A year ago today I set my facebook status as follows...
"Can't see the light yet in this ever darkening valley she's walking through but ...knows it's there, and that He'll get me there. onward and upward!"
I remember so clearly how lost I was this time last year. God is so good! He's done some amazing things in the year since then. It was cool to be reminded.
Showing posts with label praise the Lord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praise the Lord. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
SBBC 2011
What a summer, what a summer! I went into the 2011 camp season expecting God to do amazing things and let me tell you He did not disappoint me! I guess what I'll do is give a week by week rundown here...
Staff training:
I find staff training to be such a blessed time. I mean for me the people of SBBC are my family, so staff training is like a family reunion for me in a lot of ways. I get to see the people that I don't have opportunity to see very much and we spend the week together worshipping, praying, learning and having lots of fun as we prepare for the summer!
It never fails to be a week of growing closer to the people I love. This year we did most of the traditional things...having a float in the parade, going to the July 1st fireworks, setting up the tent, having a beach afternoon, spending time together in cabin devotions, enjoying campfire...it was all really good! Our theme verse at camp this summer was "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." [Zephaniah 3:17]
Kids One:
I was the program director for this week which means: I was in charge of keeping the schedule, making sure everyone was where they needed to be when they needed to be there; I dealt with an discipline issues that went beyond what the cabin leaders could deal with; I was the "front man" most of the time...it's a position I enjoy and this year was amazing!
Our first week staff were wonderful! We has such a good week. Every time I turned around I could see God answering prayer and taking care of us in ways we didn't even ask for! Not only did we have amazing staff but the campers were pretty spectacular as well! They all participated in what was planned for them, they were good sports about it all and they really listened during chapel times. I was so blessed during this week by the staff and the campers that I felt like my heart was bursting most of the time.
Kids Two:
During this week I was scheduled to be camp nurse but due to an injury I wound up stepping in for our summer director for a week...it was a challenge. Mostly because I didn't really know what was expected of me as a summer director. However, I did have an exceptionally fun week! :) Our speakers during this week were 2 young guys with CEF who I wound up being trailer neighbours with. Let's just say they were fun to prank!
I also had the opportunity to work with my 2 girls that I've been spending a lot of time with(Kellie and Kaylynn), it was a really good week for the 3 of us to get to know each other in new ways and I saw them both just grow so much in their faith walk! God is so good! They spend two weeks working at camp in the kitchen this summer and I was just so encouraged by them.
I also celebrated my 27th birthday during this week and let me tell you, I have an incredible group of friends who love me so well! I was blessed with an evening of mini golfing, birthday cake and a surprise kidnapping that ended with fireworks! Plus I got the mini golf guys phone number...go figure! It was an excellent birthday celebration!
Jr Teen:
My first week as head cook and it was quite the adventure! The week before we had experienced a small power outage, about half an hour long, and as I watched the ladies in the kitchen I prayed, "Lord, please don't let the power go out on me during my week of cooking!" Well. Monday night brought with it a crazy storm! The winds were violent, the rain was relentless and the lightning was breathtaking! And one more thing, the power? She was out. We got everyone gathered into the chapel where we prayed and sang for the hour and a half until the storm subsided. Then everyone went back to their cabins and to bed. In the morning we saw the reult of the storm: our tent was down, we had a few trees around the property down and there was debris everywhere. The favor of God was on us that night because things really could have been a lot worse. As for me I was without power...for 44 hours! The power didn't come on again until Wednesday evening! However, Our summer director was spectacular and got some generators borrowed so that we could have 3 fridges and 1 freezer running as well as the water! Most of the time I even forgot that the power was out! I only took 2 pictures during this entire week and none of them have anything to do with the kitchen!
I wish I had a picture of the kitchen staff to show you because they truly were amazing, they kept me grounded when I started to stress!
Yes indeed, it was a great summer! Thanks so much for those of you who were praying for us! And now to end my update here are some hilarious quotes from the summer...
"If you drink 100 pepsi's in your life you won't be able to have kids. But that doesn't matter for guys because we don't want to have kids anyway." Hunter, 10 year old boy
"I'm freeeezing! Sunshine...HEEEELP!" Morgan, 10 year old girl
"Joni is this garbage?" Craig Re: a corncob
Brooke: "You're breaking little girls hearts!"
Frank: "It's what I do."
