Oh, what a week.....

This past week was... eventful to say the least I don't even know where to begin?! I had a full cabin(10 campers) of 10 and 11 year-olds. All week we struggled with our cabin being divided. Four campers came together and were great friends (which is a good thing) but because they knew each other they didn't really let the other six campers into their little group rather they talked about them and picked on them. On top of that we had two campers that where homesick... but not in a sad "I miss my family" kind of way but in more of a rude "I hate it here I just want to go home" kind of way. Then one of our campers had a "life is unfair" attitude the whole week. Needless to say it was an eventful week and by the time it was over Amanda and I were exhausted! But wait! There is more!.... to top off all the attitudes and such. . . . ok, back up a little; I asked you to pray that the inspections on the new dinning hall would go well and that we would be able to use it for the last two weeks of camp.... God did just that! All the inspections past and we were able to get everything moved in! We had a cookies and milk grand opening Thurs night! Then we had our evening Bible story... but halfway through that story the tornado sirens started going off and we rushed all the campers and staff down into the basement. To try to keep the campers minds off the storm and the fact of being cooped up in a basement we began to sing songs and dance and whatever we could. Thank the Lord the basement of the new building is also storage and we had enough mattresses for all the campers and cabin leaders! We stayed the night in the basement until 4:30 AM Friday morning!!!! Friday we got up and God blessed us with a beautiful sunny day and we had all three meals in the new dinning hall!!!! :)...... Through all of this we think the Lord allowed us to get through to a few of the girls. We had one night where we couldn't do our activity that was planned and God provided a time for us to be able to talk to the girls about getting along with those who are different than they are. We got to explain that not only are cultures and where you grow up different but also personalities. And how those things aren't bad but just different! I hope that those girls never forget that conversation and will be more accepting of others and willing to forgive when there are misunderstandings between them.... I can't believe there is only two more weeks to go! Where has the time gone? Please continue to pray for me as I push through that God would continue to give me the energy, good attitude, strength, etc. for each day! Thank you all again for your love, support, and prayers! ~Janelle

All moved and ready for three more weeks of camp....

Camp this past week was great! For some reason we had a bus load of 30 kids decide not to come (not so great) but because of this me and three other girls got to have a week of something different (which was very refreshing and needed). We spent the week cleaning the new dinning hall in prep for last and final inspections in hopes of everything going perfectly and being able to use the new building this week. Half way through the week I got to go and work in the office to help get them caught up from under mounds of paper work and I had a lot of fun doing that! And because I wasn't in a cabin I got the opportunity to go home Thursday night instead of Friday to help Denny get our apt. all moved into our new one and our old one clean and ready for inspection. Wednesday Denny got all the big furniture moved and Friday I spent the whole day moving all the little things and then Denny and I finished moving the bed. Then yesterday (Saturday) my Momma drove two hours just to help me clean our old apt.! It was really nice to have her here and because of her help everything should be done and Denny shouldn't have to do any more cleaning or moving! . . . God sure does know what He is doing! I knew at the beginning of last week that I was just not going to be up to par if I was in a cabin but I was doing my very best to get my energy and attitude up for the kids, then my Couch came in and said that they were combining two cabins and my co and I were going to do odd jobs for the week. Then I heard from Denny that we got the keys to our new Apt. and because I didn't have a cabin I could then leave early to help him get us moved in! It is amazing to see God move!! I praise the Lord for the relaxing week last week and am excited for this next week (although I am ready to come home and just be a wife again too.) :). . . Oh, and since I got to come home early I was able to go see a Dr. about my possible sun poisoning; he said that true full sun poisoning makes you really sick so mine is a minor case or at the very least a sun reaction. I told him that Mom and I had done some research and had found the ingredient PABA in some sunscreens has been known to cause this problem so I stopped using my sunscreen. He said that is probably the cause and we did right to do that. I was told to do my best to stay out of the sun and find some SS that didn't have that in it that there wasn't much else to do about it but wait for it to go away. Please pray for me for these next three weeks; pray that God works to help heal me or at the very least make it less itchy! I have it all down my arms even on my fingers and all over my face and neck. So I've been wearing a hat and the camp has been amazing at helping anyway they can as well! Thank you so much for your prayers on this matter!. . . . Also, something else we would appreciate your prayers about; earlier I mentioned that the girls and I were working on cleaning the new dinning hall so we could possibly use it even this summer. We had our inspections on Wed. and with much much disappointment we didn't pass! The biggest disappointment was that much of the little things that kept us from passing could have been prevented if only people would have let other people know of changes that were made. They have been working really hard since then to get all these little things fixed and ready for the redo inspection on Tue. this week. This building has been in the works for 7 years and the camp is really ready to finally use it! The Chef is currently working in a kitchen the size of a bathroom and we are having to have a boys meal and a girls meal because the dinning hall is too small for the number of campers that we have. So please shower the camp in your prayers this week! That God's hand will move and we will be able to use the new dinning hall for the last two weeks of camp!!!!. . .. Thanks again for you love, support, and prayers! ~Janelle

July already.... where did the time go?!

Wow, I am super tired so I apologize but this will be brief. . . . Camp these past two weeks has been amazing it has been so encouraging to see God move in the lives of children! Week 3 we had three girls get saved!!! :) And this past week all our girls where saved so we got to work on teaching them truths. I have been so very encouraged and blessed through this summer already! I can't believe there is only 4 weeks left. Please continue to pray for me; for energy, attitude, wisdom, strength, etc. till the end! I can't thank you enough for your prayers and support!. . . Please pray for the campers that have been to camp already and yet to come; they have had a chance to hear and experiences the true Love of Christ now some of them have to go back to some rather crazy and hurting lives. My prayer for them is that they never forget that God loves them and never forget that God promises to never leave them no matter how bad life may get! Please join me in this prayer for these amazing little ones!. . . I posted some more pictures below. Thanks again for your prayers. ~Janelle