Time always seems to go faster and faster. As the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons approach, you begin to think about seasons and memories past. So much has been learned, so much has changed, so many memories have been made.

The island has been quite warm recently with temperatures in the high 70's! I still don't think I'm used to hanging out on the beach in the middle of winter, but I'm not complaining! Thanksgiving was pretty busy with retreat guests

here. We opened the Climbing Wall, led nature hikes and went kayaking a couple times.

My parents came down for a visit in October and we had a great time. We went sight-seeing with Aunt Tammy and checked out a few new places. We visited Cypress Gardens, which is where parts of "The Notebook" were filmed. It was great to be together as a family again!

At the end of October, I competed in the Barbarian Challenge with a few other people on staff. The Challenge included climbing over 15-foot hay bales, sliding through mud, jumping over cars, tramping through swamps and it ended with hurdling fire. It was a pretty epic race, but now we are onto our next challenge which is the Mud Run put on by the military base in upstate South Carolina, which takes place in April.

Leah's birthday was on the 13th of November and I managed to scheme

a whole day's worth of activity. We rented a sailboat for the afternoon and went on a sunset sail. There were 6 of us girls, and we had a blast, then we met a big group of friends downtown for a feast at a BBQ place.

I have become the residential dog-sitter on camp with a new set of animals each week. It's been crazy going from house to house and hanging out with pets. I have decided that dogs are too much work and I don't plan on getting one in the near future.

I have been praying for a couple months now about my future. I have been given the opportunity to stay another summer and school year if I choose to. I believe I have made my decision, but I want to make sure I leave enough time for the Lord to speak to me if His will conflicts with mine at this point. I would appreciate your prayers in this decision.

We booked our first "Outdoor Encounters" trip about a week ago! The trip will be a group of high school students from a local church and they will come in April. The Lord has been me many things through this program and patience is up at the top of the list.

New year. New staff. New season.

The past three weeks have been a bit overwhelming and a whirlwind to say the least. New staff arrived on in mid-August and it's been go, go, go ever since. It was a pretty big transition for me to move from my little apt. back into the staff house filled with 14 other people. I felt like my life was changing so quickly; saying goodbye to summer camp and that job, and saying hello to new friends and a familiar environment, but with different people. The first week was a bit rough and I cried for three consecutive days by the end of the first week. As most of you know, change is pretty hard for me.

But, the Lord is so faithful and has provided us with a wonderful, God-ordained staff. It was so cool to see during the hiring process and by meeting everyone how the Lord has His hand in each life that He brought here. This past weekend we went on a staff camping retreat to Okefenokee in Georgia. It was a great bonding experience with beautiful kayaking. One of the staff members led worship around the campfire each night and the last night the Lord showed up in big and powerful ways. We had a few people that had felt led to pray for others and we had a time of worship and prayer. The Lord did healing and reclaiming territory that was His to begin with. There seemed to be a theme running throughout the weekend that the Lord wanted us to let go of the things we were desparately trying to hold onto for security, identity or other reasons. We need to release everything not of the Lord so that we are able to receive His blessings and outpour onto others. It was such a good time of freedom as well as seeing the Lord's power and glory.

My new role has been good, but stressful at times. I love pouring into the staff and building relationships, but the training has been pretty intense. I also tend to take on more responsibility than the Lord asks of me, so I am also in the learning process of letting go. Please pray that I would be in tune with the Holy Spirit so that I would know when to take on a challenge and when to release something the Lord has not asked me to do.

Thanks for your prayers. I love you all. May the Lord continue to abound your knowledge of His love and may it become more real to you each day.

Baby turtles and more...

I try to check on the nests as much as I can at night to try to catch a nest "boil." It's called boiling because it looks like turtles are boiling out of the ground. Last night, I arrived at the nest a little too late. When I arrived I found 12 dead baby turtles around the nest. Animals like Ghost Crabs and Raccoons had injured them. So, I missed the boil, but I was able to see a few last turtles come out. We protected them from the predators as we watched them make their way all the way down to the water. Only red lights are permitted at the hatching because the turtles are not able to see it. The babies move toward the brightest object on the horizon, which is usually the moon, but if you're using a flashlight, you may send them running the wrong way. That's why it is important to keep all light off when you live near the beach.

