Update from July 6th Afternoon to July 8th Evening :)

Hi Everybody!

Man, I wish I could take good pictures with my laptop! There’s a hummingbird feeder outside the dining hall, and right now there are about four or five birds busily sucking up nectar. 🙂

July 6th, in the afternoon, Rel, Andrew and I rode up to Buck Creek from Camp Berachah with the group of counselors and rec staff for the week. This week includes Blitz, Sunshine, 2×2, Buster, Lilo, Soundboard, L.T. Grey, Kiki, Soldier, and Krackle. There are 4 girls and 6 guys. Which names are gals? And which are guys? 🙂 It’d be fun to see your guesses! The trip was uneventful. 🙂

July 6th, after dinner (which I had off), the campers and staff got to take turns playing a round of laser tag. I had fun, but mainly because of the strategy aspect of the game. 😉

July 7th, successfully woke up at 6 and took a shower before heading to get breakfast ready at 7.  After cleaning up, Sierra and I packed the brown lunch bags for the campers and staff who were going on the field trip. Andrew and Sierra were the kitchen staff for lunch, so they went and I stayed. Meaning I had time to relax and catch up on FB and email. I also got to read and almost finish a book I had brought. I helped out with dinner, alongside Andrew. The after-dinner-game for the campers was dodgeball. Andrew got to play, and I got to be a referee, along with Sunshine. The rec staff took turns playing/being in charge of the jails. The counselors and Andrew played every game. Ironic moment of the night was when one round, I called Krackle out for going over the line, he was arguing with me, and 2×2 told him to not argue with the ref. Then came next round when 2×2 crossed the line, I called him out, and he started to argue with me. Krackle couldn’t stop laughing. 😀 I went to chapel, where the kids are learning about the fruits of the Spirit.

July 8th, yesterday, was fun! I had breakfast off, and took care of somethings after breakfast, including finishing a book. 😉 Lunch was quickly taken care off, then off to the duplex for some quick relaxation time! Because of the very warm weather, I changed into shorts and a tank top and headed over to the Longhouse, which is the meeting place for the campers, to help blow up balloons. I only popped one! 😀 Headed up to the lodge to start helping with dinner, which was soft tacos. Yummy! Chapel was good, talking about the fruit Patience, and how patient David was, waiting for his turn as King, and refusing to harm Saul, the Lord’s anointed. After chapel, the rec staff, Andrew, the camp nurse, the speaker, and I headed up to the zip-line. This is like at 9:30 at night, so it’s dusk, and getting darker, and the zip-line is very high up. Everyone had a blast, and those with special harnesses got to flip upside down if they wanted to. (Which they did!) And no, those people did not include me or Andrew! 😉 By the time it was my turn, it was dark out, to the point that you could barely see in front of you. It did by no means minimize the height of the starting point, which btw, is called the crow’s nest for a reason! Stepping off that platform was truly a step of faith for me. Haha apparently, the lack of noise coming from me on the ride concerned a couple of the fellow staff down on the ground. They had a flashlight that they pointed on me so they could see me and throw me the rope to pull me to the ladder. Only after I tried to go down the ladder did I realize my right leg was shaking whenever I tried to put weight on it. That went away very quickly. 🙂 Interesting how delayed reactions are when you’re scared, that they seem to happen after the fact.

Well, that is all for now! I’m surprised at the fact that I was able to use the internet this soon, but it was a nice bonus. 🙂

Ta ta for now, Ellie ❤

Day 5- Update from Days 2 – 5

Day 5

      Scarce internet up here at camp, so probably only going to post every few days. Hopefully at least once a week. 🙂 

   Highlights the last few days: 

        Dinner of steak and corn on the cob, with chocolate pie for dessert, with the other staff, and then my boss and her husband opening their jacuzzi for us kitchen staff to enjoy. And we enjoyed it. 😀 – July 3rd.

