12-31-13
I know many people do New Year's Resolutions, and I know I have things I want to improve or maintain in my life, but that's not really what I'm thinking about. I've been thinking about where I've been on past New Year's and where I've been this year.
When I was little, we'd each get to pick out a movie to watch and cuddle in our sleeping bags on the living room floor. We'd watch in the order of youngest to adult, and I remember being excited when I finally made it to midnight without falling asleep now. (Now it's no big thing, but then it was.)
When 2006 turned into 2007, I was in India. I think it was a Thursday night. I had preached a sermon on the 2300-day prophecy earlier that evening, ate New Year's cake in the lobby of the hotel, and fell asleep listening to the very loud fireworks going off up and down the street.
When 2008 turned into 2009, I was on Ebeye. I think it was a Saturday night. I was in the principal's apartment with Ryan and Emily, playing Starcraft and then stuffing couch cushions back into their covers. The covers had just come out of our dryer.
When 2010 turned into 2011, I was at Timber Ridge Camp for staff retreat. It was a Friday night, and so we welcomed the Sabbath and the new year with a footwashing and a communion service. It was also the evening that Charlie and Trish told me about Greg wanting me to go work at Wakonda.
Tonight, I'm in my solitary apartment in Michigan. Yeah, my landlord lives downstairs, but I think he's out with his brother and sister-in-law. I had Chism family pizza and some ice cream, I watched some classic Doctor Who (I finished the 1st Doctor story, The Aztecs) and I read and I'm now writing this blog before doing more watching and reading and etc. I came back early because of the grown-up things I'm doing later this week and because of the weather, and so I'm glad I don't have to drive through the snow, but I'm also a little melancholy because I'm not with my family. If I had been, I still would have been sleeping on the floor. :)
Anyway, I do pray that I grow and change for the better in 2014. Here's to the past and here's to the future.
Showing posts with label Timber Ridge Camp. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Timber Ridge Camp. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Changes
1-27-11
I wanted to call this post "Kicked Out of the Nest," but seeing as I've jumped instead of having been kicked, it would not have been entirely accurate.
I said in an earlier post that camp staff retreat had been stretching. Well, it was. There it was, New Year's Eve, and my camp director slings an arm over my shoulders and says, "Ashlee, you're a girl with options."
First thought: What the heck does that mean?
But I sat and listened to him as he explained that I had been asked for. Basically, two of the best teen camp pastors that I've ever had the privilege of working with had been promoted to being youth directors of other conferences, and one of them wanted me to come work as administrative staff, as the ceramics director, at his camp. Charlie told me that he would be happy for me either way (whether I stayed at Timber Ridge or went to Wakonda), would respect my decision, and that I had to tell him before he went recruiting at Andrews. He, Trish, and I prayed about it and we went about the weekend.
Well, the choice before me bothered me. I mean, it bothered me in a good way. Sometimes when God wants me to do something, He doesn't allow it to settle in my mind. Instead it whistles like a tea kettle until I've decided to act one way or the other. By the end of the weekend, I had already come to the conclusion that God wanted me to go to Wakonda, but I decided to wait until I had talked to Pastor Greg and done some more praying about it. That was the decision I had come to after an brisk early morning hike around Timber Ridge's lake.
So I Skyped Pastor Greg and talked with him, and we prayed. I got ready for classes to start and went to classes and what not. A couple days later, I Skyped Greg again and said, "You've got yourself a ceramics director."
"Yeah, I need one," Pastor Greg said.
"No, what I'm saying is, you have one," I said, feeling a little dumb that I couldn't just verbalize the choice and had to speak around it.
"PRAISE THE LORD!" was Pastor Greg's response (and when he and his wife were here this week for recruiting and I interviewed with them, he kept saying, "I'm so excited you're going to come work with us." I think he said it like five to seven times in about ten minutes.)
Later that day, I Skyped Charlie and Trish and said, "When you go to Andrews, you'll be talking to your new crafts and ceramic director." Charlie's response was,"I had a feeling that was going to be it. It's a tough decision for you, isn't it?"
