Honey, Nothin' Lasts Forever

"Honey, nothin' lasts forever."            

   -Big Mama, Fox and the Hound

     As of yesterday afternoon, I completed my 12th and final week of camp.  They were very stretching weeks, but filled with answered prayers and precious memories.  And precious pictures!
As I believe I have mentioned that I am planning on my senior art show to be based of camp, and that wish/dream has not changed.  I got permission to go through camp photos.  Again, Andy Ott has a big job on his hands! Kaleena did as well last year.
I've heard the argument from some that taking so many pictures at events or in life just takes away from living the moment itself, but I don't quite agree.  Some people become so focused on having pictures that they don't go out and have the fun experiences that make them photos.  I think there is a real difference between a picture and a photo.  A picture is just that, a picture of something, such as a rock or a sketch of a block.  A photo is a capture of a memory, like the expression after a face gets smacked with whipped cream. Or when 3 precious children are waving good-bye as you drive away.  And these photo memories are completely different.  They're capturing that moment so that later on you can look back and see how happy, or how fulfilling that moment was in your life.  I took, officially, 1,372 photos at camp this summer, and I LOVE them so very much.  I did not obsess over the taking of the photos.  I waited for those moments where life just made me go 'awe!' or laugh my head off, and dived for my camera! That's how I'm choosing my art show photos as well.  I wait for those photos that just made me stop, and I have this feeling of deep love in my heart of the experience or of the person.  I've got about 12 photos I've pulled out of the thousands I have from the past 3 summers, but some of those might also be removed.  But I know what is going to be my main painting.  It's going to be a big, wing-span size.  It's the silliest photo, and most people will look at it and just be confused, but it is just the best!

This is a photo of Autumn, Alison, me, and Katie, and it is tied as my favorite photo with the one of me and Philippine in Paris. It just shows our personalities so perfectly, and with the Village Creek sign in the background, it is the absolutely perfect centerpiece for my show. These are my very best friends, and without Village Creek I would have never gotten to meet three of the women that have changed my life so very much.  That may sound mushy to some, but it is also very very true.  This was the last weekend the three of us were together, and right now all four of us have it as our cover photo on Facebook.   We love each other.  

In other news, Pray! Shirt Fridays is hopefully going to be a nationwide thing! I made Beth Bender as a friend my first summer at camp, and her mother has heard much about me.  She was at camp with some kids from her youth, and she saw me and Katie's Pray! shirts, and she got this idea of turning it into a big movement across America and the world. She's taken off on the idea, and now has started a non-profit company to sell them and I've already bought my second Pray! shirt.  I'm so proud to be one of the catalysts of the movement and so is Katie.  God really turned our 'for fun' idea into something bigger than we could have ever imagined!  Her site is http://encouragement-ink.com/ 

Half of the people in this photo left after this, Junior 3.  And it changed the last weeks so much that they were unrecognizable from what it had been.   It was extremely sad, and Katie and Alison cried so much.  I managed not to cry the day they left, but the next couple days were hard, with no one to stop by my craft room to tell me about the silly things their campers were doing or to tell me about how they had done some sort of ridiculous thing.  Bri Turner showed up at camp though, and that helped me more than anything.  Bri is an amazing Christ-filled person that amazes me every time she speaks.  She's spoken into my life in so many occasions without even knowing it that I feel that God has her chosen as His instrument here in more ways than most people. She even helped me write up my resume, and gave me job advice for the next year!  It was amazing getting to spend those few days with her, and I look forward to getting to talk to her more the next year and to hear more of her theories on life and people.  She should write a book, I swear! That was the week of Hard Rock Family Camp, I believe, and I also got to meet a mother that just had a fascinating life story.  She was a step-mom, and I got to meet her step-daughter there at camp as well.  She would stand at my window and talk for an hour at a time about her family and how being a step-mom was going and about opinions on Disney and on Harry Potter and on camp and so many things! Family camps are great in that way. While I don't prefer being a family assistant, I do enjoy hearing about their families and getting to play with their kids.  Three through five will always be my favorite age group! 

