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