SPP Banquet Weekend

In the beginning of the summer, the Wilds gives everyone on staff a Summer Program Partner. This is someone who supports us financially and prays for us. Every weekend, we are required to communicate with them and let them know how our week went and what we learned.  My SPP was a lady from Iowa who had a few kids, her own cake decorating business, and used to be a waitress at the Wilds. In the middle of the summer, the Wilds threw a banquet in honor of our summer partners. 

Unfortunately, waitresses still had to work for this occasion, thankfully, all I had to do was help set the salad and dessert. :) 

Right before we all started heading to the dining hall, we decided to get our picture (because we were also feeling extra put-together) 

Me, Audrey, Lauren, Rebecca, and Olivia 

A whole bunch of us! :) 

The food was really good, and our table was definitely crazy! Afterwards, we decided to get even more pictures. It's not every day that we get to dress up and look nice. :) 

Three sets of siblings: Garcias, Davis', and Brantleys 

After the meal, everyone went down to the activity center, where we had a little program prepared. I sat in the orchestra most of the time. 

David took a picture of the OP staff choir singing "Risen" 

What do you know? More selfies... 

All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day! 

Sunday~ 

This particular Sunday, I was scheduled to play the viola at Bethany Baptist Church. At first, I really didn't want to go, but it worked out perfectly, because my CIT group decided to go out for lunch. I rode with Brooke, her sister, Candace, and Candace's boyfriend, Jordan. 

Brooke and I in Jordan's mustang  

Lunch with my CITers was so much fun!! It was neat to see where everyone had been, was, and was going in the future. Over half of us had graduated college, the rest either were not in college anymore or had one year left (me). A few are married or engaged, one is even expected a baby!! It was crazy how much had changed, but really, everyone was the same, only older. Lunch was filled with so much laughter as we reminisced our session and people in our session. There were so many things that I had forgotten that made our group who we were. CIT was definitely the best thing that could have happened to me in high school. It was a great experience to remember what happened and why it was the best two weeks of my (high school) life.

Tori (nurse graduate from BJ), Me, Leslie (PCC and Wilds 9 month staff), Rebecca (Graduated from BJ with a degree in Biblical counseling and planning on working at a home for troubled girls), Andrew (Graduated from BJ with Biblical counseling, becoming an RA at BJ this year), Jordan (Graduated from Ambassador; planning on going to BJ for a degree in music), Krista (Graduated from BJ with degree in Biblical counseling and planning on working at girls home with Rebeca), Brooke (working for the Wilds 9 month staff), Amanda (PCC for two years, transferring to BJ) 

After lunch, we came back and I took a nap! That evening, we had a required service at camp and good food after! (Grilled Hamburgers!!!!)

Audrey, Lindsay, and I waiting for food! 

Emerald Greene/Wave Runner

Week #6
Teen Speaker: Tom Farrell
JBC Speaker: Scott Sivnksty
Prayer Partner: Natalie Greene

Monday~
This was a Tom Farrell week, which meant that all the OP staff was super excited because we would all get a chance to counsel a camper (if we hadn't been able to yet).

Monday Staff Meeting 

This was one of our biggest weeks. Usually, youth pastors tend to be at camp when it's their preferred speaker.

Heading to the service and saw these two counselors who happened to be on COR this week. 

Me, Brooke, and Eliah 

Brooke and I tried to get a good picture, but it was more difficult than we thought... 

Tuesday~

I don't know why, but it seems as if all the animals at The Wilds are gigantic! Especially the insects! 

This moth was larger than my pointer finger!! 

Tuesday night, I worked in the outside snack shop with two other waitresses.  We were talking while we waited for customers, when we suddenly heard a crash. We looked at each other, wondering where it came from, when we realized that it came from outside. Right outside the window, we saw this poor little bird who had flown into the clear glass. It was pretty funny to watch, because it was completely dazed and appeared to be in shock. After a while, it was gathering a crowd, so a guy in landscape had to pick it up with a shovel and take it back to the woods.

One confused little bird

Sometimes it gets hot at the wilds, and guys think they can just stick their heads in the snack shop window to cool off. :/

Three waitresses (Lindsay & Emily) and a kitchen guy (Jonathan) 

Wednesday~
Sometimes on Wednesdays, the waitresses would go tubing after the picnic. It was the perfect time to go because all the campers were at the lake.

Getting ready to go tubing, but first, we needed a picture! 

Elise is a senior at West Coast!
It was awesome getting to know her this summer! 

The whole clan
Me, Audrey, Lauren, Elise, Hannah, Abigail, and Krista 

Saturday~

I love these girls!!
Kelcey, me, Lauren, and Hannah 

The Matthews family was here this week and they were all super sweet. After meeting Charlotte, I  could see how Anna and her are best friends! They both seem super quiet...until you really get to know them! :)

Charlotte & I 

July 4th Weekend

Usually, David has absolutely no energy by the end of the week, but for some reason, probably because he was with JBC, he was full of energy and wanted to celebrate July 4th right. :) I took advantage of this and forgot all about sleep! :)

I fell in love with this beautiful sight! 

