Another Great Week...

Most of you are probably sick of visiting my blog and seeing the same entry sitting there for way over a week now...so I thought I would quit slacking and take a moment to freshen up the blog! So hello to all of my faithful readers (the whole handful of you)! :)

Highlights of my week at camp...
-Weather Girl was resurrected and LOVED this time!
-Got to play keys in the worship band and sing a little!
-Got to be a team leaders for a good bunch of kids. They were crowned the "Most Out of Control Group" for the week, but we were still proud of our kiddies!
-Got to lead a group with JD Pavkovich (my new buddy) and had a blast! :)
-Went canoeing with JD and also went kayacking (sp?) for the first time ever!! (Had a splash war out on the lake and all the kids got soaked...including myself!)
-Got to decision counsel a young lady and 10 other kids made decisions to follow Christ!
-God had his hand in the entire week and I got to see His Handy Work in full swing!

Heading out for the last and final week starting Sunday and will be back on Wednesday night. Only to head out again Thursday night to be a part of an incredible spiritual retreat from Thursday-Sunday at Country Lake Lodge called FACES of Christ Retreat. All the interns are supposed to be there, including maybe 30 other men and women. Everyone I've talked to says it is a life changing experience...looking forward to the spiritual boost. Thanks for your prayers and I'll be planning to catch up with many of you when all this crazy camp business comes to an end! Love to all my family and friends...

Just Taking a Moment

Thought it best to stop by the church today and catch up on emails and phone messages. Took some time to read up on my buddies' blogs and I am just amazed at how God is working in their lives. To read about all the blessings and everything He is doing just gives me warm fuzzies. It reminds me once again that He is God and that He knows His stuff (even when we doubt or question). I love Him so much!

Another week at camp is finished - felt the exhaustion a little more this week than last. The rain stopped and the heat kicked in! Thankful for the sunshine...let me tell ya! Which meant I spent a ton of time at the lake playing with the little luv dumplins. With these kids weighing about 50-60 lbs. each...I could easily blob them to heights they've never seen. Still torn with what's better 1) being cool by sending these kids flying or 2) being a "Fatty McButter Pants". Mmmm...pizza is sounding good. Better gear up for next week!

No major injuries this week. Got to dress up like an egg (Karla and I were the "Extreme Game Girls". Get it? We talked with huge southern accents and led the games. We looked ridiculous...but it was a blast! I hosed kids down with a hose for 2 hours straight on Wednesday because our Slip and Slide busted...but it was fun and got a great tan while I was at it! Received about 100 "tally marks" with the life guards (too funny - ask me later!) Headed back Sunday for ROUND 3!! Good times:)

A Wet One...But a Good One!

I know it sounds like I am about to write an entry about a certain bodily function, but REALLY...I'd like to take a moment to tell you how incredible the first week of camp was!
First of all, it rained every single day. But through it all we were able to see some awesome God-Stops! The rain never hindered ANY of our plans for the week. When it was time for the kids to be outside, the rain would cease to a drizzle and when it was time for us to be inside, it would POUR! It was amazing!

There were 7 decisions made for Christ this week.
We got soaked filling thousands of water balloons.
We bobbed for Spam.
We did Extreme Makeovers with Wendi & Wendall (our hilarious German characters)
I went off the Zip Line
I got Blobbed...then Double Blobbed! (a huge air-filled tube in the middle of the lake where one person sits on the edge and another person - or 2 - jumps down on the other end and sends the poor soul on the edge flying in the air) IT WAS A BLAST!!
I got thrown off a golf cart.
...oh wait! You must hear the story...

