The past two days have just been wonderful. I finally feel some bonding with everyone and am legitimately enjoying myself. I think this summer is shaping up to be one of the best things I'll ever do, with some of the greatest people. Today for our Office Manager Training we literally spent almost an hour just watching wedding & proposal videos...I may or may not have gotten emotional...some of them were too cute (like THIS!). Then, we got to drive down from Estes Park to pick up 18 mini-vans for the Week of Hope people and for us to use this weekend while we're off. We drove them back up to Estes and came back down the mountain to Erwin Middle School to do a practice school walk through/set-up. It was pretty easy and now we're all settled into our rooms at the school as though it were a real work camp week. My double decker air mattress is actually pretty nice. I'm diggin' it. Tonight we went out with a group to dinner at this great burger place and got gelato afterwords. Turns out we met the owner and got filmed for some sort of advertising he's going to do AND got vouchers for free gelato if we come back tomorrow. Pretty cool I'd say.

But, on our way back, one of our mini-van drivers got pulled over by a cop. Our car almost had a heart attack as a whole. But, since we're good little Christians there of course no colorful language as we watched the lights come on in front of us.....right.....Turns out it was just that the headlights weren't on and we were set free. Certainly nerve racking, but as we prayed for our friends in the other car they pulled away with no consequence. Thanks, Jesus, for that one! And, finally, we made it back to the school. I had a few minutes to chat with Max--always a highlight of any day, anytime of year, anywhere. Even though it's after midnight on the east coast, he's been staying up late just to get some time in with me. Super lucky for the bit of time we have had to stay in touch and just blessed to have him in general. Guys, he rocks & is missed a lot by this girl.

Cool thing that happened during devotions this morning: our crew had the opportunity to sit in silence and wait for God to reveal things to us about our crew mates. For Laura, we heard peace. From Kelly, we heard Hebrews 11:1 ("Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen." -The Voice). From Sara, she imagined a lot of complicated scenarios from last summer, but with our crew and she could see them going more smoothly. And for me. Laura heard from God that I have strong faith. That I'm going to be the faithful one always pushes our crew closer to Jesus regardless of what's going on. No pressure, right? I've also been told this week that I have a calm, confidence and focus about me that makes it clear that I'm going to do a good job this summer. Hearing all of these things, and knowing that much of it has been revealed to people by Jesus is really cool and makes me feel great about myself and excited for what's to come. But, sometimes I still really struggle to receive compliments...even though my love language is Words of Affirmation. I'm hopeful that this summer God will teach me the importance of embracing grace and love from other people, trying to allow Jesus to work through them. God is good, all the time and I know he will be great this summer. Stay tuned! Lotz of luvz.

Something Beautiful...and Super Sweet

Andddd this my friends, is where we're staying until Friday of this week. Isn't it beautiful?? I still haven't decided if I like The Rockies, Blue Ridge, or Guatemalan Highlands best...all I know is that God has created a beautiful world for His children. The weather has been pretty moderate so far, actually more on the chilly side. As you can see, there's quite a bit of snow on the mountain tops.

 

This evening during a New Staff meeting we saw some pretty cool creatures...aka ELK! This is the closest thing I've ever seen to a moose, which I'm kind of in love with. Two years ago on a Group Workcamps trip to Cornwall, Canada I was desperate to see a moose, but had no such luck. But, for Christmas that year Max got me a mini-pillow pet moose, now named Alfred, which was simply wonderful. I think seeing the elk today roaming around like deer would back home was even more wonderful. Aren't they cool!?!?

So far, today has left me feeling much better and shifting closer to excitement and further from nerves. Tomorrow I should be starting to learn more about my position specifically, which will certainly help me calm down once I know what my job specifics actually are. My crew had some great bonding time tonight. I'm absolutely looking forward to traveling with them and all of the cool stuff we'll likely get to do along the way...hopefully my paychecks won't get used up too quickly. Tonight we had some awesome worship as a staff. Since I wasn't able to go to Intervarsity very much during the spring semester, it felt amazing to worship with a portion of the body of Christ as we prepare for our adventures this summer. AND. As if this wasn't enough, I got a text from my WyldLife team at UVA that we officially have FOUR girls attending YoungLife camp this summer! We have been hard at prayer for this, and it will be the first time in a long time that our team takes more than one girl. On top of that, all of them are rising 7th/8th graders so we have a full year or two to spend with them. Jesus is so amazing and it couldn't feel better to feel His hands at work in multiple ministries tonight. All the glory is his and I can't even wait for all He has in store for this summer in each place my heart will be.