"...and Lord I pray that we all die peaceful deaths..." Kara,13 year old girl
"Dear Lord please be with the pancakes as they go to their death, give them a sense of peace." Frank
Staff training:
I find staff training to be such a blessed time. I mean for me the people of SBBC are my family, so staff training is like a family reunion for me in a lot of ways. I get to see the people that I don't have opportunity to see very much and we spend the week together worshipping, praying, learning and having lots of fun as we prepare for the summer!
It never fails to be a week of growing closer to the people I love. This year we did most of the traditional things...having a float in the parade, going to the July 1st fireworks, setting up the tent, having a beach afternoon, spending time together in cabin devotions, enjoying campfire...it was all really good! Our theme verse at camp this summer was "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." [Zephaniah 3:17]
Kids One:
I was the program director for this week which means: I was in charge of keeping the schedule, making sure everyone was where they needed to be when they needed to be there; I dealt with an discipline issues that went beyond what the cabin leaders could deal with; I was the "front man" most of the time...it's a position I enjoy and this year was amazing!
Our first week staff were wonderful! We has such a good week. Every time I turned around I could see God answering prayer and taking care of us in ways we didn't even ask for! Not only did we have amazing staff but the campers were pretty spectacular as well! They all participated in what was planned for them, they were good sports about it all and they really listened during chapel times. I was so blessed during this week by the staff and the campers that I felt like my heart was bursting most of the time.
Kids Two:
During this week I was scheduled to be camp nurse but due to an injury I wound up stepping in for our summer director for a week...it was a challenge. Mostly because I didn't really know what was expected of me as a summer director. However, I did have an exceptionally fun week! :) Our speakers during this week were 2 young guys with CEF who I wound up being trailer neighbours with. Let's just say they were fun to prank!
I also had the opportunity to work with my 2 girls that I've been spending a lot of time with(Kellie and Kaylynn), it was a really good week for the 3 of us to get to know each other in new ways and I saw them both just grow so much in their faith walk! God is so good! They spend two weeks working at camp in the kitchen this summer and I was just so encouraged by them.
I also celebrated my 27th birthday during this week and let me tell you, I have an incredible group of friends who love me so well! I was blessed with an evening of mini golfing, birthday cake and a surprise kidnapping that ended with fireworks! Plus I got the mini golf guys phone number...go figure! It was an excellent birthday celebration!
Jr Teen:
My first week as head cook and it was quite the adventure! The week before we had experienced a small power outage, about half an hour long, and as I watched the ladies in the kitchen I prayed, "Lord, please don't let the power go out on me during my week of cooking!" Well. Monday night brought with it a crazy storm! The winds were violent, the rain was relentless and the lightning was breathtaking! And one more thing, the power? She was out. We got everyone gathered into the chapel where we prayed and sang for the hour and a half until the storm subsided. Then everyone went back to their cabins and to bed. In the morning we saw the reult of the storm: our tent was down, we had a few trees around the property down and there was debris everywhere. The favor of God was on us that night because things really could have been a lot worse. As for me I was without power...for 44 hours! The power didn't come on again until Wednesday evening! However, Our summer director was spectacular and got some generators borrowed so that we could have 3 fridges and 1 freezer running as well as the water! Most of the time I even forgot that the power was out! I only took 2 pictures during this entire week and none of them have anything to do with the kitchen!
I wish I had a picture of the kitchen staff to show you because they truly were amazing, they kept me grounded when I started to stress!
Teen Camp:
Not gonna lie, my favorite week of the summer! I was finally a cabin leader during this week, which I always look forward to! We had an especially small teen camp this summer, only 20 campers and 11 staff members.
We had a great time though! On Tuesday we went on a 3 hour (one way) canoe trip which included a portage, chapel on top of a hill and a camp out lunch. On the way back to camp we encountered another storm which had us paddeling as fast as we could for any bit of land we were near! After waiting underneath our canoes for the storm to pass we continued on our way, it was a bonding time :)
I had a bit of a difficult time this year during teen camp. I had 2 girls in my cabin who I love dearly but they just did not want to be there this year. One of them actually wound up leaving camp on the Monday after supper which was a messy, emotional ordeal and the other stuck it out until Thursday night but she went home as well. I spent a lot of time fighting the lie that I'm a failure and I had let them down. God dealt with me though and reminded me that I just need to be obedient, which I think I was in both situations. Also during this week a lady on the reserve passed away and I was the one who had to tell a couple of her grandchildren that were at camp. That was tough but God's hand was on me. We went to the funeral together on Thursday and it was good for all of us to be there together. Other than those things it was a great week! The teens were ready to hear what our speaker had to share and they were full of awesome questions! I could so clearly see God working in them.
