die to myself and move out of the way. Its amazing that once I took the focus off myself, my energy started coming back, I felt refreshed, and like I was not doing things of the flesh. The end of my week was so much better than the beginning of my week and I am actually looking forward to week 9, 10, and 11 where I wasn't before hand.

For those of you reading, if you could just continue to lift myself and my fellow co-workers up in prayer... this here is the final stretch. We're almost done with the summer but not quite, so we need to remember that and live like that. Also, pray that I would not forget the things and lessons I've learned here at camp. But I would carry them on and continue to grow. While Pine Cove is a greenhouse for me spiritually, I pray that I would continue to thrive and grow in my natural habitation as well.

Sorry this isn't super long, I've got to go. Oh, but my family is going to be at the Woods camp this week, so I'm super excited to get to see them this week!!!

In Him,
Raychel

Boasting in Weakness

Hello Bloggers!

How are y'all doing. Things are good here... quite a change this week from the past two weeks. This past week (week 7) was good. I was just exhausted and honestly, I think so was the staff. It was neat to watch how the Lord provided just the right amount of strength and energy that I needed, but it was a bit scary because there were times when I doubted that He would come through... silly, unbelieving me. But something that the Lord reminded me of that I wrote for our staff blog and I want to share with you now, is the concept of actively boasting in our weakness.
I was reminded of the verse in 2 Corinthians 9:12 that says, "but He said to me "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
The verse was just a great reminder that only when I am weak and cannot do it on my own is His strength made perfect. But then in the middle of writing this I was reminded that in James it says that faith without works is dead. And (honestly, it was the Lord that caused me to think any of this, nothing of my own), but the Lord reminded me that part of my faith is giving everything I have, and then giving more than I have trusting that He will provide the strength I need.
See, it gets really easy at camp to sit back and do nothing saying "Oh, I'm waiting on the Lord to provide strength for me" all the while not doing anything. And then when the strength never comes we wonder why God didn't provide the strength we needed. The truth is, He does provide, you just have to believe that He will provide. That mean jumping extra hard when I don't feel like it, or yelling extra loud when I don't feel like it, or serving with a genuine smile when all I want to do is be selfish. By continuing to push through and do the things I don't feel I have the energy to do, I am saying that I have faith that the Lord is going to provide so I will continue to display that faith through my works. You can say you have faith in something, but until you have to do an action with that faith, it is never really proven.
Also, last thing and I will run... I am beginning to realize more and more how truly selfish I am. I think selfishness mostly stems from the thinking that you deserve something. And I find myself thinking that, especially on the weekends. My thinking is, "I've been serving the families and staff all week, I deserve to do what i want to do, when I want to do it." But in reality, I don't deserve anything. I didn't even deserve life, but Christ overlooked what I deserved and gave me what I didn't deserve and instead took what I deserved instead. So who am I to complain and start demanding things. I don't deserve anything I've been given. So I pray that I would continue to remember that.

I hope y'all have a great week. My family is coming next week, which is super exciting!!!
Continue to pray for strength and endurance, and that I would continually be open to what the Lord wants to teach me. Sometimes the learning and breaking process is long, tiring, and painful and I just want to run away.
Have a great week!!

In Him,
Raychel

Rest and Joy

What an amazing 2 weeks. This is going to be a quick blog, but I just want to take a moment to testify to the Lord's faithfulness and love. These past 2 weeks at camp (weeks 5&6) have been so rejuvenating. The families and the staff have been a pleasure to be around and they uplifted me so much. Also, I'm finding that I am so comfortable in my role now. The Lord is good, to give me confidence and humility. I will try to write a nice long blog next week, but know that the Lord is good. He also provides fun tidbits of joy. My two best friends from Kansas City, Jenna and Hannah drove 10 hours to come visit me for 24 hours. It was so much fun. It was the first time the 3 of us have been together since Hannah got married and it was a blessing to have them come to camp. I loved it.
Alright bloggers. I've got to go.