        4th of July morning, we got to sleep in, then got ready for feeding lunch to a bunch of day campers who came up for a field trip, then feeding lunch to those day campers, giving us a nice lead-in for this week. In the afternoon after we were done with the kitchen, we went to clean up the Retreat House, (which is really really nice, and has 4 floors; basement, 1st and 2nd floors, and a smaller 3rd/attic floor), then we got to get ready to “down the hill” for the big 4th of July celebration down at the main campus. 🙂 

       4th of July late afternoon, met up with Cuz Rel, (pronounced are-ee-el 😉 ), walked around camp. Andrew enjoyed playing laser tag, and I enjoyed watching him. 🙂 we walked back to Rel, who was at the main office, and then we hung out the rest of the night. Andrew went on the Big Swing, we ate ribs for dinner, with potato salad and chicken. Oh yeah, and cake and punch for dessert/drink. Andrew and I went on the GoKarts, Andrew driving, me holding on for dear life. He wasn’t that bad, Dad, you’re going to have an easy time teaching him to drive. Just maybe coach him on not going faster around curves. 😉  

       4th of July evening, we watched Rel’s highest boss, the executive director, get dunked oh, about 10-15 times. Some of those kids had really really good arms. Even his mother-in-law participated. 🙂 Rel had to go take care of something camp related real quick, so Andrew and I played tether ball. Surprisingly, that was some good exercise. Then we went back to Rel’s house and played with George. Man I missed that kitty, and it was only 2 days since we had seen him. We stayed in until it was time for the fireworks. 

       4th of July night. We found a spot up on the hill at the main camp, where there was a big open space, at one end of the field the fireworks were set up, and at the other end was us, the audience. Music played, fireworks went off in a spectacular fashion, I felt proud to be an American. 

        5th of July, Rel, Andrew and I went to Walmart and bought time devices. Came home, watched the Lego Movie, ate lunch, went to go see X-Men in theatres with Cuz Katheryn. Came back, ate pizza, and watched the A-Team. 🙂 

        6th of July, this morning, we three went to church and enjoyed ourselves. Bit of discomfort, it being a new church and all, but still picked some good things out of it. 🙂 

                    Signing off, See ya later, Sayonara! 

                                 Michelle

6/8/14

So a couple weeks ago, a couple of my closest friends each asked me, on two different days, if I was interested in, or “liked” one of the young men in our church. No reason, one was just curious, and the other had noticed that I was friendly with him, and was curious as well. Both of them thought he and I would be cute together, and wished that we “could happen”.
That’s kind of a hard question to answer. I mean, as a young man, who has the potential to be the future husband to some girl in this church, yes, I’m interested in the husband he could turn out to be. As a young man in the church who is involved with the youth here, then yes, I like him; as a friend would.
I enjoy hearing who my brothers thinks will be my husband, and its interesting to hear who my friends think I’ll end up with, but above it all, I won’t let myself, with God’s help, attach myself (mind-wise) to any particular guy, for these reasons:
1. It would set myself up for heartbreak, if the guy decided to court another gal. (This has happened to me before)
2. It would be hard to not act a certain way towards him, and that in itself might deter him.
3. If I attach myself to him, then I might overlook a guy who IS interested in me.
Sometimes, when someone tells me that they think so and so and I should be a couple, or when someone makes sure to let us gals know that Guy So&So is single, it’s hard for me not to say, “Well then, why don’t you talk to him about me?” It’s not good for the woman to make the first move.
All of this rambling to say: Girls, it is NOT up to you to make the first move, and it is not good to mentally attach yourself to any guy, at least not until an official relationship has formed. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t any good relationships where the woman made the first move, but that should be the exception. And for the very reasons that I have just listed, it isn’t a good idea to pair you and a guy together in your head. It’s just not healthy. Do you agree? Anything you would add? Comment below! 🙂

5/2/14

Tonight a couple of my friends is getting married. I have had the privilege of seeing their relationship blossom from a good friendship to courtship to engagement and tonight, they will become husband and wife. While this is a wonderful piece of news, I would like to focus on half of a marriage. Proverbs 31 is a mother’s warning and a list of what a wife should be doing. In verse 10, it starts describing what a wife should be.