The Lord has been so faithful to us. We have all of our staff hired for Barrier Island next year. Even after we were finished hiring, the applications were still flooding in. I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for us. Please join me in praying for our staff. Please pray for unity among us, of the same mind. Pray for personal healing and growth for each of the staff members. These are the names if you would like to pray for any of them specifically.

Returnes: Cody, Leah, Lucy

New: Jonathan, TJ, Jeff, Justin, Keaton, David, Jenn, Sarah Ellen, Julia, Lauren, Sarah

Outdoor Encounters is still coming along. I have been doing my best to advertise and spread the word, but as with any new program, it may take awhile to get up and running. Please pray that the Lord's will would be done in this area and that I would have the patience and trust needed to follow Him. We have the bare bones of a website up on the St. Christopher Camp page if you would like to check it out. The address it www.outdoorencounters.org.

Thank you so much for all your prayers, they are so appreciated!

Sea Turtle Nest!!

I know it's been awhile since I've updated the blog, but I felt like I just needed a break. This summer has been such a good break for me so far. I am getting some much needed rest after running for years and not taking a minute to slow down. I have a lot to update on, so I will do this slowly, but I wanted to update you on my exciting news today.

One of my hobbies this summer is being a member of the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol. I walk the beach in front of the camp and down the beach once a week on Tuesdays looking for mother sea turtle that laid a next the previous night. This morning when I was taking a walk, I was suprised by a nest right in the middle of a prayer of gratitude. The Lord is so good! I try to document all the steps and take photos, so here it goes.

STEP 1: Walk the beach early in the morning before anyone else is out. Look for turtle tracks that look similar to tire tracks.

STEP 2:Probe the area that looks like a turtle may have dug a nest. The sand is usually hard, but when there is a nest, the sand is extremely soft, so you will be able to feel the change.

STEP 3: If the eggs are too close to the water, they will drown at high tide, so you have to move the eggs to higher ground a dig a new nest. So you dig out the turtle eggs gently and put them in a bucket so that they are in the same order in the new nest.

STEP 4: Dig a new nest on higher ground to help the turtles have a better chance of surviving.

STEP 5: Transfer the eggs into the new nest. Then cover the nest with a grate to keep out bigger mammals. Set a Ghost Crab trap next to the whole and mark with a sign.

STEP 6: Wait patiently for 45-60 days for the 121 eggs to hatch!

Family Circle Cup 2010

The Family Circle Cup has been a highlight in the spring for a few years. The tournament is a professional women's tennis event. I had attended the Cup when I was younger with my Dad and Aunt Tammy. So, as soon as I moved down here, I immediately found out how I could be a part of the excitement and volunteer.

I arrived at the tournament on Friday for the quaterfinals. Some of the matches were quite exciting, and some of them a little slow...personally I think men's tennis is much more exciting than women's:) I volunteered as an usher for the weekend. I was the youngest usher by about 20-30 years, so I had fun talking with all the older ushers. They all loved me, probably because I was so much younger than they. We had great conversations during the matches. Most of them were Christians, so we shared experiences and talked about what Christ had done over the years in their lives.

On Saturday, the semi-finals took place in the morning and afternoon with some pretty exciting matches. Then Saturday night was a special exhibition event. They brought in John McConroe, Jim Courier, Anna Kournicova, and Monica Seles to play for the night. The players all had a microphone, which made for some pretty interesting grunting noises from the players. Aunt Tammy had received some extra tickets for Saturday's match, so I invited my friend Chad from camp to come watch with us. We all had a great time and enjoyed some pretty interesting tennis.

The finals were on Sunday between Samantha Stosur and Vera Zvonerava. We were all excited for a great match, but it turned out to be a blow-out. The match was over in about 50 minutes. The final score was 6-0, 6-3. Overall, it was a great weekend! I think I managed to watch about 24 hours of tennis in 3 days, so I've gotten my fill for quite awhile.