In Him,
Raychel

Quick Update

So, today starts the beginning of week 6. While I am incredibly excited, I am really nervous. I have really enjoyed our first half staff and made some great connections with them, I know that the Lord will do the same thing with the second half staff, but its just hard for me to trust sometimes.
Also, I am dead beat tired, and I recognize that I am going to have to depend on the Lord completely for the next 6 weeks in order to make it through... and honestly, that scares me a lot. I'm not a huge dependence person, but as you know if you've read my blog, that is one of the things I'm learning this summer. That dependence on God is important for every aspect of life.
I would ask that you readers continue to lift myself and my camp, and Pine Cove in general up in prayer. This is week is quite a transition week and it can be easy to run off of emotions, which is never good.

Ok, sorry to be short, but I have to run.
Love y'all!!
In Him,
Raychel

I'm Back!!!

Well long time no talk readers.

Thanks for your prayers, I had quite a week. See, Friday night I was quarantined at our camp with a fever of 101.3. The fever continued until Sunday afternoon when they moved me to another camp because our camp doesn’t have the accommodations or the help for a fully sick person. I had been feeling good up until Sunday, when my fever spiked to 103.8, then I was just tired all the time, I had what I thought was a little congestion and was frustrated to be moving to a camp other than my own. When I got to the Shores camp the full-time nurse listened to my lungs and put some device on my finger that I later came to find out checks your oxygen levels. After all that, she proceeded to call some people and order a chest x-ray, an oxygen tank, and started me on a nebulizer treatment. I got my chest x-ray and they kept threatening to put me on the oxygen tank if I didn’t keep taking deep breaths. And let me tell you, for someone who is normally not sick for more than 24 hours, plus I wasn’t feeling that bad at the time of all this happening, I was a little scared.
Turns out I had bronchitis, and I am now on an antibiotic and an inhaler. I was stuck at the Shores camp until Tuesday morning because my fever kept insisting on going back up until then. So have no fear friends. I’m feeling good, so glad to be back at camp, almost all the congestion is out of my chest and I feel like I have full capacity of my lungs.
I was so excited to write about last week (week 3), so it pained me not to be able to. Week 3 was a good week. I know a lot of families week 3 and quite a few mom’s who have kept up with me over the year, and in fact read this blog now. Shout out to Mrs. McClellan, Mrs. Guy, and Momma Wendy. Week 3 was neat because I felt known, like I was able to pick up with people where I left off and they already knew me. It also was the most comfortable I’ve felt with my job up to date so things were just running along smoothly there. I also got adopted for the week and got to spend time with a good friend. My running buddy from last year, Ryan, and his family came week 3. Ryan and I were on leadership together last year and our programs were together a lot, and I have the immense privilege of working with is sister on leadership this summer. Their family is just really neat and they adopted me for the week, and it was great to have a momma and a daddy for a week when I missed my own family so much. I got to sing on Thursday night at the family banquet night and that was an amazing experience. I’ve always grown up watching my parents be able to move people through singing and the Lord allowed me the opportunity to do that on Thursday. I sang Amazing Grace and it was so neat to sing and be reminded of the awesomeness of God’s grace, and be able to remind people of that at the same time.
This week we just ended, week 4, was a good week… really interesting. I never realized how vital the first day and a half of camp were until I came back from quarantine. Showing up to camp on a Tuesday morning was a little awkward, and I felt a little out of sync the entire week, it was hard for me to reach out to families and be intentional with any of them and normally week 4 has been my week of connections.
I was really convicted about something this week. See, we have a staff bible study every Wednesday night led by a Pine Cove full-time staff member named Matt Lantz. It is an amazing study, and I’ve gone for the last 3 years and every year I feel like my eyes are opened so much to the richness and depth of God’s word through the study. Anyways, after bible study this past Wednesday, the girls in my cabin were commenting about how well Matt knows the bible and one of the girls challenged us and said we can know it that well. It got me to thinking… claiming to believe in something is a big deal, and if that something you believe in has a “guidebook” per say, you would expect that person to know it backwards and forwards. For a bad example, lets say a person said they fully believe in the Chick-fil-a way. That they were going to live their whole life for Chick-fil-a and follow all of the Chick-fil-a rules for the rest of their life. You would expect that person to know the Chick-fil-a handbook really well. You would expect them to know the inner workings of the company, its history, and what they stand for. You would expect if you asked a question that they would be able to point you to the exact spot in the handbook where that issue is discussed. Now I ask you, why aren’t Christians that way? I ask myself, why aren’t I that way? It is so easy to say that I believe in the Bible and that its true, yet I don’t read and know it like I believe its true. To say that you wholly believe in something is a big deal. If that belief is accompanied with the very words and the Creator of that belief, you would think the followers would desire to know the book.
So that is where I am right now. Praying that the Lord would give me an unsatifiable hunger and thirst for His word… not books written about being a believer, but the very words of God Himself. The Bible. I want to be satisfied with that and that alone.
Ok, I’ve talked your ear off enough for one day. One last thing… last night I got to watch 2 of my fellow past Pine Cove Staffers marry each other. It was an amazing ceremony and the most scripture-saturated, God-honoring wedding I’ve ever been to. It was such a blessing to celebrate with them on their happy day.
Thanks for reading. Love you all.
In Him,
Raychel

