Beach Trip and Bonnaroo

Right now I am taking a break from writing a paper.

The past month has flown! I went to the beach with Ashley and most of the Yarbrough kids two weeks ago. We had a lot of fun!! We played volleyball (Chris, Cameron, and I are the reigning champions), swam in the rain, rescued a dolphin from the ocean (okay it was just a little plastic dolphin, but still) and got locked out of our condo for a little while. It was a good trip and on Friday we had a reunion and game night! :)

Last weekend was Bonnaroo!! This was a very new experience for me. Thankfully, unlike most, we did not have to sit in crazy traffic. It took us about 15 minutes to get in and we began setting up camp. Thursday night was kind of relaxed. Anna and I went to see Needtobreathe and rode the ferris wheel. Friday morning I was awakened around 8 by the ridiculous heat coming into my tent. We sat around for most of the morning and as we began to walk to Center Roo I began dry heaving/throwing up (still not exactly sure what happened), but after a couple of minutes I was fine. Josh and I decided to stay at the main stage most of the day so we could have a good place to stand for Nas and Damien Marley, Tenacious D, and Kings of Leon. This was a very good idea, although we were very hot!!! I enjoyed each of these groups, but after 10 hours of being in the same spot and being way too close to people I don't know, I was ready to head back to camp. We had not eaten since lunch that day and so I pretty much at as much as I could as fast as I could. Note to self: don't ever eat summer sausage when you are stuck outside in the heat and the only bathroom you have access to is a porta potty. IT IS NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE!! By the time we went to bed around 4 that morning I was feeling better. I woke up about 5:30 to go use the wonderful porta potty again, but the plus side of this early morning trek to the bathroom was that I found $5 (seriously).

Saturday was the day I had been looking forward to!! I saw Norah Jones to start out. The second group Josh and I watched was The Avett Brothers!! This was the group I was there for. They were so good and I can't wait to see them again!! Thankfully during this concert it rained a little and cooled things off a bit. After this show we caught a little of Weezer and then went to get seats for Stevie Wonder! He was definitely the most fun show of the weekend! After Stevie was Jay Z and I enjoyed him as well.

By Sunday I was ready to go home! It was fun, but the awful smell, the $7 showers, and the waking up to the blazing sun every morning was making me a little more irritable than I like to be. That day we watched Regina Spketor, John Fogerty, and Zach Brown band. We left around 8:45 that night and made it home around 3 a.m. It is a wonder we made it home. Joel and I did everything possible to stay awake. I don't think I have ever been so tired in my life. I got up that morning around 7:45 to go to class and am still trying to make up the sleep I lost.

Although some of the experiences I had were not fun, I really enjoyed Bonnaroo and am excited about going again!

My next adventure for the summer is camp!! I leave in 10 days!! I am so ready to go!! I can hardly stay concentrated on my school work. But until I leave I get to spend some more time with my nephews and I am very thankful for that!! :)

Nothing's Sweeter Than Summertime

WOW, I can not believe how much time has passed since I bloggd last!! This year has flown by and summer is here, once again. I stopped blogging last year because I needed to spend more time journaling in an actual journal. I did that and I love it, but I thought I would begin blogging, once more, in order to share with others about my summer(especially since I don't have facebook anymore).

I am not so excited about the beginning of my summer. I started a summer class last week. It lasts until July 1st. As soon as class is over that day I will be leaving for Icthus again!! I can't wait!! As much as I am anticipating this, I am trying to remember to be present where I am because God has me right where he wants me for right now.

A couple of exciting things are going on in a couple of weeks. I am spending the weekend at the beach with Ashley and her siblings and some of their friends. The next weekend I will be at Bonaroo music festival with my brothers (where I get to see The Avett Brothers :)).

Mostly, I am looking forward to the freedom that summer brings. It has been a rough year and I pray that the summer will bring me a new sense of the joy that I have because of the salvation given to me through Jesus Christ! He is showing me that he is all that I need. :)

In the Morning

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

I have been learning lately about how important it is to seek God in the morning. I am often very bad at this because of my desire to sleep as long as possible in the morning. The verse above and several other verses have reminded me that starting off my morning by seeking the Lord's presence is the best way to begin the day. The more that I do this, the more God reveals himself to me. All of this is not to say that God does not show himself to us other times of the day, but that there is just something special about the morning. There is something about the sunrise that reminds me of forgiveness. No matter what I did the day before, the morning always brings a chance to start over and a chance to make things right. 