Yes indeed, it was a great summer! Thanks so much for those of you who were praying for us! And now to end my update here are some hilarious quotes from the summer...
"If you drink 100 pepsi's in your life you won't be able to have kids. But that doesn't matter for guys because we don't want to have kids anyway." Hunter, 10 year old boy
"I'm freeeezing! Sunshine...HEEEELP!" Morgan, 10 year old girl
"Joni is this garbage?" Craig Re: a corncob
Brooke: "You're breaking little girls hearts!"
Frank: "It's what I do."
"...and Lord I pray that we all die peaceful deaths..." Kara,13 year old girl
"Dear Lord please be with the pancakes as they go to their death, give them a sense of peace." Frank
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
I don't mind looking silly if it's for God's glory
Sometimes I pray for things that other people think are silly. I don't really mind that they think that though because I know that God cares. Do you know how I know He cares?
You see, today we had a hot dog sale to raise money to go to Native Youth Conference and I wasn't so sure about the whole thing. I prayed for 4 things that may seem silly
1. I prayed that the mail man would be early
2. I also prayed that there wouldn't be much mail for me to sort and deliver
3. I prayed for a warm, warm day
4. I prayed that everyone would have a toonie in their pocket and no lunch
Well, the mail man was a whole 15 minutes early, there was only 1 flyer, 2 magazines and a handful of letter mail for me and it was +16 during lunch! Now not everyone had a toonie and no lunch, but at least 3 dozen people did.
Also this one time when I was housesitting I had the craziest thing happen to me...
It was about 9am, I had just finished showering and was starting to do my hair when the doorbell rang. I thought to myself, "It isn't Jenny because she's at work, it shouldn't be any kids coming to visit because they should be at school...hmmm I wonder who it is?" So I hurried myself to the door. There was no one there! I thought that was a bit strange but I wasn't going to stand there pondering it, I was going to do my hair. So back to the bathroom I trudged.
Diiiing Doooong
What? Again? Ok then. Only this time there was about 5 doorbell rings in a row. I got to the door and no one was there again. Back to the bathroom.
Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong!
This is starting to get a little ridiculous as there is no one at the door for a third time. I'm standing there contemplating about which neighbour might be playing jokes on me when the door bell rings again...while I'm standing beside it! I'm not even sure what to think about that so I decide to ignore it and hope it will go away. Why doesn't that ever work?
I'm doing my hair while the door bell rings when suddenly I hear in my spirit, "Lay your hands on the doorbell and pray for it."
Uuuum excuse me God? Are you sure?
He's sure.
So I head outside with the bell part in my hand, I look around and I lay my other hand on the ringer part and I pray out loud. I asked God to fix the doorbell by His power and to send away anything evil that might have been making it happen. I prayed in the name of Jesus believing it would happen and then I went back inside.
That doorbell never rang again unless someone was making it happen.
Jesus is real and prayer is important my friends, no matter how silly it may seem.
You see, today we had a hot dog sale to raise money to go to Native Youth Conference and I wasn't so sure about the whole thing. I prayed for 4 things that may seem silly
1. I prayed that the mail man would be early
2. I also prayed that there wouldn't be much mail for me to sort and deliver
3. I prayed for a warm, warm day
4. I prayed that everyone would have a toonie in their pocket and no lunch
Well, the mail man was a whole 15 minutes early, there was only 1 flyer, 2 magazines and a handful of letter mail for me and it was +16 during lunch! Now not everyone had a toonie and no lunch, but at least 3 dozen people did.
Also this one time when I was housesitting I had the craziest thing happen to me...
It was about 9am, I had just finished showering and was starting to do my hair when the doorbell rang. I thought to myself, "It isn't Jenny because she's at work, it shouldn't be any kids coming to visit because they should be at school...hmmm I wonder who it is?" So I hurried myself to the door. There was no one there! I thought that was a bit strange but I wasn't going to stand there pondering it, I was going to do my hair. So back to the bathroom I trudged.
Diiiing Doooong
What? Again? Ok then. Only this time there was about 5 doorbell rings in a row. I got to the door and no one was there again. Back to the bathroom.
Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong!
This is starting to get a little ridiculous as there is no one at the door for a third time. I'm standing there contemplating about which neighbour might be playing jokes on me when the door bell rings again...while I'm standing beside it! I'm not even sure what to think about that so I decide to ignore it and hope it will go away. Why doesn't that ever work?
I'm doing my hair while the door bell rings when suddenly I hear in my spirit, "Lay your hands on the doorbell and pray for it."
Uuuum excuse me God? Are you sure?