Qaurantined

Hey All!! Sorry you won't get a blog from Raychel this week. She is sick and is quarantined at camp with a fever. Please pray for a quick recovery.. She will write a nice long blog next weekend.

Happy father's Day to all you dads out there. From one Dad to another...Raychel's Dad,

Ray a. McKelvy

Sweet Summertime Contemplations

Well Shalom Readers!!
I hope you all had a wonderful week. I had a good one. A couple of significant things, the first happened on Wednesday. Mr. Bill passed away. Let me explain. There is a gas station about 5 minutes from camp that you can get food at. We at Pine Cove affectionately call it “Pic n’ Pac”. I probably eat there at least once a week, they have incredible sausage and cheese omlets. But anyways. The owner of the store Mr. Bill passed away early on Tuesday morning. I found out that afternoon and went to the store with our high school/middle school group that evening. I was overcome with emotions. See, I didn’t know Mr. Bill, but he has taken my order for the past 3 years I’ve worked at Pine Cove. As a matter of fact, he had taken my order on Sunday morning, and I remember laughing because he always spelled my name wrong, and I could never understand his handwriting. But he was a great friendly man, who always had a big smile for me. It is sad to think that I’ll never see him again this side of heaven. It even got me to thinking, I don’t even know for sure it Mr. Bill knew Jesus… how many opportunites did I have to talk to him? So many. After he passed I found myself asking the Lord to give me a boldness to share the Gospel with everyone and to live everyday to its fullness. I also found myself thinking what I would have said to Mr. Bill on Sunday, had I known that was going to be the last time I talked to him.
So, with that sad, reflective piece, hug the ones you love and remember to live everyday to the fullest. And give a smile to someone, cause you never know if it’ll be the last smile they see.
The second thing I discovered… Well, I’m going to give you a sneak peek into my journal in order to tell you. I wrote this on Friday morning, “The Lord has called me to some great things. I was just thinking last night of how He’s called me to be a leader. In ways I didn’t think of. As a dancer at Dramatic Truth, as a manager at Chick-Fil-A, as a 242 leader, here at camp. Its weird, but I think God has called me to be a leader wherever I go. And I don’t mean that pridefully, it is one of the most humbling, and overwhelming things I can think of. But look at the opportunity the Lord has given me in my positions. Not only to spread the love of Christ, but also to be almost a racial ambassador. Many times, I’m the closest to a black person that anyone will get. I don’t mind, thought at times it can get annoying, I love being the one that people are comfortable with asking questions to. So, with that wild, and humbling revelation, I want to start anew. To lead as a leader, confident that the One who called me, didn’t make a mistake, but has been planning this since before time began. So I can be humbly, confident in that.”
I cannot tell you what that revelation has meant to me. Many times, I felt that I was a leader because I don’t mind leading and people couldn’t find anyone any better. But to recognize that this is something that the Lord has planned for me, before He created the world… wow. I don’t’ really have words. But it is such a comfort to know that I am not in my position by mistake. But the Lord has been growing me and equipping me for this.
So, thank you for those of you praying for me. You had a hand in this. Although my confidence in who I am in Christ still needs to be shaped, He is doing some amazing things. I cannot wait to see how this revelation is going to play out in the future. The Lord has sent some great encouragement this way. People saying they enjoy my leadership and they think I’m doing a wonderful job. Its mind-blowing, and humbling…
Well readers, thanks for hanging this long. Some prayers for this next week.
1. That I would continue to stay humble and teachable throughout this summer
2. Supernatural energy. I am EXHAUSTED at this point. It is by the grace of God that I am functioning with joy and a smile on my face, and I have 9 more weeks to go.
3. That I would enjoy my time here at Pine Cove and live every moment to the fullest.
Thanks for reading this far! Until next weekend!!
Love,
Raychel

