The many surprises of 2013

Here we are, on the final eve of 2013. So, like most bloggers out there, I’m reflecting a bit on my past year.

One of the biggest events of 2013 was the semester I spent in Kenya. It was a semester I will never forget. From January to May, I embarked on adventures I never thought I would be participating in. I saw giraffes, zebras, lizards, and monkeys on a daily basis; I rode ostriches (and ate some) and petted elephants; I went on three safaris and snorkeled for two hours in the Indian Ocean; I slept on a beach on a tropical island; I saw incredible sunrises and sunsets; I rock-climbed and hiked several miles; I taught in Kenyan classrooms; I slid down a waterfall and danced with African tribal warriors. It affected my views of my own community as well as other parts of our world, provided new friendships, impacted my view of myself, and overall gave me unforgettable memories.

Shortly after that semester came another highlight of 2013 – working at Grace Adventures. As evidenced by the rest of my blogs, my time working with the high schoolers for most of the summer was challenging, fun, thrilling, and helped me grow and prepare for what is to come in my life.

The fall semester at Trinity was also unlike any other. It included novice teaching, which had its share of challenges but overall gave me confidence for the future. I was able to have real experience in a classroom, and found my excitement for having my own classroom growing and my belief in myself improving. I know I can and will be a good English teacher. It also included another production as the stage manager, as have other semesters at Trinity, but this one was special. I really loved the script, the acting, and the actors in it. Plus, it was my last, which made it even more bittersweet. In fact, the semester held a lot of lasts, and goodbyes to things and people I will miss. The fall semester flew by, and I am just one step closer to being finished with my time as a Troll.

Finally, the most life-changing – and unexpected – part of this year was God placing an amazing man in my life. Kyle is everything God knew I needed. He is a man who loves God with his whole heart, and serves as a spiritual leader for me as well. He cherishes me, and isn’t afraid to show it. He and I fit and it’s fantastic. I cannot wait to see what the years have in store for us, but 2013 will always be special as the year it all began.

There have also been low points of this year. There have been pointless attacks and shootings that have affected our world. Beloved members of the community have passed away, some of them unexpected. The Calvin Christian community lost one of my favorite teachers and an excellent man of faith. It's still hardly to believe he isn't directing the band again this year, but quite a legacy he left. It's a similar feeling for many others from this past year – this feeling of loss, of incredulity that the person isn't around anymore. Despite all the highs, 2013 has brought some heartbreaks too.

So, 2013 draws to a close tonight. I get to spend it with Kyle (first New Year’s kiss I’ve ever had! Woo hoo!), Jess, and Corey (her boyfriend). The most perfect people to usher in 2014 with. This next yearm too, will hold many highs, lows, and suprises. But just as in 2013, God already has it mapped out. I look foward to finding out his plan.

The End... The Beginning

The last time I posted about my semester in general was just before I started novice teaching. In that post, I claimed I would post whenever I could, like when I was avoiding homework or when I had random down time.


As you can probably tell by the lack of posts, random down time was at a minimum. Or if it happened I chose to read a novel.


So my final semester of classes came to a close already and I am anxiously awaiting the start of student teaching. However, before we move on, I'll give a general overview of my semester.


Novice teaching was overall fantastic. I was in the eighth grade Language Arts classroom two days a week, and the seventh grade Social Studies classroom once a week. The students were mostly African American or Hispanic, so it was a diverse experience for me, but fruitful. I taught Language Arts about once a week for most of the time I was there. Through that experience, I started to build a rapport with the students and really look forward to seeing them every week. I also had a good relationship with the teachers, in particular the eighth grade teacher. He was very supportive of me in the classroom; he allowed me to step in and try new activities or methods, he asked about my future, and he gave me feedback on my lessons. Even though I wouldn't use everything he did in the classroom, I appreciated being in his classroom and I felt I thrived in that environment. There are things I need to work on as a teacher, yet this placement built my confidence in my teaching abilities and my excitement to have a class of my own has doubled.


Classes were mostly typical. There were weeks of piles of homework, and there were weeks where homework was completed in relatively good time without too many hairs being extracted. I had fewer classes than any other semester, but with novice teaching also being a component it still kept me with a full schedule.