Thanks for reading! Love you all!

Easter Vacation to GA.

This past weekend, Leah and I took a short week of work and headed down to St. Mary's, GA on Thursday night. The drive was supposed to take us 3.75 hours and we were supposed to get there before the campground closed at 10pm. We left camp with a spare 15 minutes and prayed that we would get there on time. We were within 15 min. of the camp when we ran into construction. We were completely stopped and started getting anxious about our arrival time. We called the campground and a nice woman named Kat had grace on us and gave us directions and the code to get in the gate after it had closed. We were so thankful! We were amazed at how much grace and kindness the woman had shown us. In the morning, we participated in a Bird walk and saw some cool southern birds, including an endagered species called a Wood Stork.

We then headed up to Jekyll Island where we rested on the beach for the afternoon. It was a fun little island. We went on a bike ride before dinner where we found an abandoned ampitheater that looked like Sea World without the pool. It looked like no one had been there in over 10 years, we felt like we were on a old movie. Leah has those pics and I will put them up later if I remember.

On Saturday, we headed to the Hostel in the Forest. The facility had 9 treehouses and about 5 lodges. There was a green, spring-fed pool, pond, lake, and a glass house. It was a bit of a shocker for me when I quickly realized the facility was run by a group of hippies. I had never met hippies in real-life before. I will admit, I was quick to judge and kinda freaked out when we first got there. I realized I was anxious because these people were so different than I was. After Leah calmed me down and spoke some truth into my life, I was able to relax a little and enjoy our stay. It was fun waking up in the middle of trees. In the morning, Leah and I paddled out on the lake with a canoe to have our own sunrise Easter service. It was a service that I will not soon forget.

After our adventure at the Hostel, we headed back to the Jekyll Island Beach, as if we hadn't gotten enough beach time already :) We headed back to Charleston and celebrated Easter with Aunt Tammy, Aunt Diane and Bethany who were in town for the week.

Overall, we had a great time enjoying each other, the sun and getting some much-needed R&R.

Bridge Run 2010.

Saturday Chad, Josh, Leah and I ran the Bridge Run. We spent the night at Aunt Tammy's and loaded up on pasta and lots of other carbs. I was so nervous for the race that I barely got any sleep the night before and had run the race 5 times in my dreams before it even began. We got up before the sun to take our place in line with the other runners. There were 40,000 runners! It was nuts, there were people everywhere!

We each had different start-points, so we asked for a blessing from the Lord and went on our separate ways. The run was 6.2 miles. There were so many people downtown Charleston cheering us on. The race started in Mt. Pleasant and we ran over the bridge and ended downtown at Marion Square for a big post-race party. There was food and vendors everywhere. It was a fun experience overall.

This week, Leah and I are leaving early for a mini-vacation. We are heading down to Georgia for a little adventure. Our staff is starting to get exhausted this time of year and we all need a break. This past week, we had to cover shifts for each other all week because so many people were out sick. Please pray for the health and strength of our staff. I know that Satan likes to attack when we are off our guard and feeling weak.

God continues to be faithful and reveal new truths about Himself and the condition of my heart all the time. I am confident the Lord will fulfill the calling He has placed on my life. I am learning the true meaning of 'grace' for one of the first times in my life. I am realizing more every day that GOD LOVES US!! Not because we are good, but because He is good. I don't know how I have been so blind to a simple truth, but I am so grateful the Lord is revealing this to me now. The Lord is showing me more each day how much I strive to win His love and approval, when He has already given it to me free of charge. It's so freeing to know that there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more or less. Praise the Lord, for He loves us!

What a great weekend.

This past weekend was very exciting! On Friday, we had another LIFE Retreat at Seacoast. I was an intercessory prayer partner on Friday, which was a great experience and I know the Lord did some really great things in the people that came to the retreat.

On Saturday, we had a facilitator from Alpine Towers come in and train a few of our staff members on the climbing wall so that we can start to use it. The training was all morning and afternoon, but it was so much fun. It was great to finally be able to get on the wall and use it. I'm excited to have others join us. I know our staff has been at the wall every day since we've been trained and we look forward to spending lots of time over there. Praise the Lord for a wall!!