One down, Ten to Go!!! Leggo!

Hello Blog readers!!!

How are you? Well, week 1 is complete! I cannot believe it. One of the strange things about camp is that the days are long but the week is short. Like I cannot believe that I am down to 10 weeks left of camp. What a week it has been! There are so many things running through my head, that if I told you all of it, this blog would turn into a book longer than the Harry Potter Series.
First, a nice pleasant surprise was how much fun it was to recognize families. My first summer I was so overwhelmed I didn’t remember any of the families when I returned my second year, but here at my third it was so much fun to jump on opening day and recognize the families driving up. It was so much fun to get to see them and spend time with them, it makes me look forward to the rest of this summer for sure.
Second, I LOVE working with my brother. I cannot tell you what a blessing and how fun it is to work with him. It has been such a privilege to sit back and watch him with families. So many people came up and told me how blessed I was to have him for a brother, and I couldn’t agree more. Thankfully I only name dropped him once, but the kids weren’t even paying attention so it was all good.
Third, this is going to be quite a summer… Last year our camp director asked us what was one word that we would use to things we want to work on. And I may have mentioned it before but my words for this summer are “dependence” and “confidence/comfortable”. Dependence because I need to be more dependent on the Lord, and other people. I love being and independent young woman. And if you were to ask me if I need anyone I probably say no… my family is about the only thing that I need. But the Lord has slowly begun to show me the wonderful benefits of living in community and being vulnerable with other believers. And to be totally dependent on Him. Its kinda funny, because I am exhausted. Like, the thought of doing this for 10 more weeks is slightly overwhelming. I keep thinking to myself “I can’t do it, I can’t do it” and all the while I hear the Lord saying, “of course you can’t. Rely on me”. Its crazy how this year I have to rely on the Lord not only for physical endurance, but a lot of my job requires a lot of grace. Something I find in short supply when I try and do things on my own. Its crazy that there are things that happen and suddenly people look to me to respond it a way that is appropriate and wise. It is in these moments that I recognize that I cannot do this job without the grace and working of the Lord through me. I’ll be honest. The though of being so dependent is scary. I find myself naturally thinking that I can do it on my own and I would rather not rely on anyone, not even the Lord. But I know He is faithful and I’ve asked Him to break me of it, no matter how terrified I am.
One thing I hope is that the lessons I learn will transfer to my life away from camp. I love working at Pine Cove because it is an environment in which I am surrounded my peers who are striving to be more like Christ along with me. The result is that we encourage each other and hold each other up when we’re tired. But the true test is being able to continue this pattern outside of camp. A pattern that I did not continue last year, but I desire to continue this year.
In my word “confidence/comfort” is the desire to be confident in who I am and comfortable with who God made me to be. I firmly believe this is something the Lord wants me to learn because before I left for camp my dad encouraged me to meditate and firmly believe the truth written in Psalm 139 and this week alone I’ve had 2 other people at random remind me and encourage me to read Psalm 139. This is great for me, but so hard. In a way, I know who I am, but there are several areas where I am not confident and I’m unsure in myself and those are the areas of guys and leadership. And the Lord is making me deal with both. The hardest is trying to figure out who I am, and trying to lead out of who I am. The example I have to follow for my position was such a great example, and he had a great many traditions that I enjoyed, but I’m trying to learn how to be myself and not a carbon copy of him. Because the Lord blessed him with special gifts and the Lord has blessed me with special, yet different gifts and I need to learn to accept them and be proud and content with them. Know that I say all this to you because I recognize my need for it, but I’m having trouble carrying it out in actions and believing it for myself. But the Lord has brought TONS of encouragement my way.
Well, I should run. Thanks for reading and I’ll try and write more later.
Learning lots...
Raychel

