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.

Christmas parties and the Birds of Prey Center.

This past week was an unusual week because we didn't have a school group the second half of the week, so we had more time to do special projects, like building alligator enclosures, taking our invasive tree species and planning the adventure program. On Thursday, we met with the marketing man at St. Christopher to talk about the Adventure Program. It was a very encouraging meeting. We talked about potential directions the program could take and he seemed very interested and excited to get it started and off the ground. We are trying to figure out group costs and equiment at this point. We found out a few weeks ago that we have enough money to build a Climbing wall for the camp, so that should be built this spring!

On Friday, we had 2 hours of intercessory prayer as a St. Christopher staff. It was a really cool time to come before the Lord coroporately and thank Him for the blessings He has bestowed upon us and confess and ask for more of His glory and presence to come. It's such a blessing to work for an organization that believes in that! After prayer, we had a Christmas party complete with catered food and the White Elephant gift exchange. After the party, our director, David treated the Barrier Island staff to the Birds of Prey Center. We were able to see some really sweet birds, including hawks, eagles, vultures, owls, and osprey. You can check out the pictures to get a good idea of what we saw. The center takes in injured birds and nurses them back to health. They had birds from all over the world. We also saw a flight demonstration where they flew the birds right in front of us and fed them on posts all around us. Wow, those birds were amazing and so big!

Saturday we started off the day with a program at Seacoast called "Adopt A Block." We are going to be going to a nearby neighborhood once a month to help people out in the community. We are partnering with a community house in the neighborhood. Right now, our goal is to go in and start to build relationships with people. We split up into teams and raked a few yards this week. We hope to keep going in the future as God allows us.

Thanks for your prayers!

Christmas time is here.

I went home for Thanksgiving and suprised my family! It was lots of fun seeing friends and spending good, quality time with family again. Even the weather in Michigan cooperated for the most part and I only caught a glimpse of snow on Thursday morning.

We've been doing a little Christmas decorating in our Staff House. The big Christmas tree is in our living room and all the purple lights are in my room with my little purple tree:) It's a little weird trying to get in the Christmas spirit when it's still in the 70's and you have Palm Trees surrounding you, but I'm not complaining.

This weekend was quite eventful. We had a LIFE (Living In Freedom Every day) Retreat at church on Friday and Saturday. There were 7 sessions that included teaching, praying, and response time. Session topics included things like Purity, Pride, Rejection, Guilt, etc. There were 6 preceeding sessions and sermons that we had been going through as a small group on Wednesday nights, so this was the end to the series. It was a good time to connect with the Lord and work through issues and also get to know the other small group members a little more. After the retreat on Saturday, Derek (another staff member) and I headed downtown Charleston and walked around for a while. The sun came out after raining all day. We went to the Marion Square to see Santa and watch the lighting of the big Christmas tree and the park. Later on, we met up with a few other staff members for dinner.

During the retreat I received a phone call from another staff member that he had found 7 baby squirrels in the filter of his car and that he was going to bring them back to the staff house. So now we have little baby squirrels we are trying to feed and nurse back to health...just another day in the life of a Naturalist.

Thank you for all your continued prayers and support, they are much appreciated.