The Goodbye Waves In The Driveway They Just Resonate

The one thing I hate about being at camp all summer is saying goodbye. It is hard to finally start getting to know people just to watch them leave. I know I will have to do this many more times this summer and I do not look forward to it, but I am so thankful for many new friends.

Week Three

As most of you probably already know from my facebook status, I solo guided my first white water rafting trip on Friday. I also fell out of the boat on the first rapid. We hit a rock and from there I don't really know what happened. I just know that I was in the water, which by the way is a lot colder when you entire body is submerged in it. I felt like I couldn't breathe the water was so cold. I floated down the river for a little while, the people in my boat pulled over to the side, I swam to them, and got back in the boat. I was pretty tense for the rest of the trip. Every time we hit a big rapid or a rock everyone in my boat would turn around and look to make sure I was still there. It was quite funny. It was a good trip and I learned a lot of things. I am excited/nervous about the trip we will be taking this coming week. 

It is interesting to see how each group is different. We had one group at the beginning of the week and another one came Wednesday. They were all middle schoolers, but completely different kids. I guess it has a lot to do with what they have been exposed to or the way they were raised. I am not totally sure. The second group seemed a lot harder to reach. At times I was really discouraged, but by the end of the week some of them really started to open themselves up to God. It was really cool to watch and cool to be a part of. We are getting another group today. I think it is going to be a mixture of middle schoolers and high schoolers. I am excited about this because, although, I have had some good experiences with the last three middle school groups, I fell drawn to high school students. I'm excited to see how lives are changed this week. Please continue praying for us. 

Cramps,Rafting, and Cookies

In my family people tend to get muscle cramps quit often. By muscle cramps I don't mean something that causes a little pain for a moment and then goes away. The kind of muscle cramps we get cause pain that can last for hours. When the cramps first hit we tend to scream so loud that the people around us stop everything they are doing to see what is happening. Since I have been at camp I have experience several of these. For some reason they have all taken place on the river. The first few times I was on a river I experienced mild foot cramps. They weren't bad, but not good to have when trying to guide through a white water rapid. Then yesterday I went tubing with the group that is here. We went down the river four times and in the process I got two leg cramps and two foot cramps. These were not so mild! I screamed bloody murder and the people that were with me just laughed. I am sure if I was them I would have too. While I was stuck on a rock, trying to push myself off, I experienced one of the worst leg cramps I have ever had. I stuck my leg straight up in the air and just screamed. I tried for several minutes to work it out, but when you can't stand up because if you do the water will rush you downstream, it is kind of hard. I did end up getting the cramp out and getting myself off of the rock, but the tightness the cramp caused stayed in my leg for several hours. Needless to say I ate a banana and yogurt with lots of potassium for breakfast this morning.

Today I offically guided my first white water rafting boat...with a little help from Bill, of course. No one died and no one fell out. I take that back. The leader of the group actually did fall out, but it was all him. It had nothing to do with me. All in all I think it was a successful trip. I am nervous about guiding on my own and I have a lot to learn for sure, but I am really excited about it!

Another cool thing that happened today was that I recieved a package in the mail from some great friends. Billy, Megan, and Gabe sent me cookies and a picture Gabe drew. It was so sweet and brightened my day a whole lot. I am so thankful for the great friends that I have been given.

New Friends

I love making new friends! I guess that is good because it seems as though I am going to get to do that a lot this summer.
The first day I was in Bryson City I went to church with Bill and Edith. Some girls about my age introduced themselves to me and got my number. They said we should hang out. I assumed that meant we are going to talk about hanging out, but it probably wouldn't happen. I was wrong. This past Monday I went to eat dinner with Bill and Edith at their pastor's house. Those same girls were there. We got to hang out and learned more about one another. I ended up hanging out with them again last night. I went to Sylva, which is about forty five minutes away, and ate dinner with them. After dinner I went to their house and watched a movie with them and ended up spending the night. We had such a good time! They were such and encouragement to me. I feel like I really clicked with them. It seems like I have known them for a lot longer than I have. I was talking to Bill about these girls and he said that sometimes we feel that way because the Jesus in us knows the Jesus in them. I think he is right.