Week 1 is upon us!!

Hello Friends and Family!
How is it going? Orientation is officially over. Week 1 starts today… I can’t believe we are here. The past two weeks has flown by, yet it has gone by really slow.
I love family camp for many reasons, its great to see all kinds of families come through camp. Its is humbling and honoring to watch the Lord work through this camp to restore broken families, and it is an encouragement to serve alongside my peers who desire to follow the Lord passionately. But one thing I really love about family camp is how it renews my passion and desire to raise a godly family. This week alone I believe we’ve heard anywhere from 3-5 talks on marriage and the family. One of the speakers told us, “the best time to work on your marriage is now, before you’re married”. I believe that’s true. I don’t take for granted the fact that I have been blessed with the opportunity to sit under some great people and watch their marriages.
My parents celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary yesterday. I must say, out of all the marriages, theirs is the one I desire to imitate the most. Not only are they a great representation of Christ and His bride. But they are a great example of how the Lord can use just two people to change a generation. I was talking to some fellow staff members yesterday about how watching my parents marriage, and hearing on these marriage talks makes me excited for marriage and motherhood. It is not something I look on with dread, or resignation that it’ll probably happen one day, but it is something that I have been praying for since I was younger. If you’re married right now and reading this recognize the incredible position the Lord has put you in. Our director “Hip Shot” said it yesterday, but marriage is a reflection of the Gospel. When husbands love their wives like Christ loved the church and wives submit to their husbands as the church is to submit to Christ they are painting a picture. What an opportunity!
And moms… what greater a blessing than to get to shepherd the next generation. I feel like being a camp I see it more clearly how the enemy has really attacked the family. Not only has he gotten us through divorce, but he has made mothers feel insignificant. I believe there is no greater job than being a parent, and motherhood is the highest calling a woman can have in life. You have the opportunity to raise your children in the Lord, to show them real life examples of Christ. Look at the Proverbs 31 woman. She is the bombdotcom. And can I take this moment to say. My mom is that woman. Not perfectly, but she is a great example of what a Proverbs 31 woman looks like.
So, can I say how much I LOVE working with my brother at camp. Above is a picture of us at starbucks yesterday waiting to do laundry and get some internet. Its been cool to watch my brother with other people. He is definitely outgoing, and the life of the party. I have had so many proud older sister moments. Ross is definitely a gentleman and loves the Lord, and its been neat to sit back and watch him as his sister take care of his other sisters in Christ. Ross got a camp name last week, and while it doesn’t have the name ‘Smacks’ anywhere its still pretty cool. His name is “Trifecta”. And of course he thinks it’s the coolest thing ever.
I tell you what. this week has been encouraging. Several people have randomly encouraged me and instilled confidence in me about my job. The theme in a lot of the talks this week has not only been marriage, but being confident that the Lord supplies what He demands, and that He will call you AND equip you. While I still have moments where I’m really insecure about my job, I’m trying to focus on pleasing the Lord and not people.
Well, thanks for sticking it out this long, I will stop talking and let you get back to the real world. I would humbly ask for your prayers though (and letters too if you want to send some).
Specifically, if you could continue to pray that I would rely on the Lord, and that He would cause me to depend totally on Him and look only to Him for approval. Pray for the families that will be arriving in a few hours. Some are in a great place, others are really hurting and broken, but all are needing to be refreshed. Pray for the staff that we would continue to deepen our unity and that we would love each other unconditionally. Also, this may sound silly, but pray that the scary animals /bugs would stay away. We have had 2 scorpion stings, several yellow jacket stings, and seen multiple huge spiders. Now I recognize we’re at camp, and I don’t mind seeing these things, but I woke up several times last night worried that I might wake up with a scorpion in my bed…
Well, I’m gonna go. Have a wonderful week and I will attempt to write after week 1. God bless!
In Him,
Raychel

