First Week

Wow, it is already Thursday! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. There has been so much packed into every day that being here almost feels normal. After a crazy weekend of little sleep, Sunday finally arrived and we could sleep in a little bit before going to church. The church service was really good. Every week, there will be a pastor coming up here to preach to all the staff and any guests who are here. The main theme I took from the message was that the gap between God and humans is so huge. The more I come to know God, the bigger the gap must seem. The more I see my own sin and his greatness the more thankful I am for my Savior Jesus Christ. It is so amazing to be around so many Christians who want to grow closer to God and help others grow closer to God. I have never felt such a hunger to spend time with God. When I don't do it, I just know something is missing. The only way I can keep going is by depending on him and I love that I can talk to him at any time.

Another nice thing about Sunday was that I got to see Ryan for a little while. That afternoon and night all of the opener people were working on the opener and then put it on for the very first campers of the summer. It was so crazy! Clowns and mimes dancing and "fighting" all over the place. Hume is so much more alive with all the people everywhere. Anyways, it went really well. After that, I rushed back to my room to take off my mime face and then headed over to the chapel to audition for a Wednesday night worship time called Overflow. I was the last person to go and I played/sang the "Footprints" song. I was so blessed and was priviledged to play with three others for the first Overflow last night. It went very well and it is such a blessing to be able to play music and worship God with my new friends.

It has been great to be able to hang out with friends who I feel like I have known for so much longer than a week. Ashley is so awesome! She is working in the pantry with me and we have major plans to run around the lake many times this summer! Her roommate, Sarah, is also a really neat girl. She is tall and fun to be around. We went running on Monday together and it was so much fun! I love running with people. Then there are Alexa and Marissa, my roommates. These two girls are both working here for their first time just like me. We have a great time together and I love hanging out in my room, which I am very very thankful for. If I never did anything else, I think I would be content to just hang out in my room. Weird. And then there are all of the kitchen people: pantry girls, dishboys, cooks, bakers, commisary guys, hostesses, and others. It is so much fun to work there! The work is really hard, but when it's with such great people, it is a good time.

Heather, my boss and friend, is a great Christian example for me. The other day, she took the pantry girls off-roading and we went up to this huge rock on top of the mountain. We talked about our relationships with God and prayed together. When would that happen in a regular job? I was stoked. We are also planning weekly get-togethers with just the girls. It's great. Last night, while we were working we had quite the adventure. The commisary guys built a fort out of cardboard and they would not let the girls join their fort. Therefore, we decided to decorate it for them when they got off work. Hahaha.... We spraypainted it pink and it is now the sigma chi girls fort. I haven't gone to work yet today, but I can't wait to see their reactions.

Tuesday night, there is an even called Fireside where everyone goes to this cabin and just hangs out and talks/eats by the fire. It was so fun. I got to hang out with Ryan again and a bunch of other new friends. We played spoons with forks and the game got pretty intense. I have some bruises and many people fell off their chairs. Then we played another game until we got kicked out. It was probably the most fun yet.

This is getting kind of long, but I just have to share what's been happening up here! God has blessed me so much at Hume Lake already. I miss my family and friends back home and love you all very much! I am so thankful, though, for the way God has allowed me to settle in here and make friends and get involved with the activities in this place that is new and exciting for me. Please pray for me that God would continue to give me energy as we are putting in long hard days of work and that he would keep me disciplined to stay in his Word daily and be an example for the people that I meet up here. I pray for all of you and I hope you are all doing well and enjoying summer!