And yeah, it was. I love Timber Ridge Camp, and I believe that it's one of the best places in the world. It's a God-place. I get onto the grounds and my whole self relaxes there. It's been my home for fifteen months (if you take three months a summer and times it by five, the number of summers I've worked there), and that's longer than the time I spent as a student missionary. I've invested a lot of hard work into that place and the kids who go there, and the camp has invested a lot of hard work into me. I went from being the kitchen aide to the crafts and ceramics director, a position I never thought of being in, let alone surviving through. Once you're part of Timber Ridge's camp staff family, you're always a part of that family. It's like a good version of the Mafia. I have grown so much through my time there.
And now God's making me move on. He wants me to take the training I've gotten, the growth I've attained, and use it. Once again, He's pushing me outside my comfort zone, and I'm starting to be more excited about the prospect of working at Camp Wakonda this summer. (I'm not sure how I'm getting there this summer, but that's a different topic for a different post, especially since this one's long as it is.)
Charlie and Trish were also here recruiting this week, and I got to go out Tuesday night with the rest of TRC's staff to Tony's and Rembrandt's. When they dropped me off at my apartment, Charlie said, "Ashlee, we're proud of you, and you'll do a great job this summer at Wakonda," and Trish said, "Yep, we are." (And I'm pretty sure they know how much it means to me to hear something like that. Let alone the stuff he told me when I sat down to have a chat with him. I'm so words of affirmation.)
So, if you've just skipped to the end of the post to see my summary, it's this: This coming summer will be my sixth one of working at a camp, but the first one at Camp Wakonda, a place I've never seen, but God wants me there, and so I'm going.
More later.
I wanted to call this post "Kicked Out of the Nest," but seeing as I've jumped instead of having been kicked, it would not have been entirely accurate.
I said in an earlier post that camp staff retreat had been stretching. Well, it was. There it was, New Year's Eve, and my camp director slings an arm over my shoulders and says, "Ashlee, you're a girl with options."
First thought: What the heck does that mean?
But I sat and listened to him as he explained that I had been asked for. Basically, two of the best teen camp pastors that I've ever had the privilege of working with had been promoted to being youth directors of other conferences, and one of them wanted me to come work as administrative staff, as the ceramics director, at his camp. Charlie told me that he would be happy for me either way (whether I stayed at Timber Ridge or went to Wakonda), would respect my decision, and that I had to tell him before he went recruiting at Andrews. He, Trish, and I prayed about it and we went about the weekend.
Well, the choice before me bothered me. I mean, it bothered me in a good way. Sometimes when God wants me to do something, He doesn't allow it to settle in my mind. Instead it whistles like a tea kettle until I've decided to act one way or the other. By the end of the weekend, I had already come to the conclusion that God wanted me to go to Wakonda, but I decided to wait until I had talked to Pastor Greg and done some more praying about it. That was the decision I had come to after an brisk early morning hike around Timber Ridge's lake.
So I Skyped Pastor Greg and talked with him, and we prayed. I got ready for classes to start and went to classes and what not. A couple days later, I Skyped Greg again and said, "You've got yourself a ceramics director."
"Yeah, I need one," Pastor Greg said.
"No, what I'm saying is, you have one," I said, feeling a little dumb that I couldn't just verbalize the choice and had to speak around it.
"PRAISE THE LORD!" was Pastor Greg's response (and when he and his wife were here this week for recruiting and I interviewed with them, he kept saying, "I'm so excited you're going to come work with us." I think he said it like five to seven times in about ten minutes.)
Later that day, I Skyped Charlie and Trish and said, "When you go to Andrews, you'll be talking to your new crafts and ceramic director." Charlie's response was,"I had a feeling that was going to be it. It's a tough decision for you, isn't it?"
And yeah, it was. I love Timber Ridge Camp, and I believe that it's one of the best places in the world. It's a God-place. I get onto the grounds and my whole self relaxes there. It's been my home for fifteen months (if you take three months a summer and times it by five, the number of summers I've worked there), and that's longer than the time I spent as a student missionary. I've invested a lot of hard work into that place and the kids who go there, and the camp has invested a lot of hard work into me. I went from being the kitchen aide to the crafts and ceramics director, a position I never thought of being in, let alone surviving through. Once you're part of Timber Ridge's camp staff family, you're always a part of that family. It's like a good version of the Mafia. I have grown so much through my time there.