He's sure.
So I head outside with the bell part in my hand, I look around and I lay my other hand on the ringer part and I pray out loud. I asked God to fix the doorbell by His power and to send away anything evil that might have been making it happen. I prayed in the name of Jesus believing it would happen and then I went back inside.
That doorbell never rang again unless someone was making it happen.
Jesus is real and prayer is important my friends, no matter how silly it may seem.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Christ in you, the hope of glory
A couple of weekends ago I took some youth down to Youthedge. It's an awesome youth retreat that Millar College of the Bible hosts each year. Now I've been to lots and lots of youthedges but this was the best one EVER!!!!
Seriously.
Let me tell you all about it! First off the speaker and worship leader worked together during the entire weekend to really bring us into a place of worship. It was amazing but not only that, both of them hung out with the youth during the weekend. That was very encouraging to see. But even more amazing then that was the youth that were there this year. Those teenagers were so ready to hear what the speaker had to say and so ready to experience worship. It brought tears to my eyes more then once to see those kids making public declarations and commitments to the Lord. On Saturday night I was sitting there in the gym, surrounded by hundreds of people, most of them 18 and younger and I saw something amazing. It wasn't something I saw with my eyes but something that God showed me in my spirit. I saw that this generation of teenagers right now isn't going to grow up to love the Lord whole heartedly, they aren't going to grow up to serve Him with their entire being, they aren't going to grow up to do outrageous things for the Kingdom of God. They are going to do it right now. Right now! This wasn't just a fleeting thought I had, I know that this came from God. This generation of teenagers, who are believers, are going to rise above the low expectations put on them by society and do amazing things. It's so exciting!!! It was such an awesome experience to be there and to see that and to know that God is bringing some exciting things on the horizon.
Also something that made youthedge so good this year was how many alumni were present! This year more then any other years alumni brought youth. I was so blessed and so encouraged to be able to spend time with friends, some that I have not seen in a really long time. God is good and I was so thankful for that!
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity --1 Timothy 4:12
Seriously.
Let me tell you all about it! First off the speaker and worship leader worked together during the entire weekend to really bring us into a place of worship. It was amazing but not only that, both of them hung out with the youth during the weekend. That was very encouraging to see. But even more amazing then that was the youth that were there this year. Those teenagers were so ready to hear what the speaker had to say and so ready to experience worship. It brought tears to my eyes more then once to see those kids making public declarations and commitments to the Lord. On Saturday night I was sitting there in the gym, surrounded by hundreds of people, most of them 18 and younger and I saw something amazing. It wasn't something I saw with my eyes but something that God showed me in my spirit. I saw that this generation of teenagers right now isn't going to grow up to love the Lord whole heartedly, they aren't going to grow up to serve Him with their entire being, they aren't going to grow up to do outrageous things for the Kingdom of God. They are going to do it right now. Right now! This wasn't just a fleeting thought I had, I know that this came from God. This generation of teenagers, who are believers, are going to rise above the low expectations put on them by society and do amazing things. It's so exciting!!! It was such an awesome experience to be there and to see that and to know that God is bringing some exciting things on the horizon.
Also something that made youthedge so good this year was how many alumni were present! This year more then any other years alumni brought youth. I was so blessed and so encouraged to be able to spend time with friends, some that I have not seen in a really long time. God is good and I was so thankful for that!
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity --1 Timothy 4:12
Monday, October 12, 2009
With greatful hearts, we say thank you...
Psalm 103:1-5
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
I have a whole lot to be thankful for, God definitely deserves to be praised! God has blessed me with amazing friends, who feel like family. With parents who have been patient with me as I find God's place for me in my time on earth. God has set me free from many worldly desires that used to claw at my mind, heart and soul. God has healed me from sickness many times this past year. God made a way for me, a fallen person, to be reconciled with Him; to ensure my eternal state would be with Him! I am blessed, and I am thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
I have a whole lot to be thankful for, God definitely deserves to be praised! God has blessed me with amazing friends, who feel like family. With parents who have been patient with me as I find God's place for me in my time on earth. God has set me free from many worldly desires that used to claw at my mind, heart and soul. God has healed me from sickness many times this past year. God made a way for me, a fallen person, to be reconciled with Him; to ensure my eternal state would be with Him! I am blessed, and I am thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
I've been studying again...
I'm tired. I've been pretty busy latley, which I'm not complaining about at all. Just stating a fact. So right now I am tired. Please forgive me if I write strange (well stranger then usual maybe) things or make funny spelling/grammar mistakes. I promise I'm not a complete moron, just tired.