10 An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. ¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain. ¹² She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. ¹³ She looks for wool and flax And works with her hands in delight. ¹⁴ She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar. ¹⁵ She rises also while it is still night And gives food to her household And portions to her maidens. ¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; From her earnings she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷ She girds herself with strength And makes her arms strong. ¹⁸ She senses that her gain is good; Her lamp does not go out at night. ¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hands grasp the spindle. ²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor, And she stretches out her hands to the needy. ²¹ She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet. ²² She makes coverings for herself; Her clothing is fine linen and purple. ²³ Her husband is known in the gates, When he sits among the elders of the land. ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them, And supplies belts to the tradesmen. ²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future. ²⁶ She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. ²⁷ She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. ²⁸ Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: ²⁹ “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.” ³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. ³¹ Give her the product of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.

These are very good qualities to have in oneself, whether single or married. When single, you submit to your folks, and keeping busy with helping around the house, working diligently at work, staying confident in everything, especially one’s faith. One should also learn and strive to become wise, as well as always trying to be kind.

Now, I know that these things are hard to do, and for most, the most difficult things are different for everybody. Some gals might have no problem being kind to those around them, while some may struggle to do so. A few of you might have more hardship being being busy at work than learning wisdom. But no worries. God is forgiving. Maybe focus on one thing at a time, and remember, God is really good at giving us situations where we need to practice what we’ve been learning about.

 

7/26/13

   So, reading a pretty good book this morning, and I start thinking about what a a pastor that I know said once about books and endings. 

    He said that when he was a little boy, he would start reading a book but then skip ahead and read the last chapter, just so he could know what was going to happen. I thought about the Bible, and it’s ‘last’ chapter, of sorts, Revelation. The last book of the Bible is about what’s to come, what the future holds. And to some, it won’t be fun. To anybody that’s not raptured, there will be a time of uniformity, as everybody who wants to live will have to receive a mark on their heads, with which they will be able to buy and sell, to live their lives in worship of the beast, whom many believe to be Satan. And then, in Revelations 19:19, it speaks of a war between the beast and “Him who sat on the horse.” The beast receives an end fitting to his life; he gets thrown into a fiery pit, along with his false prophet. After this, the dead will be judged from the book of life, by their deeds. (Revelations 20:12) 

     So, feel like skipping ahead yet?? But maybe you should, because there is hope for us. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be given entry to a new heaven, one that God Almighty reigns over, along with the Lamb. Where our tears will be wiped away, where there will be no death, no pain, no crying (Revelations 21:4). 

    …..And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. “…….

    Just a little bit of Revelations showing how wonderful it will all be in the new heaven. There’s more, but I thought I would give you a glimpse of hope. Please, if you have questions, contact me, or better yet, your Bible. If you don’t have one, here’s a link to a virtual one with gizmos and doodads. http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm

 

7/25/13

Who are the Midianites? And why did they serve God??

This question is from my small group for a women’s bible study at my church. We are looking at the women of the bible and trying to learn from them. In Exodus 2, we are introduced to the Midianites, a clan with whom Moses spends a significant time with and later marries the daughter of the priest, Jethro. But the Midianites aren’t Israelites, right? So why would they know about God?

Using Strong’s concordance, we can see that the Midianites are descended through Abraham and his wife Keturah through his son Midian. Midian had five sons, and they lived in the desert north of the Arabian Peninsula, eventually becoming modern day Arabians. Midian and his descendants would have known about God from Abraham. This would have explained Jethro’s position of priest. However, there was more that I found out about the Midianites.