The Women of Lockerbie was an amazing production. We had eight actors total, plus five members of the production team. Having a smaller cast allowed for more bonding on my part with the whole cast. All of the actors did spectacular and the production went off with very few hitches. Audiences loved it. Most of all, I fell in love with the production and script; I knew most of the lines, I thought the casting was great for the roles, and I certainly didn't want it to end. Nevertheless, it was a great show to end my direct involvement with TCC theatre. Even though student teaching will be great, and though rehearsals often ate up time, I will miss being a part of the production. That black box theatre, the people I've met there, and the memories it holds will always be a big part of my college memories.


I finished the last finals I plan to take. Of course, finals week will remain a part of my life since I'll be grading the finals instead. Yet, for now, the stresses of writing papers and taking tests that comes at the end of every semester is over. It actually wasn't too bad of an end of the semester stress-wise; most of my big projects were finished earlier, and though I had three papers, over half of them had been mostly written a week earlier and workshopped as rough drafts. I was glad to have worked so hard all semester long to make those last two weeks feel like a break.


Now I am home until the end of February; the “real” teaching experience will begin as classes start up in January. I'll be in a 9^th and 12^th grade English classrooms at Northpointe, then return to Illinois for the end of the semester to teach in an 8^th grade Language Arts class. While I'm at home, I hope to also spend some time volunteering for Winter Blasts at Grace, though am hesitant to make too many commitments when I know weekends will be filled with planning and grading.


I'm pumped to start student teaching; I think it'll be a good experience. But I also know there will be a lot of stress involved, and perhaps even some moments of doubt in myself. What I need for the next semester is prayers that I will remember God is guiding me, and this is undoubtedly the path he has planned for me – teaching.


Dark chocolate might also help.

Punctuation Jokes and Puns

“For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word “Book's” with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement, though greatly accelerated. First there is shock. Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and pain to anger. Finally (and this is where the analogy breaks down), anger gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker.”


For those of you who are grammar and punctuation geeks like me, you probably have had a reaction similar to the one Lynne Truss describes in the quote above, though only now see it in line with the stages of grief. And you laughed. Especially at that last line.


I was assigned to read the book Eats, Shoots, & Leaves by Truss for my teaching English course. It was probably the most I've ever laughed while reading a textbook. So I'm going to be a dork for this post and share with you some of my favorite quotes and examples from the book.


Back cover joke:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
“Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
“I'm a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.”
The waiter turns to the relevant entry, and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”


About us grammar sticklers:

• “While we look in horror at a badly punctuated sign, the world carries on around us, blind to our plight. We are like the little boy in The Sixth Sense who can see dead people, except that we see dead punctuation.”
  
• “Stand outside a... cinema indicating – with a cut-out apostrophe on a stick – how the title Two Weeks Notice might be easily grammatically corrected (I did this), and not a soul will take your side or indeed have a clue what your problem is. ”
  

Comments about a student who said he punctuated his texts correctly because he has an A level in English: “Evidently an A level in English is a sacred trust, like something out of Lord of the Rings. You must go forth with your A level and protect the English language with your bow of elfin gold.”

Poor punctuation: “Now, there are no laws against imprisoning apostrophes and making them look daft. Cruelty to punctuation is quite unlegislated: you can get away with pulling the legs off semicolons; shrivelling question marks on the garden path under a powerful magnifying glass you name it.”


Some examples:

• “Next week: nouns and apostrophe's! (BBC website advertising a grammar course for children)”
  
• “Frog's piss (French wine putting unfair strain on a single frog)”
  
• “Member's May Ball (but with whom will the member dance?)”
  
• “New members welcome drink (doubtless true)”
  
• “Childrens' education... (in a letter from the head of education at the National Union of Teachers)”
  
• “The driver managed to escape from the vehicle before it sank and swam to the river-bank”
  

(I found it frustrating and discouraging that two of those came from people or programs that were supposed to be educating others)


The importance of punctuation even has relevance to theology. Since the original text of the Bible wasn't punctuated, there can be interpretations by translators that have different meanings:
“Verily, I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” versus “Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise.” (the second leaves room for the option of purgatory)
“Comfort ye my people.” versus “Comfort ye, my people.”(there's a difference in whom is being comforted)
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” versus “The voice of him that crieth: In the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord.”