I is for "introvert"

I know, I already posted today, but this I think is necessary too. I have officially arrived at Estes Park in Loveland, Colorado for 2 weeks of training! I must say, I anticipated being much more excited than I am, but as I wrote this morning a part of me is certainly still grieving the loved ones I've left behind for this summer. It dawned on me that I'll be missing my little sister's 13th birthday among other things I'm sure. It's hard. It's hard to be away from the people I already know and love so much. I am aware and looking forward to the new and close relationships that I will form with my crew, especially since I've been placed on a crew with ALL ladies. At first I felt a bit disappointed, but after hanging out with them for a little bit tonight I'm genuinely looking forward to bonding time with them.

But. I have a problem. And I've been having it all day.

I. am. an. introvert.

Being with so many fun/wild/crazy people is great, but my energy is double drained. We spent 4 hours in the Denver airport just hanging out and getting to know each other. We basically took over the main terminal. There are certainly tons of cool people here, but I feel incredibly shy and a little lost in this sea of people, and of course, intimidated by the tasks that will eventually be at hand. Couple that with the bit of spiritual grief I'm experiencing as well as extreme exhaustion from 3 hours of sleep last night and leaving home at 4:15AM (which is 2:15AM in Colorado...), I am a slightly grumpy and antisocial Noelle at this point.

For y'all that are reading praying, my prayer requests for now are: physical health (my stomach is mean to me periodically, today has been so-so AND the high altitude that we're at in the Rockies can cause problems), praises for arriving safely, and emotional/spiritual health too (I'd like to be moving past the sadness of leaving behind Max and my family and friends and start focusing/getting pumped for what Jesus has in store).

Here are my locations:

Parma, OH--June 23-29
Middletown, OH--July 7-13
Belle, WV--July 21-27

Planes on planes on planes

I’m starting this blog for my travels & experience as a first time Summer Staffer with Group Workcamp. Presently, I’m on a plane to Denver that should be arriving within the next hour of me writing this. My first flight was out of Shenandoah airport in Staunton, VA and my parents and boyfriend, Max, came with me to see me off. We got there with plenty of time to check in (shockingly since I got less than 3 hours of sleep), and since it was such a small airport they were able to stay and hang out with me until it was time to board at 6:30AM. The time was approaching, but instead of being called to board we were told that the flight was delayed and we needed to come to the counter to reschedule. A shiver of panic went through me as my connecting flight to Denver was at Dulles International in D.C. and it was leaving the ground at 8:19AM. I was already tight for time without a delay. I think a glimmer of hope caught Max’s eye, he said several times “this is a sign from God that you shouldn’t leave.” As it turned out, while we waited in line the plane became ready and it was going to land in D.C. at 8…in reality it landed at 8:15. I did not make it to terminal D from B in 4 minutes. However, I was lucky enough to catch the next flight to Denver, that I’m currently on, which departed at 9:10AM. This was actually the best case scenario because I had just enough time to get off Plane #1, grab a muffin from Starbucks, and board Plane #2.

So. Here I am. Getting closer to my first destination of the summer. I suppose I’ll be finding out soon where my others will be. This four-hour flight has provided a bit of time to catch up on sleep, though the turbulence has been a little rough, I feel more rested now than I did waiting at Shenandoah. But, I’ve also done a bit of thinking and processing as I was drifting in and out of sleep. This summer is a huge loss. I’m losing 10 weeks that I could’ve spent bonding with my little sisters or babysitting the coolest kids that I nannied for last summer or bonding with my parents or dates and hangouts with the best guy around, Max. I’m losing a lot of quality time with some of the people I love so much it can’t even be quantified. But, as I’ve been told before, I think I’m continuing to better understand a little bit about how Jesus works. If you want to follow Him, you HAVE to lose something, and it’s okay to grieve what is lost. He asks us to take up our cross so that in order to gain life, we must lose it, because He has come to give us life, and life to the full. Jesus gave up His own life for us. Talk about incredible loss. Though there is much lost, there is so much more gained. I anticipate this principle will most certainly apply this summer. Yes, I have income to gain, but also new friends, experience, travels, and I’m sure plenty of lessons from Jesus himself. But, I believe my gains are not why I’ve chosen to do this job. It’s the gain for God’s kingdom. I want to better find ways that I can accept my position as God’s partner in ushering in his kingdom. There is much to be done on this earth before we meet Jesus again, and I am excited to take part in even a small bit of service right here on American soil. That’s how I view this. I am called to be a servant, a disciple. I want to answer that call. I hope this summer will reflect what answering the call might look like. I want to come home on August 2 a stronger, more faithful woman of God, seeking after my savior all the more.