I forget what day it is when I'm at camp.

I think today is Sunday. Tomorrow will start my third week at camp. I feel like I've been here for years. This weekend was definitely the best ever. After a hard week of working in the Barn for Calvary Church's retreat week (I didn't have to film last week or this week), a bunch of us went to a contra dance outside of Greenville, SC. I've only been to a contra dance once or twice, so I was really excited to get the chance to learn more and have some fun! And it was amazing. It was in this little barn-type building with string lights and fans everywhere, because it got so hot with so many people dancing and sweating and laughing. I think I danced three dances, and by the time we finished I needed a break from the heat so I went outside for some fresh air.

We left a little before the last dance, because we had to make it back before curfew at 11:30, and I just have to say that the stars that night were amazing. I've always felt that shooting stars and just the stars in general are like God's love notes to me. Last night after we got back to camp, some of us sat on the picnic tables at the Upper Field and just stared at the stars for about an hour before going to bed. We must have seen at least a dozen shooting stars in that time. It was such a wonderful time of getting to know my fellow staff members and feeling loved by God.

Today some of us went to Black Mountain, about 45 minutes away, for lunch and to just walk around a bit. We found an ice cream/fudge shop called Kilwin's, and I tried a piece of their French Silk chocolate fudge. It was amazing! I almost bought some for my mom, but we left before I got the chance. If we go back I'll definitely get some for her. :)

It will probably be another week at least before I remember to update this. Camp Care is this week. It's a camp for kids who have cancer or have been affected by cancer, and it's run by a secular organization. We just provide the facilities and the food for them, and it's a great ministry for us to reach out to them and just love on the kids and their staff. I'll be cooking in the kitchen all week, which I hear means long hours with few breaks, but I'm ready for the work and I'm excited to serve them this week.

I want to leave you with something I woke up thinking about this morning. God brought Lamentations 3 to my mind, specifically verse 23 which says, "Your mercies are new every morning, great is your faithfulness." This verse, along with verses 17 and 21-24, affected a change in my life last year when I was going through a really rocky time emotionally and spiritually. I went through a period where I prayed every night for God to take me home. Things weren't going the way I wanted them to in my personal life, and I honestly would have rather been dead than wake up in the same state another morning. I resonated with Lamentations 3:17 which says, "My soul is bereft of peace, I have forgotten what happiness is." And then I read further, and saw, "but this I call to mind, and therefore I have peace: the steadfast love of the Lord never fails; his mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is his faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him'" (21-24). Reading those verses, I honestly believe, was the turning point in my life from despair to hope. I live in that hope now, the hope that the Lord is good and that he loves me, so what harm can possibly befall me?

I re-read all of these verses this morning, and then I kept reading and caught something new. "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord...Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him...For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men" (25-26; 28; 31-33). So, a few things: 1) It is good for me to wait on the Lord; 2) it is good for me to be alone in this time where I have been called to singleness; and 3) out of his steadfast love, God will have compassion on me. He's not a cruel or vindictive or petty God; he loves me and he has good things for me always. Singleness? Good. Camp? Good. Poor in finances? Good. I have a hard time remembering the goodness of God sometimes, so I am trying to memorize these verses so I have something to reach for when I feel like I'm in the darkness and I'm unsure of what he's doing in my life.

I suppose that's all I really have to say tonight. Until next time!