I've been learning a lot of awesome things latley. It all started at our annual winter youth retreat, which by the way was spectacular! There were 57ish of us all together all stuffed into 3 cabins for the weekend! We played a lot of fun games, ate a lot of good food and learned a lot about God. That was my favourite part. I'm not even sure what it was about the weekend but I just decided that I was going to stop coasting in my learning new things about God and actually do it. When I finished at Millar I finished in a very exhausted way. I was just plain tired of studying and learning. So I kind of just stopped, in a way. I would still learn things but only on a basic level most of the time, I just didn't want to dig deeper. I was intellectually lazy. Not all the time, in every matter mind you, but most of the time. So anyway I decided to get over that and start diving in deep to learn the things of God again. It's been delightful! (Side note: I thought of the word 'delightful' just yesterday and realized that I never use that word but it's so wonderful!)
So anyway, one of the things that I've been learning, studying and putting into practice is praising God outloud. For specific things that He's done in my everyday life. It was scary at first. I mean it's easy to praise the Lord for something He did for me when I'm at my small group Bible study or when I'm hanging out with Silver Birch lifers. But it's a whole different story when it's around my coworkers or my family or my unsaved friends. I didn't even realize how differently I might word things when around different people. But in the Bible we read of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem just days before He was crucified. It says that the crowds (which by the way were His disciples, not the crowds of Jerusalem) were shouting praises to Jesus, praising Him for the things they had seen Him do. So all these followers of Jesus are walking alongside Him as He rides into the city on a donkey and their yelling out things like, "Praise you Jesus for healing that blind man!" or "Oh Jesus, you are so wonderful! You fed 5000 men with only a small amount of food! " or "Jesus you are so great! You raised Lazerus from the dead, I saw it with my own eyes! he was dead but you brought him to life again! " So their saying all these things loudly and the thing is, this is dangerous for them. The people of Jerusalem are not happy to see Jesus coming, just days later Jesus has been crucified, tension fills the air and the disciples could get killed for being associated with Jesus. But right then, in that moment with Jesus rideing on a donkey colt they don't care! They just want to shout out the good things He has done!
What an example for me to follow. I can't really remember the last time I yelled for anyone to hear about something I saw God do that was wonderful and miraculous.
I've been learning a lot of awesome things latley. It all started at our annual winter youth retreat, which by the way was spectacular! There were 57ish of us all together all stuffed into 3 cabins for the weekend! We played a lot of fun games, ate a lot of good food and learned a lot about God. That was my favourite part. I'm not even sure what it was about the weekend but I just decided that I was going to stop coasting in my learning new things about God and actually do it. When I finished at Millar I finished in a very exhausted way. I was just plain tired of studying and learning. So I kind of just stopped, in a way. I would still learn things but only on a basic level most of the time, I just didn't want to dig deeper. I was intellectually lazy. Not all the time, in every matter mind you, but most of the time. So anyway I decided to get over that and start diving in deep to learn the things of God again. It's been delightful! (Side note: I thought of the word 'delightful' just yesterday and realized that I never use that word but it's so wonderful!)
So anyway, one of the things that I've been learning, studying and putting into practice is praising God outloud. For specific things that He's done in my everyday life. It was scary at first. I mean it's easy to praise the Lord for something He did for me when I'm at my small group Bible study or when I'm hanging out with Silver Birch lifers. But it's a whole different story when it's around my coworkers or my family or my unsaved friends. I didn't even realize how differently I might word things when around different people. But in the Bible we read of the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem just days before He was crucified. It says that the crowds (which by the way were His disciples, not the crowds of Jerusalem) were shouting praises to Jesus, praising Him for the things they had seen Him do. So all these followers of Jesus are walking alongside Him as He rides into the city on a donkey and their yelling out things like, "Praise you Jesus for healing that blind man!" or "Oh Jesus, you are so wonderful! You fed 5000 men with only a small amount of food! " or "Jesus you are so great! You raised Lazerus from the dead, I saw it with my own eyes! he was dead but you brought him to life again! " So their saying all these things loudly and the thing is, this is dangerous for them. The people of Jerusalem are not happy to see Jesus coming, just days later Jesus has been crucified, tension fills the air and the disciples could get killed for being associated with Jesus. But right then, in that moment with Jesus rideing on a donkey colt they don't care! They just want to shout out the good things He has done!
What an example for me to follow. I can't really remember the last time I yelled for anyone to hear about something I saw God do that was wonderful and miraculous.
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