Leah attends a local church on Seabrook and a few of the members invited our staff over for dinner on Saturday. It was so nice to actually put a face to people that live on Seabrook and realize that they don't hate us (since that's kinda what we were told). They are great couple who loves the Lord.

On Sunday, Leah and I went for a little adventure to Edisto Island. We hiked around on the trails and eventually made it to the beach, but it was a bit chilly after the clouds rolled in. We had a great day enjoy each other and exchanging stories from college and laughing lots! It's finally starting to warm up again, so we will be able to have more kayak and sailing adventures...yay!

The Lord continues to pour out His blessings time and time again. I am so thankful for this community and wonderful job. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Climbing Wall Construction is Complete!

We officially ended the climbing wall construction this past Friday. We are not able to climb on the wall yet because we haven't been properly trained and we are still working with the insurance company to get approved. As the Climbing Wall Coordinator, it's a little crazy trying to put all of the pieces together with the Summer Camp Director, at the same time and trying to figure out how we are going to get all the summer staff trained and when the wall will be open, etc. The wall looks great and we can't wait to start playing on it! I will try to make it over and take a few pictures that I can post so you can see it.

David, the Barrier Island Program Director, is in the process of receiving and sorting through staff applications for next year. I might be able to help him out a little with interviews and such. We will start interviewing candidates in March, so please pray for wisdom, discernment and guidance as we look for next year's staff. Pray that the Lord brings here who He wants and that we would be open and receptive to His voice.

The Lord has been doing something in my heart recently. He is preparing me and molding me into someone more like Jesus. He is preparing me for the plans He has for me. Although this is painful, sometimes difficult, I know that above all, the Lord is good and He will continue to work out His good plan that He began in me. He is emptying me out of everything that is not of Him. Satan sees that the Lord is doing something big, and He's coming at me with full force. He is attacking me we feelings of guilt and condemation. Please pray that I would be aware of Satan's lies and that the Lord would send His angels to protect me during this time of spritual warfare.

The weather down here has been pretty crazy recently. It snowed 2 in. last weekend and this weekend it was close to 70 degrees and sunny! Even though it might be crazy, I have to remember that anything is better than 10 degrees with clouds and snow :)

Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement. They are much needed and appreciated.

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it out to completion until the day of Christ Jesus our Lord." Philippians 1:4-6

life keeps going by...

We have had a few full weeks at Barrier Island. We had a small lull in the month of January, but we are booked solid now. Good news: Climbing Wall construction began today and should be finished by next Friday. I have been offered a position for this summer at St. Christopher. I will manage the climbing wall, help out with summer camp teaching our team-building and seining classes, working on the Adventure Program, and working for Barrier Island updating curriculum and preparing for BI staff training. I'm excited to stay in one place for the summer. It's comforting to know that even though most of the people will be changing, I will be in the same environment for a long period of time.

It's been wonderful having Leah around. We have been having our own little adventures throughout the week and on the weekends. We have been regular visitors at Aunt Tammy's house when we need a place to chill and relax. Last weekend, Leah ran a half marathon on Folly Beach. I was so proud, I cheered on from the seat of her car while she survived the cold temperatures and rain.

Please pray for continued guidance and progress for the Adventure Program. We are working on developing a brochure and website right now so that we can start to advertise for groups to start coming in the fall. The only problem is that we have been so full with Barrier Island, we haven't had much extra time to put into the program. I am trusting that it's still in the Lord's hands and He will keep it moving forward.

We have been having fun little adventures as a staff. Last weekend I bowled my life-best score of 131! Tonight, we attended the Seabrook Island Art show and Wine Tasting. We met some really cool people who live on Seabrook and were all inspired by the beautiful artwork! Our staff loves LOST, so we have been soaking up the final season every Tuesday night.

I have been training recently for the Bridge Run at the end of March, which is a 10K race. So I've been working on boosting my endurance running

Thank you for your continued prayers. I will do my best to be better at updating you on the newest events.

