Beginnings

Hello there!  I wanted to make this blog in order to keep the people that I love and the people that love me, updated on my adventures coming up.  In case you don't know, I'm studying abroad in Rwanda for this semester.   A lot went into me getting here, so I'll being you up to speed in case you need it...
This year, I spent my summer being a camp counselor at a fantastic Christian camp, Camp Hebron, in Halifax, PA.  I showed up on June 5th for a week and a half of training, and then had 8 amazing weeks of camp, finishing August 11.  Eight weeks of slippy slide, cabin devos, Gold Rush, amazing conversations with campers and staff, fantastic new friends, campfires, prayers, and smiles.  God did some incredible things throughout the summer, both in my own life, and in the life of my campers.  I could write for pages and pages about that experience, but that's not what this adventure is about.  On August 11 I was picked up from camp and then spent the 12-16th in the Outer Banks with my family for vacation.  Today I woke up at 3:45 am, hopped in the car, and arrived at 11 am here in Washington DC for Orientation. So basically, since June I've only been home for one day and won't be back til December. Crazy... anyways!
Like I said, God did some incredible things in my own life this summer, and one of them was getting me ready for this experience.  He showed me over and over this summer how He provides for all our needs, and more abundantly than we could ever imagine.  I showed up to camp not knowing anyone or anything, and having no expectations- and God showed me one of the most incredible and fulfilling summers I could have ever asked for.  One week, I was placed as a counselor for Ultimate Adventure camp, where we went caving, rock climbing, canoeing, and on a ten-mile hike.  I spent the weekend before in so much tears and prayers worried about the week and wondering why God wanted me in that camp.  A few days in I had a conversation with a camper where it was so obvious that God placed us together in that camp to have that conversation.  Another week, I was having a terrible time not knowing what I was supposed to be doing, and the opportunity arose to help bring one of my girls to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  Basically, God showed me countless times over this summer that He has plans for me and that He will always provide for me.
And that's where I got the title for this blog.  Psalm 28:7 reads: "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."   So much goodness in that verse. My heart trusts in Him and I am helped.  God always helps us when we trust in Him.  But there's the important part- that we have to trust in Him.  That's what I've been learning all summer, and that's what I'm going to keep learning and working on all semester.  Trusting that God will keep me safe, happy, cared for, loved, comforted, focused, and whatever else I may need.  As the verse says, the Lord is my strength.  He will be my strength through the bad times, and I will give thanks to Him for this opportunity in all the times, amazing or rough.
So today, after a day of saying goodbye to family, meeting new friends, visiting the Lincoln Monument and the Holocaust Memorial, walking for miles in D.C., I am going to sleep remembering Psalm 28:7.  It's what I'm going to be clinging to this semester.  Tomorrow, we get on our flight at 11 PM to fly to Qatar, which is near Saudi Arabia, where we'll have an overnight lay over, and then the next day we head off to Kigali! Prayers are greatly appreciated, and I am thinking of you all in my prayers as well.  Next time I write I'll be in Africa! AHHHHH YAYAYAYAY!


These first two are from summer camp! The first one is one of my greatest friends Laura and me for dress your roommate dinner during orientation.  The second one is a bunch of summer staff on our last day trying to get into meals like we have to do with campers.  Every meal during cabin/shabin camps as a counselor, you line up your cabin and stand on the steps, sing a group song, have someone pray, and then have to sing and be crazy until you get called in to eat. It's crazy.

This is a fabulous one of my boyfriend Timothy and I
at the DC Zoo, one of our many weekend adventures
 from this summer in the midst of my job.

Here's a picture of a bunch of my family in North Carolina
on our vacation! Hello everyone! :]