The Midianites sent a group of men with a group from Moab to ask Baalam, a man of whom it was said “….whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”(Numbers 22:6)

The next time they show up in Scripture is Numbers 25, when one of the Midianite women was caught with an Israelite man in his tent, and Phineas, the son of Eleazar, slung a spear through the two of them. Not the greatest reputation for the nation, right?? But it gets worse. Next we see in Numbers 31:3, Moses is telling the Israelites to arm themselves against the Midianites for the LORD’s vengeance, ending up slaying the five kings of Midian as well as every male.

However, later the Lord uses Midian to punish the Israelites in Judges 6. After that, Gideon is used to take down the advancing forces of the Midianites. Once the the Midianites are taken care of, there is practically no mention of them, except in passing, or in comparison.

So what do we take away from this??

I think the thing to remember is how good the Midianites started out, but how badly they ended. In 1st Corinthians 9 and Hebrews 12, Paul encourages us to run strong, to finish the race! We need to keep our eyes on the prize and to “run in such a way as to win.” (1st Cor 9:24). The Midianites failed to end strong. Let us learn from their mistakes, and not follow their example.

1/17/13

Psalm 34:4,6,7

I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.

Psalm 34 was written by David after his run-in with Achish, the king of Gath. David was on the run from Saul and ran to the Philistines, enemies of King Saul. however, when he got to the court of Achish, some of his servants recognized David and pointed him out to their king. David overheard those words and grew afraid. However, unlike the first couple of verses, it isn’t recorded in the bible that David asked for help when he was faced with recognition.

What David did next was pretty unique in defense tactics. He pretended to be insane, letting himself drool on his beard, scratching at the gate doors, and just letting himself go. This action does not seem to in accordance with the psalm that he wrote pretty soon after. However, what he speaks about is true. The Lord does listen to the prayers of His people, and answers them according to His plan. He keeps those who cry out to Him safe. Even when they try to take care of themselves, it is still part of His plan.

The bottom line is that the Lord will take of us. Even when we don’t consciously ask for His help, He keeps us safe during our trials and tribulations.

1/10/13

Psalm 37:3,7

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

This psalm reflects encouragement and instruction from David, a man who went through many trials and tribulations and was still a true man of God. This particular psalm is 40 verses of encouragement to the children of God. It tells of how the wicked will not have the victory. How the Lord is the One who holds our hand, how He does not forsake His godly ones, how those who wait for Him will inherit the land, how He loves justice, and how the LORD helps and delivers the righteous.

There are many situations in this psalm where the wicked seem to have the upper hand over the righteous, but David reassures us that those who practice evil will pass away, that the Lord will take care of them. David gives us help to understand what we must do to survive with the Lord’s help. We are to depart from evil and do good (27), wait for the Lord (9), and not fret about those who go their own way and yet still prosper. We are told that the righteous who have little is better than the wicked who have lots, and that the righteous will dwell forever in the land that they will inherit because of their faithfulness.

This psalm is full of promises of the Lord’s love and grace, His mercy and strength for those who lean on Him. It continually brings the situations full circle to the faithfulness of the Lord to those who serve Him and are His followers. It is a good reminder of the wonder of His love.

1/9/13

Psalm 36:5-6

Your loving kindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

This psalm really spoke to me today. I attend classes at Clark College, and, while it is expected, it can still be disappointing to learn that a teacher is a feminist, or an atheist  or at least, does not agree with your beliefs. There are different ways to react to these findings. One is to go into a depression because you have once again found out that your teacher is not perfect. Another reaction is to immediately dislike this professor and believe that nothing they say or do will be worth it to stick around. There is another option: Accept it and lean on the Lord to help you through the class. God will always be the perfect teacher. He isn’t human, you know.

But your teachers are. And even those that do hold the same beliefs can mess up. Just because you have a teacher that’s not one with you and your beliefs does not mean you will have an awful time in that class. Trust me, seeing the world through clear biblical glasses will help you to accept and move on, whether to try and show your teacher why you believe what you do, or just taking every thing they teach and compare it to God’s Word. The verses in this psalm helped to bring this thought to my attention.