“Law of Conservation of Apostrophes... states that a balance exists in nature: 'For every apostrophe omitted from an it's, there is an extra one put into an its.'”


“Between the 16^th century and the present day, [the comma] became a kind of scary grammatical sheepdog... the comma has so many job as a 'separator'... that it tears about on the hillside of language, endlessly organizing words into sensible groups to make them stay put... Commas, if you don't whistle at them to calm down, are unstoppably enthusiastic at this job.”


“The big final rule for the comma is one that you won't find in any books by grammarians. It is quite easy to remember, however. The rule is: don't use commas like a stupid person.”


“Semicolons are dangerously habit-forming. Many writers hooked on semicolons become an embarrassment to their families and friends... the writers rock back and forth in their office chairs, softly tapping the semicolon key and emitting low whimpers.”


I didn't make it all the way through the book yet (sorry Dr. BC) but I hope to. I hope some of you also enjoyed a laugh over some of these. Others probably just have more reasons to roll their eyes at me. Oh well. I, Rebecca Reed, claim openly that I am a lover of punctuation, and the humor it can bring.

It even has a punctuation repair kit! These are stickers I can stick to incorrect signs.

Semester goals... Mid-term.

A couple weeks ago, one of my friends mentioned in Outcry (the weekly student-led worship service) that as seniors, we only have so many Outcrys left. Then, at the end of the hour, we circled up as we so often do, and sang “My Friends May You Grow in Grace” as a Trinity community, hands latched together. I glanced around at the faces, and saw faces of seniors who were hall-mates, roommates, classmates, friends, or just people I've spent time with along the way, and I nearly started crying. I've already felt somewhat of a shift this year from the regular hang-outs to less time together as many are more busy with senior-level classes, internships, novice teaching, student teaching, and leadership positions than before (myself included). But we only have so many more times to gather Thursday nights for worship, or to spend time together on “I don't wanna do homework, let's watch a movie” nights, or to go out on dinner dates. I'm (most likely) going to be spending part of next semester student teaching in MI, and even when I'm back on campus so much of my time will be spent at the school, grading, or writing plans for the next week. Plus several friends are going abroad, or also starting internships, and so the time to spend with one another is passing us by – quickly.


So instead of making this post all sentimental (there will be PLENTY of those to come), I want to set some goals, so I don't waste the precious time I have left - which is starting it's downhill slide towards the end of the semester, as this week marks midterm!
These may or may not be the typical specific/measurable/attainable/relevant/time-bound goals that education always asks for, but, hey, I'm not getting graded.... I don't think.

1. Spend weekly time with my closest friends who are not a part of Tib 30, in Women of Lockerbie, or in English classes with me. Note: that isn't to say my closest friends who are in those 3 categories don't count... bear with me. Anyway, back to goal 1. For those girls that I don't necessarily cross paths with because our schedules don't demand it, I will demand it. And already I haven't done a good job with this... But I want to improve. This doesn't necessarily mean it'll always be a couple hours together, because let's be honest, that isn't always possible weekly. Maybe it's just a stop in your room on a study break, or twenty minutes of dinner together. As long as I see you every week, and talk for more than five minutes, I'll be happy. Of course, I will welcome spending a couple of hours together as well, as long as we both have free time!
   
2. Minimize the complaining about my profs, and daily remember just how grateful I should be, and am. No offense to everyone else from other colleges who believe their professors are the best, but seriously – Trinity professors rock. In education, I constantly hear how important it is to build relationships with your students, and Trinity professors have definitely modeled that. They know my interests and hobbies – they ask about the play, they make suggestions about topics they know I'll enjoy writing about or participating in, they comment on my Courier articles, or they refer to me in class when they know it's a topic I am knowledgeable about. They're willing to chat with me, about school, teaching, or just life. If I am feeling overwhelmed, they usually will extend grace on assignments and an empathetic word. And yet, I never want to ask for extensions unless I have a superb reason because I don't want to let them down either; I would hate to disappoint any of my profs, and I've actually shed a tear in some of their offices because I feel terrible about the fact I accidentally slept through a class when I was supposed to turn in a project or my hard drive crashed and my finished paper was erased. They support my efforts, building me up and yet also providing feedback on where I can improve. All of this goes for some professors I've only had once as well – it doesn't matter, they remember my name and could strike up a conversation with me when they see me passing by. When I returned from Kenya last year, I was just as excited to see some of my professors as I was to see my friends, and I actually went around to several of their offices to just say hi. And this semester is the last semester I'll be taking classes, aside from my student teaching course. I want to enjoy the time I have with these wonderful adults and mentors. And I don't want to let time go by with me complaining rather than appreciating the blessing I have going to a college with professors like these.
   
