On to the next Adventure...!

To anyone who was hopeful that I would post earlier about my summer, I am so sorry. I ended up getting to DeSoto and realizing not only would my StinkPad not connect to any wifi in Mentone, Alabama, but I also had no cell service, something that was hard at first but caused me to be so much more present with my girls. I hands down had the best summer job. EVER. I got to love on 600 girls all summer, teaching them Ropes officially as head of Ropes staff, but answering wonderful and hilarious life questions, having hard conversations, spontaneous cabin dance parties, going on trips, and talking about Jesus. I was so blessed by my girls and the staff I got the chance to work with. There are some beautiful Jesus lovin’ women out there, and if any of my guy friends want a hook up, I am telling you these girls are GEMS! We got to have a circus at camp, celebrate 4^th of July (twice for counselors), put on Christmas in July, have concerts in our cabin, and do so much more. The verse "Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do EVERYTHING with LOVE" in 2 Corinthians 13-14 was a constant encouragement and reminder to me of how to act each and every day. We were loved on as a staff and that made it even easier to do our jobs better and love our girls.

Just doin' our thang welcoming girls to camp opening night

Throughout the summer, I learned so much about myself and have so much more respect for mothers, more than I already had. Officially I only taught 4 class periods worth of activities each day, but I was still “on” from 7:00 am until 10:30 pm minimum. Don’t hear that as a complaint though- I truly enjoyed every minute of it!! It is my personal opinion that everyone should do something like that at least once in your life- the amount of times I was called out for funny things by my girls or told in different ways how loved I was by them, was amazing. Towards the end of the two months I started feeling exhaustion kick in though. I am not kidding, I have never been more exhausted in my entire life, but it was the most rewarding thing. I had been relying on Jesus throughout the summer and already feeling the blessings from that, but to see Him show up when I truly needed Him, was breathtaking and humbling. I remember one morning not even being able to understand what anyone was saying to me until after staff meeting, (circa 9:00 am… we had been up for 2 hours), and not feeling certain I could even walk to the ropes course. I have never felt Philippians 4:13 more vividly in my life because He showed up. Every time. Without fail. And He loved me and enabled me to love others despite my so evident weakness. I was blessed by encouragement from friends and family by way of letters, packages, phone calls, and sweet and thoughtful texts, so to all who took the time do that, thank you so, so much! You truly don’t know how much it meant to me!

Post camp I got to spend some time with the loved ones! We finally had our family donut eating contest we had been talking about all summer. I was predicated to get 5^th or 6^th (out of 6) and for all you doubters, I got 2^nd by eating 8 ½ hot now Krispy Kreme donuts. We made a few trips to the lake, hung out with cousins, and just spent time together, something that is becoming increasingly harder to do as everyone gets more independent and on their own schedule. My second sister left for college already and that’s a little crazy, but she is going to the college of her dreams and we are all so excited and proud! I also got to make a quick trip up to Boston in what would turn out to be a calamity of errors in the best way possible. I was so, so sick but had THE BEST time. I have been so blessed to get to experience firsthand what it feels like to be pursued by a Godly man, a man who loves Jesus and pursues Him daily. So time with him and his family was wonderful, encouraging, reaffirming, and they loved me well despite my pitiful condition.

So despite some failing health throughout the summer, I am on to my next adventure in life- studying abroad in France! When I say I have been dreaming about this since I was in 5^th grade, I wouldn’t even be lying a little bit. As internet permits, I will try to keep this more updated on life across the pond. We are currently staying in a hotel without wifi so the McDonald's cafe is our new favorite place, not to eat though of course! Hoping to make this more like a Cape Town thing where y’all get the once a week updates but we will see! My biggest prayer for myself is that my relationship with the Lord would grow over here, not remain the same, so if y’all wouldn’t mind helping me pray for that, that would be awesome! I hope this finds each of you well and that you are encouraged by something in this. Lots of love all the way from France!