We took our friend, Chandler with us 

Chandler, David, and I 

Can't celebrate July 4th without a flag, so Chandler brought one along. 

We tried having a photoshoot...but it didn't exactly come out how we pictured (no pun intended) 

I love him! 

After hanging out at the falls, we decided to go boating at the lake.

It was an absolutely beautiful day! 

 As we were on one of the paddle boats, we saw a copperhead on the dock of the island. The guys wanted to see it up close, but Heather and I would have no part of that craziness!

Can you spot the snake? 

July 4th was definitely a day well spent! We all talked and laughed and just had a relaxing time. 

Eric, Claire, David, me, Chandler, and Heather

Week 5 Without A Prayer Cabin

Sunday~

After being at a different church for the past three weeks, going through a long list of churches in the area, checking out emails, and calling a few of them, we decided to try out Anchor Baptist Church that was only 45 minutes away from the Wilds.  

Fingers crossed that this is the KJV church
Me, Kelcey {Crown College}, Monica {West Coast} 

All three of us ended up going to the older ladies Sunday school class, and it reminded me of mommy's S.S. classes/lessons for ladies.  She was also the pastors wife and had made her own handouts for everyone and spoke on Anger. She then showed passages all over the New Testament, showing the life of Paul and the right response he had when faced with difficult trials.

The service was refreshing. I think many times, we don't realize what we have, until it's taken away from us. 

The Pastor spoke on Psalm 19: 7-9 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." 

After the service, we talked to the pastor and told him that we were so thankful for his preaching. He was really surprised that we worked at the Wilds. After talking with him for a while, he asked us if we wanted a tour of the church-we said yes! He took all 12 of us to the bookstore and told us to choose a drink and snack for free, and then we started the tour. 

The church had a school and they use ACE. There were verses everywhere we looked and everything was clean and welcoming. Turns out that they even have a radio ministry that plays sermons from well known pastors. We also got to see where doing everything for their station. They had a fellowship room downstairs where they had set up for the graduating students. We went outside and into a large warehouse that looked like a store inside. The pastor explained to us that they buy items from stores that are broken and can't be sold, and then they put it in their "store" and sell it really cheap. It was incredible! They love to do this for people who can't really afford shopping at most grocery stores. What surprised all of us, was that he told everyone they had "$5" and could buy anything we wanted. They had: food, candy, hair supplies, detergent, socks, makeup, school supplies and pretty much anything you would find in Walmart. 

Granola boxes were about $1.50 

I got hair supplies, granola bars, and detergent and it was free! Everything was name brand too. I calculated and realized that it would have all cost about $17. We had a wonderful time and are planning on making Anchor Baptist Church, our church away from church. :) 

We went to Zaxby's for lunch and I thought it tasted amazing! We also couldn't stop talking about Anchor. :)

Sunday Selfie 

That evening, we weren't able to go back to Anchor because we had a required service at the Wilds. David also had weekend work after the service... and he spent it in the kitchen.

David, MiKayla, and Chandler
{I love seeing counselors in the kitchen :P} 

Monday~

Teen Speaker: Will Galkin

JBC Speaker: Mark Herbster

This was the first week that I didn't have a prayer partner, I was actually kind of sad...but I decided to adopt a cabin! :)

Excited for week 5
Elise, me, and Kelcey 

Because I didn't have a prayer cabin, I was able to sit in the back with these waitresses. :) 

Me, Lauren, Audrey, Susan 

Wednesday~
Well, it was that time of the week....picnic in the field. I look forward to Wednesdays because I get to serve with the kitchen crew. I like being able to socialize with people other than waitresses. :) There are five cooks, and five waitresses, and each of us help in one grill; so we have a cook & waitress for each line. It's neat because we get to know each other better and have fun talks/stories.

Elise & I with our grill buddies. 

Wednesdays just always put waitresses in a good mood! :) 

All 5 waitresses who work with the cooks :) 

Tried getting a picture with everyone.....it didn't exactly work. :P 

We have way too much fun together!! 

This girl is crazy, straightforward, fun, talkative, sometimes gets on my nerves, but I love her! Our crew would not be the same without her....sometimes you just need that person to tell you how it is and lift you up spiritually.

Tori 

It's crazy because in the kitchen/waitress crew, there are three girls who are from California. :)

Me, Nicole, SaraRose (Sacramento) 

{Alone we can do little; together we can do more} 

This quote perectly describes the OP staff at the Wilds. In this picture, we have waitresses, cooks, clean up crew, and maintanence. We all work together to make the picnic a sucess and we cannot do it alone. I love everyone in this picture, and being on OP this summer, has shown me that there are many people behind the scenes making sure that everything runs smoothly, and it also made me appreciate what each of these people do. 

After unintentionally matching, Elise and I found out that we had been at CIT the same year, but different session. :) 

Every week, I get to work in the outside snack shop. I enjoy being able to enteract with campers and counselors. That evening, I worked with Lindsay and Hannah. 

Memories being made! :) 

*Cool story about the week*

I adopted a cabin (who happened to be green...I know....not blue....) and it was neat because two of Anna's CITers were in that cabin, and I got to know a few of her other friends. :) 

The Scarlet Cove Clippers won week #5