P.S. Everyone here is freaking out because we are predicted to have 1-2 inches of snow tonight. Ha!

Christmas Break.

I didn't have much access to the internet over break, so this is the first I am able to write. Wow...what an adventure.

My Grandma flew into Charleston on the 23rd, then my parents came in the 24th. We stayed in a nice hotel downtown Charleston for a few nights. There was a big, tall Christmas tree right outside our hotel in Marion Square. We decided to open presents at my aunt's friend's house to have more of the "Christmas feel" to the day. On Saturday, everyone joined me for a day at St. Christopher. We tried to go on a kayaking exercursion...even Grandma:) Half the crew ended up staying on shore and my mom and brother and I headed over to Botany Bay Island. We spent the afternoon exploring and looking for shells. We walked out to Crab Dock to have a campfire and roast smores for the night, but had a few issues getting back to camp. The week prior, we had gotten lots of rain, so the trails that we normally took were flooded and it ended up being quite the adventure trying to get back to camp.

On Sunday, my family came to church with me, then we headed over to the rental house on Isle of Palms to wait for the rest of the family to come in. Thanks to Grandma, we had a house big enough to fit all 16 of us, right on the beach:) The weather forecast didn't look too promising, but we ended up having beautiful weather almost the whole time, thank you Lord. It was fun to have all the cousins and families again for a few days. Of course, there were arguments, but I think that's just part of being a family and living in an imperfect world.

The next Saturday we all moved out and I headed to Atlanta for a Christian Conference called Passion 2010. I met up with GVSU Campus Ministries and stayed in a hotel room with my good friend Laura Donker (picture above) from Camp Geneva. The conference was a gathering of over 21,000 young adults, ages 18-25. Wow, the Lord's spirit was so evident all over. We heard from great speakers like John Piper, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, and Louie Giglio. Our worship leaders were Chris Tomlin, Fee, Matt Redmen, and we attended concerts with the David Crowder Band and Hillsong United. I could talk for hours about what the Lord did at the conference. I feel so blessed to have been a part of such an inspiring movement. There were Global Causes present, including World Vision, Living Water, etc. Our goal was to raise $500,000 for the causes. By the end of the conferences, the students had raised over $600,000. An older couple attending the conference was so moved by the generousity of the students, that they agreed to match that total. So the final amount raised was $1,393,077.42. Praise the Lord! That was more than anyone could have ever imagined. During the worhsip times, it was so moving to see over 21,000 people praising the same Lord, it was like a little foretaste of Heaven. The picture on the left is at a Late Night Hillsong United Concert. I loved the theme verse for Passion. "Yes Lord, walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for you. For Your name Your renown are the desire of our souls." Isaiah 26:8. You can go to the Passion 2010 website for more information if you're interested.

After Atlanta, I made my way over to Greenville, SC to visit Steph Koch, one of my friends from IWU. She is a highschool math teacher for Eastside Highschool. While she was teaching during the day, I was able to go on some amazing hikes! My first day I went to Jones Gap State Park and hiked up to see Rainbow Falls. The falls were breathtaking with snow and ice all around it. The next day, I headed up to Table Rock State Park. Table rock is a large rock face on the top of a mountain. It was a pretty strenuous hike, but the view was so rewarding at the top! There were few people on the trail because of the "cold weather." When I got to the top, I saw 3 guys; we acknowledged each other, and then a few minutes later they looked at me again and said, "did you hike this by yourself?" I replied, "Yep!" I think they were a little shocked, but that's nothing new.

On Friday I headed by to Charleston and stayed with my aunt. It is pretty cold here, the temp has been below 32 the past few days. When we got back from eating out, my aunt made the biggest cup of hot chocolate I had ever seen...meanwhile I made myself a Peppermint Milkshake:) I thought the occassion was picture worthy:)

I arrived back at St. Christopher today to prepare for the new semester. My good friend Leah Andersen from IWU recently filled the open staff position here, so I look forward to living with her again and being on staff together!

I am looking forward to the New Year and seeing what God has in store. "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless unitl the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11.