3. Have weekly real conversation, lots of laughs, and quality time with my girls of Tib 30. I know we're all running 500 directions – softball, psych club, classes, work, theatre, Roseland – but I want to spend time every week together, all of us, making memories. Maybe we're still doing some light homework, but all sitting together and chatting while doing it. Maybe that's dinner together, since we now have a kitchen. It could also be chunks of quality time I get with each of you, at different times when our schedules allow. Perhaps we create a short amount of time where the words softball, class, theatre, psych club, and work-related terms are not allowed to enter conversation so that we all can share our own time, free of discussion of other extra-curriculars we're apart of separately. I'm just throwing ideas out there, but I seriously need more quality time with you girls, so that this semester doesn't pass me by and I never get a chance to make the good memories of Tib 30.
4. Spend more time with friends I met through theatre... But spend that time out of the theatre. We've had one girls night with 3 of my close friends, and it was lovely. This needs to happen more. And for others, perhaps let's grab dinner together sometime, or go out to Plush Horse. Essentially, let's just catch up when we aren't making blocking notes, running through scenes, or setting up for a performance.
5. Stress less over my schedule. This is a whole lot easier said than done, and I guarantee I will stray from this goal several times. But it's a goal nonetheless. The thing is, I'm pretty good at time management (I say as I have spent a couple hours/days, combined, typing this post... but really, I am a good time manager, I swear). I need to trust myself that it will get done because I'm going to make sure it does. Yes, on those days that I don't come back to the room from 8 am-11 pm because of class, novice, work, and rehearsal, that means a late night of homework. But that isn't time I'm wasting, and I'll get the homework done as efficiently as possible, get some rest, and start again tomorrow. And also, I should be okay to take a half hour break during those other days I may have more leeway with my time. I'll burn myself out if all I do is go, go, go with work and never let my mind take a break. With all that's on my plate, and with my inherent drive to complete tasks, I will work everything out with my schedule. Then, once I've already made a plan, I need to just let it be and not fret over every detail. I have a plan, and things may come up, but I'll bend and I will get it done. So stop stressing, self!
6. Don't spend frivolously. I didn't earn an income during last semester, and I won't next semester either (I'll be doing too much work to earn a living... figure that one out!). I don't even want to talk about the loan payments that await me after I graduate. And I'll also be taking on more financial responsibilities as I start a real life – rent, bills, groceries, etc. With all of that awaiting me, plus still having to make tuition payments for the next 1.5 semesters, I cannot afford to throw away money on things I don't necessarily need. Groceries – necessary, but I don't need 2 cases of pop, a few boxes of name-brand cookies, and a bag of candy just because I feel like it. Spending a few bucks on used books I find for my classroom library – pretty useful and a good idea, but I don't need to be spending $20 per book just because I want to read it. And I certainly don't need to buy another plaid shirt just because it's cute.
7. Take more pictures! I'm usually a picture-taking queen. Yet, I noticed as I posted this blog, I have hardly any pictures from this semester. So this needs to be remedied.
   

That's a solid start, I think. Perhaps made a little too late,being already half-way through the semester. Yet, I do still have some time to make these a reality in my life. And I am not letting it go to waste, if I can help it.


You all can help, too. Some of these I'm going to need some support and some cooperation in order to make steps toward reaching these goals. Now that I've put this out there for you, my world, to see, a) I won't be able to slack and b) you all know what I want to do, and can make plans to help me. I hope you all can agree to that for me.
You all rock, and I love each one of you (appropriately).

Buckle up, buttercup

“Students should read poetry like they listen to rock and roll.”