Bluffs Blog #3

Hello Friends!
I hope this blog finds you well and excited for summer. I myself am quite excited to be back at Pine Cove. We just finished our first week of training, which is where all the specialty training goes on. Our lifeguards are trained, our ropes people are trained, our boat drivers are trained, and then people come to help set up camp. This week was good, it had some rough moments, I won't lie, but over all it was wonderful.
I am so excited to be surrounded by people who are willing to serve the Lord for a summer and sacrifice so much, it truly makes me excited for heaven when I'm here.
Well, about halfway through this week our camp director asked the leadership team what we are most nervous about this summer. My answer was failing. The thing that has plagued me the most is feeling like I'm inadequate, that I will do a horrible job as program director this summer and that the people I with will regret hiring me. Now I recognize that some of that is just Satan trying to distract me and get me to focus on things other than my main purpose for being here. But let me show you the amount of sin wrapped up in that statement that the Lord has revealed to me over the past couple of days.
1) Pride. That is one of the sins I struggle with the most. I like to thing I can do it all myself. Even this week I had a moment when I was overwhelmed and not having fun, and I thought to myself "I should ask for help on this project" my initial reaction was "no I got this. I can do it by myself", but the Lord reminded me of all the great things He did when I laid down my pride last summer. So I asked for help and the result was better than anything I could have imagined.
2)Idolatry. Idolatry is when you put anything before or higher than God. Can you see the idolatry in the statement I made about my biggest fear? It is my fear of man. I am so afraid of letting people down, and of them being disappointed or not liking me. Many times I'm more worried about what they think than what the Lord thinks. I quickly find myself doing things to please man and make him happy, rather than pleasing the Lord and trying to make HIM happy.
3) Dependence on myself (I'm not sure what you call that... Pride maybe?) I laugh when I find myself thinking that things are not going to go well if I don't do it. Somehow I got into this mentality that I have to do everything, and do it perfect, otherwise it won't work at all. But if there is one thing I remember from my past summers is that the Lord doesn't need me. He chooses to work through me, but He could do it on His own. And that He uses the lowly and humble. His grace is made perfect in my weakness, and it is sufficient for when I can't do it on my own.
My prayer the past couple of days has been that the Lord would step in and use me. That Raychel McKelvy would step out of the way, and allow the Spirit of the Lord to work through here. I was to be a vessel emptied out for His use this summer.
Please know that I am SUPER excited for this summer, but the Lord is faithful to grow those who ask to be grown, and He is faithful to complete the good work He began in me.

So, for those of you who don't know, this summer my job is going to be program director for our camp the "Bluffs". This means anything program wise, I am overseeing it. I have a right-hand man Take Out who is going to help set up and his job is to oversee/ minister to all of the sections outside of the programs. I am excited for my job because it allows me to do the things I love: hanging and talking with people and acting and being on stage. I am also nervous because it is quite a big responsibility and again, I don't feel equipped to lead a bunch of people. But the Lord has brought nothing but encouragement my way since I've been here, and the amount of people that have confidence in me being in this position is heartening.

Ok. I will sign off, but I have a couple of request for you my reader.
1)Prayer. Just prayers for the things I mentioned above, and that I would stay focused on the things the Lord has placed in front of me and not worry about things outside my control.
2) Letters. I love receiving hand-written letters, and I've decided this summer to beg for them. So if you think about it, I would love to hear from y'all this summer in letter form. So you can write to me:
Raychel "Reba Smackentire" McKelvy
Pine Cove Bluffs Camp
P.O. Box 9055
Tyler, TX 75711-9055

Have a wonderful summer!!
In Him,
Raychel

Bluffs Blog 2!