Monday night the team were launching water balloons at targets in the field - we were the targets standing still and then there were 2 golf carts driving around as well. I got bored standing, so I hopped in the cart with Jon (the dean) and we took off dodging as many balloons as we could. At one point, we were too close to the teams and they were nailing us left and right. He said, "HOLD ON! WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!!" And that's when it happened. I reached to the other side to grab the bar and suddenly he took a sharp turn (before I could get a grip)...and I flew out the other side and rolled like nobody's business! To an onlooker...the sight must have been shockingly hilarious (and now we laugh about it constantly), but at the time it was the scariest thing I have encountered...and extremely painful. (HOLY COW it hurt!) I rolled on my neck which brought on the most ginormous headache and then somehow, I don't know how, but I must have whacked my leg on something cause there is still a huge knot and a bruise on the front of my leg that extends the length from knee to below the calf. It's pretty let me tell ya! I try to cover it up when I go out in public, only because it looks as though I'm in an abusive relationship...and we don't need those kind of rumors to spread! :) Anyways...now we have lots of stories to tell and lots of good memories!

We leave again tomorrow for another week - this time with 2nd & 3rd graders! Should be a blast. Pray it will be a spiritually encouraging week for the campers...and for the staff!
Love to all!

signing off for a week

Getting packed up and ready to leave tomorrow afternoon for camp. It's what we've been working our behinds off for the past couple weeks and it'll be here before you know it. Still have a list of things to do, but somehow I'm finding the time to drop a quick entry to say farewell.

With the hurricane happening, we should be blessed with lots of moisture this week - yippee! Pray for it all...so many details, so many kids, not so many adults helping, and who knows what else! Trying to remain positive:) Really...it's gonna be great!!

BTW - got a surprise email from my good friend Doug who's in Africa right now. Didn't expect to hear from him until later this month or August. He's doing well, but it sounds like he's ready to be home. Just so good to hear from him:)

Lots going on...
Lots to be thankful for...
Blessings on your week...

Strange Girl in the Basement

This weekend Rob's parents are staying at the house taking care of the kids while the two of them are vacationing in Seattle. I come upstairs this morning and meet them and I was referred to as "the girl living in the basement" (sounds like a creepy horror movie if you think about it). Then as I was in the kitchen filling up my water bottle, I heard Sammy say, "Dat's ouw Miss Sawa" (translation..."That's our Miss Sara"). It was the cutest darn thing I'd ever heard! Hopefully I'll become more than just the "girl who lives in the basement" to these boys as the year progresses.
BTW - the boys both just had their birthdays. Spencer turned 5 and Sammy is now the big 3!

Surprise from Home

Yesterday was a long day - we'll just leave it at that. I finally got home and I saw that I had received a couple cards in the mail. One was from my best friend in Joplin and the other was a slightly larger card from the "We Miss Sara Clan"...had no idea who that was! I opened it up and it was covered with signatures and little notes from all my pals at Fuel!!! It was the most thoughtful thing:) As I was reading, I didn't know whether to cry or laugh...so I did both. I loved how someone signed "this is my first fuel, but I thought I'd sign anyway" - I'm excited for that young man...he's in for a treat! But the best was from Nathan Rector, "Move home now!" :) It all gave me warm fuzzies! So thanks to all my buddies back home...I miss ya!

Exhausting...BUT Wonderful!

This past weekend was great...it was long, but great! The parentals and my good buddy Ben came to visit Kentucky and we had a great time. They got to meet some of my friends and see what kind of work I'm doing here at Southeast. I took them to Mark's Feed Store (best BBQ place in town!), Louisville Slugger Museum (got us some free mini-bats), saw fireworks at Tom Sawyer Park, went shopping, went to the Vine, had numerous cookouts and delicious eating sessions...it was all fabulous! And who could forget the intense Catch Phrase game...the ladies won by the way! But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. They hit the road again on Monday :(

Fireworks were beautiful...
Time spent with family and friends was incredible...
All around great weekend...
Good times had by all!

PS - Met a new friend, Matt Hodges, this weekend thru Ben. He saw him at the Vine and found out he just moved to Louisville to work with Team Expansion. He's from Keokuk and grew up with Nathan, Neal and all the guys from camp. What a small world!