That's according to one of my profs. But seriously, think about it. Pick your favorite artist, whether that be country, rock, pop, whatever. So they release a new album. One that you deem worth buying on CD or iTunes because, dude, this is your favorite band/singer! Anyway, so you buy the album. During your first listen, do you really understand the meaning behind the songs? Not usually. But you play it. You play that bad boy over, and over, and over, until you know the words by heart and can belt them in the car. You may not still know what every song means, but hey you know the words. Perhaps a month after buying the album, it hits you – so that's what this song means! Okay now apply it to poetry. It's not that you necessarily have to read it for months, but you aren't going to “get” it on the first try. There you have it. A good method and analogy to use for teaching English.

That's just one tidbit of wisdom from my methods course on teaching English. Many others center around the idea that our job is to help kids see that reading and writing are fun, and how to do so. But another notable piece of advice that I enjoyed: Marry someone who reads a lot. They often take time to think about all the good things they have.... And if you can, marry a nerd. They love deeper for longer.

 Interesting note.... 


That's really only the tip of what these three weeks of school have brought for me. In the 15 credits I'm taking, I have theatre club, a literature course, a history course, 2 methods courses – 1 teaching English, the other general methods (novice teaching) – and senior seminar. The beginning of the year so far has kept me busy working on “real world” teaching stuff, but now the real schedule of my semester is about to start. For novice teaching, I'll be in a classroom for 12 weeks, 2-3 days a week, going beyond observing to also be teaching several lessons. The rehearsals for the mainstage play The Women of Lockerbie are beginning, and as the stage manager I will be attending every rehearsal I can. Plus I am working a few hours tutoring students on writing papers in the Writing Center. I am off and running.


But I'm also facing my senior year – my last year in a community I have loved and grown in for 3 years. It's my last semester of theatre. My last semester having classes with some of my favorite professors. It's my last year to get out there and get involved in college life. And not to mention my last year living near so many wonderful friends. How do I keep feeding the relationships despite the different directions we are all already running? It's tough. But I do not want to face my last year of “normality” and not keep these friendships alive.


There will be plenty to share the rest of the year about teaching, what I'm learning and how I'm growing. Probably lots of stories to tell from Tib30, theatre, classes, and my crazy life. It may or may not be weekly posts, but as inspiration strikes – or when I feel a desire to avoid homework – a post will show up.


God is going to twist and turn me all around. But he is going to pour out his blessing abundantly on me, in ways I probably can't even plan or imagine. I cannot wait.

My roomies this year (girls, we need a new picture)

                                           (photo courtesy of Trinity theatre club Facebook page)

One of the spots you'll usually find me on campus... Our black box theatre. The Troll likes it too.

My itty bitty, beloved campus

God is So Good - the last week of camp and reflections on the summer

It's been nearly 2 weeks since camp ended, and I apologize for my lack of an update or closing to the summer. I was jumping into the next whirlwind of activity – packing to move to Trinity. But we'll talk about that later.


The last week of camp was August 12-17. There are two things this might make you wonder: a) wait, wasn't there a week in between that week and the last week you wrote about? and b) that's a Monday to a Saturday. That can't be right. First, yes, there was a week missing in my blogs; I sat down to write that blog, but couldn't think of much to say. Let it suffice to say that the first week of August at camp went smoothly, and looked pretty similar to the week before (see the blog about Tim Team during Surf City). Second, the final week was indeed Monday-Saturday. Due to the differing schedules of the guest groups, I worked Saturday, had Sunday off, and then Tim Team came Monday and stayed through early Saturday, the last day of my contract.


The most unique thing about the week: it was an all girls Tim Team. Yup, the only ounce of testosterone on the team was from our core staff, Jonathan.


I'm not going to lie, prior to the beginning of the week I was freaking out about having an all girls team. It wasn't because I didn't know how to handle all girls; I was a Treasure Seekers counselor, after all. It was more about the fear of isolation. For the last month of camp, most people on staff work as adventure staff, and they don't have their own campers. This allows for more time to be around other young adults, and, though they do work hard, there is generally more down time than when you're in charge of a group of campers. And I am not denying that I love my job as counselor. Adventure staff is great, but it isn't the role I would fit into if I was working there all summer. However, when every staff member is off together and making memories and you still have campers relying on you, and you're pretty much separated from the staff on different assignments than they have, it can get lonely. That was one of the reasons I was glad to be working alongside Kyle, to have another peer to share my day with (okay, okay, that wasn't the biggest reason, but it was part of it). But now my companion wouldn't be around. I was literally the last counselor standing. I eventually turned that into a light-hearted brag, but before the week began I was not happy about it. Everyone would be having fun, and I would be the only person in the crew who had left high school far behind me. Plus it was the last week, the week of goodbyes. I was frustrated and not looking forward to the week.