So, we made it to Texas. In record time. Google maps told us it would take us 11 hours and 14 minutes and we did it in 10 hours exactly. Before you get yourself in a tizzy, just know that we never went more than 7 miles over the speed limit. But we only stopped 3 times and our stops were never longer than 10 minutes.
It was so much fun to ride in the car with Kirstyn and Ross. First of all, it’s probably the most Ross and I have spoken to each other since he left for Moody Bible Institute in August. Let me tell you what. The Lord has done some amazing work in my brother’s life. His desires and passions and the amount of focus he has now is incredible. There were moments of listening to him talk that I wanted to either laugh or cry because the change in him is so amazing.
So, after we grabbed out much needed Starbucks coffee, we drove (or rather Kirstyn drove) and Ross and I dominated the conversation for the next 2 hours. We then got into interesting conversations such as physical and personality turn offs and turn ons of the opposite sex, top five favorite movies (where we found out that if a chick flick is in your top five you lose the respect of Ross).
We arrived at our friends the Fitzsimmons’ lake house around 5pm that evening and they have treated us like royalty since. They gave us a phenomenal dinner of steak, potatoes, green beans, salad, coke salad, Texas sheet cake, and Blue Bell ice cream. This morning we were treated to a wonderful breakfast of Belgium waffles, fruit, and bacon, along with the most wonderful coffee follow it all down.
Today has been a wonderful morning of relaxing, fellowshipping, and enjoying God’s creation. The picture above is the view of the lake we have from the porch at the lake house. We are currently packing up our stuff so we can drop off our rental car and head to camp!
I am SO excited right now, and I will probably write again next week. Please pray for Ross, Kirstyn, and I as we go through a week of intense training. Ross has to get 40 hours of swimming in, Kirstyn 40 hours of ropes training in, and my self I have to get a lot of the details planned for the summer.
I am SUPER excited to see what God is going to do this summer. We have had a lot of obstacles and problems just trying to get to camp, and we know that we have an enemy trying to keep us from serving whole-heartedly this summer. So we would covet your prayers for us as a Pine Cove staff and for the families and children that will be coming to camp this summer.
Until next week!!
In Him,
Smacks

Summertime with Smacks!

Hello Friends!

So I’ve decided to try to blog about this summer. I’ve had several people ask me to keep them updated, and while I’d love to contact each and everyone of you, I know it will be virtually impossible, so I figured this is the best way.
So, today is the eve of our trip to TX. We are actually arriving at a lakehouse owned by some friends of ours right outside of Athens, TX. And Sunday afternoon we will head to Pine Cove. Myself, my brother Ross, and my friend Kirstyn will be driving in a rented car tomorrow.
This is going to be a bit short because I’ve still got to keep packing and go to bed and get ready to help drive tomorrow. But just know that this summer is the most conflicted I’ve felt out of any summer I’ve gone to Pine Cove.
On one hand I am SUPER excited to go to camp. I love being at Pine Cove and serving the families and staff that come every week. But on the other hand I want to stay in Nashville. I realized that this will most likely be the last summer I spend living in Nashville, and there will also be a lot of fun things happening in Nashville too. Also, this summer I feel more connected to a larger group of people, and I know that a lot of things change in 3 months and there is a part of me that wants to be here to experience those changes.
I know the Lord is going to some great things this summer. I know He is always working in my life, and Pine Cove is a way He works in concentrated doses.
So, I will try to write a blog while on the road to give you more information, but I thought I’d at least let you know that I’m going to try to write on here every weekend. Have a wonderful summer! Pine Cove Bluffs Summer 2011!!
In Him,
Reba Smackentire

All the Single Ladies (and Men)