Then we had this final week, which was Family 4.  God answered the prayers for more staff, and we had just enough to cover our needs.  It was so hard, and I wanted to go home so badly.  I felt I had been there too long and I wanted to be with my family, but I also knew they needed me.  But then when I was told I could go just a few hours earlier than I had planned, I almost decided to stay, just because I couldn't imagine not staying for the King's Feast, which I dislike, or staying to watch the Staff Comedy, which I've seen loads of times.  It's like I couldn't imagine it not continuing on for forever and ever.  It was supposed to be unending.  Yesterday was one of the saddest days I can remember.  I can also never remember feeling so loved in my entire life.  I got to have a one-on-one chat with Camie, which I felt was long overdue.  I'm one of those people that can look at someone and think of how they're feeling or what they're dealing with and be completely understanding.  I've found out over the summer that not many can do that.  But despite Camie being one of the busiest people at camp, I could not pass up the opportunity for her to speak into my life, and I feel that she did just that.  I feel better about what I'm going into this next year, and I was reminded of many things that I knew once, but had forgotten were so very important.  Camie is such a blessing to the world, and I will always hold her extremely high as a role model.  After our talk I had an Instruction Hour of crafts, and my helper, a volunteer mother that was WONDERFUL, had cleaned off all my counters and I had a green crate from home waiting for it's contents to be replenished. I walked around the room I have always considered as mine and got all of my art supplies and packed it all up, and all the crafts I had fiddled with.  It was so weird.  I felt like I was a newly graduated high schooler leaving for college for the first time.  Leaving everything dear and familiar for the unknown.  To this hour I keep remembering things I had forgotten to tell Sue about pottery or to tell Camie we needed more puffy paint and porcelain markers.  I had made sure to tell Toby, Sam, and Danny, the 'camp kids', that I was leaving, and Toby couldn't quite understand that two weeks was not the same as two months.  While I was running around finding my stuff, however, Patrick, Daniel, Elizabeth, and Anne TIED my van to a RAILROAD TIE, and wrote "Don't Go!" and "Stay with us!" all over my dusty windows! Then Patrick had parked the camp gator behind my van as well! I went to turn something into the third office, and Luke Schipper and Dave laughed at my predicament, and suggested that next time they should take the tractor and lift my van up on bricks or even on the roof! They were all so ridiculous! Sam, Danny, and Toby overheard, and had to come see the van tied up.  I untied one, and then Danny was determined to tie it back up again.  Then Elizabeth and Anne convinced the boys that if they filled up my van with enough big rocks it would weigh it down enough to make me stay! I can't believe I didn't cry.  Toby was saying "Wait! Wait!" and throwing more and more rocks into my window!! They all waved as I backed up and Toby even did the little heart symbol with his hands.  I just managed to get a picture of it.

I drove up to the lake to say goodbye to a few more people, and I just couldn't get past how loved I felt! Andrew Vik told me how well I did this summer and said that if I ever needed anything to let him know. Rachel said she'd like to come up to Sioux Falls and take me out to lunch when she's visiting a friend.  Gwen was trying not to cry.  I felt as I should be crying, but I wasn't. I didn't cry the whole way home.  Late last night though, there was just a brief misunderstanding that made me snap.  My family couldn't understand why I was bawling so hard and for so long! It was absolutely heartbreaking. I realized that the most beautiful season of my life was forever over.  I can't remember ever having a better summer, or a more fulfilling one.  It was so very beautiful, and never again will that group of people ever be 100% back together.  I've seen two other summer staffs before, and did not feel near the amount of sadness of their ending.  This summer was so special, and I know a great number that agree with me.  It was so much more special to me after the friend-less school year I endured. I cried so very hard, and when I went out to my van for my pillow and blankets, the "Don't Go!" on my window stood out in the street light, and made me cry even harder, if that was possible.  

Even though this season is over, I'm still looking to make the next one as one that God still has control.  He may have in mind a good season, or it may be a not so good one, but it just matters that I let Him hold the reins.  Things are really looking up for me at Sioux Falls, and I'm looking forward to a year of road trips and adventures with camp staff and with new friends I plan to make.  This is also the end of this blog.  It may be revamped next summer, or I may even update on camp when I return for 4 State, but it is still the end.  Don't worry, if you still would like to know what I'm up to, I have another blog that I started in January that I keep about my life, and about my hopeful journey to the Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, CA.  It's at http://forgivenlu.blogspot.com/

I want to leave you with the words of my favorite camp song:

My God is so BIG

 so strong and so mighty

there's nothing my God cannot do

FOR YOU!

Stay Forever!

It seems like every summer there's a staff competition to see who's name Toby Treptau can remember.  I would like to say that I believe I have been successful! I went down to breakfast, and Toby met me on the way there and asked if I was going to be in the craft room.  I told him that I would, and he proceeded to tell me that I have to be in the craft room and that I can never leave! It completely made my day!! While he was eating I asked him if I had to stay in the craft room or if I could go other places, and he said that I just have to stay at camp forever! I'd love to, Toby!

So, back at camp for another 2 and a half-ish weeks.  We have Junior Camp 3 this week, and then I think the next week is a family camp, and then after that is Family Camp 4.  The sad part is watching all the staff leave.  My friend Bethany left and several others that I'm going to miss!  This is also the last week of my two best friends (that are here) Alison and Katie Strupp.  The next two weeks are going to be so sad without them!!

This week I'm on bathroom duty in the morning, then craft room all afternoon, and dinner dishes.  It's quite similar to the last week I worked, but I may have more time to have a quiet time and fill out some school paperwork.  And blog!

Prayer Requests:

* That the staff of the next couple weeks, new and old, are reminded that camp is for the campers, and we are to serve rather than ignore rules.

* Staff that are going through rough times here, whether it be school or family stuff.

* Val has her wisdom teeth out this week.  Pray for healing and peace.

* Mom got sick over vacation.  Please pray that she would heal quickly.  I know she has so much to get ready for the next school year.

* We need staff for the next couple of weeks yet.  Please pray for people to come, and for those people to be ready to serve.  If you yourself can even spare half a week it would be welcome!