Before the girls arrived Monday, I realized how much I was spiraling into irrational stressing. And it was Satan just whispering doubts and negative thoughts into my mind, thoughts I was buying into. It was just another week, working with an age group I had come to love working with. I had done this 3 times before; I knew the ins and outs. And most of all, God was with me. Why was I stressing?


Well, God then gave me many blessings. One blessing was my team. Of 5 girls, all but one were Quest campers, which meant they were older and most had gone through Pathfinders once or twice. 4 of my girls were also returning Tim Teamers, so they had done it at least one week if not more prior to this particular week. They knew what they were doing, and their ages also increased their responsibility level.
Another was how the schedule fell into place. Remember how I didn't think I would get to be with any of the staff, ever, all week long? Well, God took care of that worry. First, Jonathan wasn't scheduled as much so was working with our group a lot. Second, every day at least one staff member was scheduled to come do an activity with us, and sometimes they came for multiple activities. Lastly, with some shifts in scheduling, I was able to attend all but one of the staff events they planned for the final week, participating in ziplining, movie night, and a closing campfire for the staff.


And at those events I was further blessed. I (finally) got to be in my favorite position on campus – the top of the zipline. I was able to encourage my Tim Team girls and the staff as they climbed to the top, took in a lovely view, and then I got to zipline down myself. I was able to just relax outside, on a blanket, next to friends, watching Despicable Me in the company of full-time staff as well as summer staff. And then I got to be at the closing campfire, where we shared memories from the summer and what God had taught each one of us. I even got to be there for the moment Kyle shared how he is closing one chapter in his life and moving onto the next, symbolized by the burning of his old pink hat, and support him as he did so. I not only got to see and speak with fellow staff members far more than I expected, I was able to participate in the memories being made. I was incredibly thankful.


I was also challenged during the week. Though it was a blessing to have girls who were experienced, it also brought its own challenges. In general, those challenges were defining the line between camper and counselor. It was helpful to have girls who were older, and it was helpful to have veteran Tim Teamers, but sometimes that caused conflict as they started acting as if they were the ones who had the authority and started taking certain liberties. Now it was up to me to resolve them, something that isn't my strong suit. It also required me to figure out how to best define that line, and when to treat them as the responsible young women they are and when to exert my authority. It wasn't perfect, but we made it through the week. More importantly, I came to realize this may very well be a conflict that arises if I teach high school. I will be smaller than most students, and in my effort to build relationships, sometimes students can push that line separating us. I had always known this would be an issue I might face, but experiencing made me realize I need to really think for myself about how to handle this.


Overall, this summer was absolutely fantastic. I don't think I can sum up everything that has gone on in a few sentences, nor do I think I can pinpoint everything I've learned and experienced. Here's just a few ways that I've seen God working in me this summer:

• He has shown me just exactly how right it is to follow the career path I chose, which is a continuation from the rest of the year. Time and again he has opened my eyes to the passion I have for teaching; this summer, it was clearly showing me the love I have for working with students in the middle and high school ages, the age group I will be teaching. In the one week I worked with elementary students, even though I like little kids, my heart wasn't in it in the same way as when I worked with older kids, especially the Tim Team. Though this age group has its own challenges that I will have to navigate, I look forward to seeing this passion grow as I have more experiences in the classroom this year.
  
• He showed me more about leadership, and how I can be better Christ-like leader. I may have been the one teaching the lessons, helping to train the teenagers to become servant leaders, yet through working through the material for them, I too learned more about how I can improve.
  
• I've learned where I, too, have bought into the lies Satan tells, like we talked about with the Treasure Seekers. I was able to see that some of my actions are motivated by those lies, and I have been trying to grasp the truth instead.
  