What do roses, hearts, chocolate, and a four-letter word have in common? They’re all items used to celebrate the momentous holiday that is fast approaching us. Never have I met a holiday that evokes so many diverse emotions. I know people who LOVE Valentine’s Day, it the one holiday they look forward to the most. On the other end of the spectrum I know people who loathe Valentine’s Day; it is just a day that reminds them how single and un-loveable they are. Others think Valentine’s Day was created to elevate one’s stress level with all the worrying about getting the perfect gift. Some people forget about Valentine’s day, so for them, its just another occasion for their significant other to get upset with them.
But all of this emotion begs the question, what is Valentines’ Day? Why all the big fuss? According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary a Valentine is either “a sweetheart chosen or complimented on Valentine’s Day, or a gift or greeting sent or given especially to a sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, or something (as a movie or piece of writing) expressing uncritical praise or affection.”
I made a feeble attempt to look up the tradition of Valentine’s Day, but when I discovered the Wikipedia entry was over 4 pages long, I decided it wasn’t that important. I could harp on how society has turned a day about love into an opportunity to make more money, but that is what our society does. Get over it. But rather I’d like to address the issue near and dear to my heart: being single on Valentine’s Day. As a disclaimer these are my own feelings and musings expressed, and mainly I am asking questions in hopes that someone out there will identify with me.
I would like to start by saying what this blog is not. It is not an opportunity for me to gripe and say “woe is me”, nor am I trying to get a sympathy date. Rather, I am hoping to encourage my fellow siblings in Christ in validating their feelings and combating them with the truth of God’s Word.
I remember the first time I became aware of the fact that I didn’t have a “valentine”. It was during my freshman year of college. Suddenly all the girls I knew were stressing out over who would be their valentine that year. I am ashamed to admit that I was semi-caught up in that, mentally appraising boys, trying to “feel out the relationships”, and becoming more and more depressed the closer the day approached without a man in sight. After that year I decided to stop stressing about it. I must say, I have spent the past 21 years without a valentine (if you don’t count my family, that is), and I have enjoyed each one better than the last.
This year, however, I began to ponder what it means to be single. The more I enjoy my single life I begin to understand why Paul encouraged us to stay this way. While I do hope that this gift of singleness is only for a season, I continually am asking myself, why would Paul say that it is better to be single? First of all I have to remind myself, that while prompted by the Holy Spirit, this is Paul’s opinion about being single. But you have to admit, his reasons are good. He says that the appointed time is short and we are to live for Christ. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 says, “I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” How can you argue with that reasoning? Yet while I wholeheartedly agree with Paul, my emotions and desires are saying something different, and a little holiday called Valentine’s Day does not help that situation.
So for those of you who are pining for a valentine of epic proportion, let me encourage you. We have been giving the best Valentine of all! Valentine’s Day is all about love, right? Well, we have the best love of all. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” If that’s the case than Jesus is the greatest love because he laid down His life for you and for me. His love is unconditional. He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Duet. 31:6,8; Heb. 13:5). His perfect love cast out all fear (1 John 4:18), so we don’t have to fear Him leaving us, hating us, getting annoyed with our imperfections, or hurting us in any way. His love is ultimate, and therefore we can hold our heads up high because we have the best love of all.
I know some of you are thinking that this is all well and good, but sometimes you want a tangible representation of love. Something/someone that you can hold, hug, and hear actual words from. Let me tell you, I’ve been there and I am there a lot. Something the Lord is teaching me, is to see Him in the little things. The Lord uses His people as a tangible representation of Himself. There are times when I get a hug from a friend, a smile, or encouraging word and I see the Lord in it. This did not just happen. It was a process of me asking the Lord to reveal Himself to me thru His people, and I still have to fight the voice in my head that likes to remind me that a person said something nice, not the Lord thru that person. Let me encourage you to do this, and even in your loneliest moments when you think that being single is a curse and Paul was smoking something when he wrote the verses in 1 Corinthians, you’ll begin to feel the love of the Lord surround you, and you’ll find your lonely moments becoming less and less.
I don’t know if any of this made any sense, or if you even care about what I said. But I would like to say that even if no one in the world loves you. You have a Man who loved you SO much He was willing to give up everything for you. So on this Valentine’s Day don’t get S.A.D (Singles Awareness Day), get L.O.V.E. (Loving Our Valentines Eternally) (I don’t know, I made that up on the spot).

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!