And now God's making me move on. He wants me to take the training I've gotten, the growth I've attained, and use it. Once again, He's pushing me outside my comfort zone, and I'm starting to be more excited about the prospect of working at Camp Wakonda this summer. (I'm not sure how I'm getting there this summer, but that's a different topic for a different post, especially since this one's long as it is.)
Charlie and Trish were also here recruiting this week, and I got to go out Tuesday night with the rest of TRC's staff to Tony's and Rembrandt's. When they dropped me off at my apartment, Charlie said, "Ashlee, we're proud of you, and you'll do a great job this summer at Wakonda," and Trish said, "Yep, we are." (And I'm pretty sure they know how much it means to me to hear something like that. Let alone the stuff he told me when I sat down to have a chat with him. I'm so words of affirmation.)
So, if you've just skipped to the end of the post to see my summary, it's this: This coming summer will be my sixth one of working at a camp, but the first one at Camp Wakonda, a place I've never seen, but God wants me there, and so I'm going.
More later.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas Break
1-3-11
I finally had found a ride, with a friend's roommate and that roommate's boyfriend. Maricel and Matt were very nice, and we left at 5:00 AM and made super good time to Indiana and points beyond. When we got close to the rendevous point with my dad, the traffic slowed way down. Rubberneckers, we figured. When we went past the wreck (which was on the southbound side, actually, and had completely stopped traffic on that side), I realized that we'd had a safe trip as well. What we saw was this: the trailer of one semi truck was crumpled in the middle, and the cab of another semi was almost completely gone. That was not a good wreck. (Not that any ever are, but you all know what I mean.)
When we met up with Dad, I got to go to a Barnes and Noble and then we went home. At home, not much happened. I read books, watched TV and movies, and played on the computer and with the cats. I mean, we did Christmas and I gave and got presents (including a saucepan, Music and Lyrics, and an entire set of dishes) and we did New Year's Eve a day early because I was meeting up with my ride the actual day of.
Well, sort of meeting with my ride. Dad and Caitlyn took me down to Pastor Charlie's house, where I caught a ride (and dinner at Cracker Barrel) to Timber Ridge Camp (the best camp in the entire universe) for staff retreat. (More on how stretching staff retreat was in a later post.) Staff retreat is where I met up with Ashley and Zack, and we traveled back to Southern yesterday. So here I am, all ready and rarin' to go for another semester.
More later.
I finally had found a ride, with a friend's roommate and that roommate's boyfriend. Maricel and Matt were very nice, and we left at 5:00 AM and made super good time to Indiana and points beyond. When we got close to the rendevous point with my dad, the traffic slowed way down. Rubberneckers, we figured. When we went past the wreck (which was on the southbound side, actually, and had completely stopped traffic on that side), I realized that we'd had a safe trip as well. What we saw was this: the trailer of one semi truck was crumpled in the middle, and the cab of another semi was almost completely gone. That was not a good wreck. (Not that any ever are, but you all know what I mean.)
When we met up with Dad, I got to go to a Barnes and Noble and then we went home. At home, not much happened. I read books, watched TV and movies, and played on the computer and with the cats. I mean, we did Christmas and I gave and got presents (including a saucepan, Music and Lyrics, and an entire set of dishes) and we did New Year's Eve a day early because I was meeting up with my ride the actual day of.
Well, sort of meeting with my ride. Dad and Caitlyn took me down to Pastor Charlie's house, where I caught a ride (and dinner at Cracker Barrel) to Timber Ridge Camp (the best camp in the entire universe) for staff retreat. (More on how stretching staff retreat was in a later post.) Staff retreat is where I met up with Ashley and Zack, and we traveled back to Southern yesterday. So here I am, all ready and rarin' to go for another semester.
More later.
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