• I learned about God's absolutely perfect timing. Stay with me, this might get more sappy than I have been on this blog, but it was a real lesson I took from these 3 months. For awhile, I wanted to find someone to make me happy, someone to fill a gap. But God didn't want that for me – yet. It took being comfortable with where I was, recognizing that God was enough. I stopped looking for a boy; unlike last summer, I came into the summer at camp with zero expectations of finding someone to date. Once God had me where he wanted me, he decided to bless me beyond my wildest expectations. It wasn't by chance I met Kyle this summer, going into my final year at school, after I had gone through several experiences that have molded me into who I am. It was after he, too, had gone through a time of growth, bringing him closer to God and better equipped to be the man God wanted him to be, preparing him for me, as God was preparing me for him. Now, I'm in a relationship where I am treated like a queen. We encourage one another, sharing our burdens and joys as we also share a love for the Lord. God knew what each of needed to experience, how each of us needed to get our hearts set in the correct place, and when we would be in the best place in life to find one another. I'd heard from many people God was preparing someone for me, someone who would be exactly the right man for me; I never could've guessed exactly how true that was, above and beyond what I had even dreamed. God has such amazing timing.
  

I probably missed some things about God's work within me this summer, but those are the major areas that came to mind.


God worked this summer in so many unexpected ways, and I give him all the glory for the things he has done.

Cruising along during Surf City - Tim Team week 2

“Becca.”

“Hmmm?”

“There's an animal in our tent.”

“WHAT.”

They tell us that a counselor should be willing to be up and ready at any point of the night. This week was the second time I've experienced a teenager waking me up at an odd hour of the morning (you'd think it'd be the little kids... not so. It's always been the high schoolers). This time it wasn't for medicine or bathroom emergency. This time it was an animal scavenging around in the tent we sleep in as the females on Tim Team; an animal this teen said she had been hearing for awhile but was afraid to wake anyone up. When she called across the tent to me, another teen also woke and heard the animal. As we lay in the dark, no longer hearing said animal but too afraid to look, the four Tim Team girls and I were discussing the possibilities.

“What if it's a possum?”

“Or it could be a raccoon.”

“Or a mouse or something.”

Now if you know some of my fears, two that are near the top of the list are raccoons and mice. The girls were saying “shine a flashlight over there.” I, however, was panicking that I'd find two beady, circled eyes or see a little ball of fur scurrying around the tent. I think I was squeaking in fear, while also giggling nervously, just as much as the other teens. Eventually, I summoned up at least some courage and ran to the boys' tent to call out Kyle to save us (remember his rescue in week one of Pathfinders, when I was trying not to panic while lost on a sand dune? Yup. This guy knows how to rescue me in my scariest moments of camp). After clearing ourselves out of the tent, he shone his flashlight around under beds and into corners and found... nothing. Somewhere, at some point, the animal had already escaped, to remain a mystery of who our visitor had been.

Overall, the week went well. We had about seven or eight Tim Teamers who had been on Tim Team before, so, for the most part, knew the ins and outs of the various tasks. This was definitely an advantage, because I spent a lot less time explaining and simply delegating. However, not all of them took that experience and turned it into taking initiative. After a bit of a rough start, though, more and more teens began to simply do the next task rather than sit down or wander aimlessly once one task was complete. We had some hectic moments, having over 200 plates a meal from the combined Surf City, Rustic Warrior, and Ranch camps plus the various pots, pans, and utensils used to cook those meals. Yet the kids worked hard and by Thursday we were cruising.

Moreover, I felt more confident this week. Part of it was knowing I had a team of veterans who I didn't have to break down every detail for them. Another part was that I also had experience backing me up, having one week of Tim Team counseling already under my belt from earlier this summer. Third was my partner in crime. For the first time since Pathfinders, Kyle was leading right next to me. As with Pathfinder weeks, we fell into the cohesive team, his strengths playing off mine and visa versa. All of these combined, in addition to a more laid back schedule that accompanies Surf City weeks, made it a great week.

We're in the home stretch now. Two weeks of summer at Grace Adventures left for me and the staff that remains. Already my mind wanders to ten days after I complete my contract, when I move back to school. This fall looks different than any other semester I've had at Trinity, bringing excitement, anxiety, anticipation, and sadness. Yet I can't allow myself to dwell on that just yet. I remain physically and mentally present here at Grace for a couple more weeks. It's going to be crazy, it's going to be fun, and there will be more stories to tell. Let's see what God has in store for these next two weeks!