Photos from my IPhone...

Posing at Garner State Park!

Such a beautiful view at Lost Maples...

Studying through Leviticus.

Dinner at YOUTH group!!! Chili and cornbread night

 

Pointing out my group's campsite at Lost Maples!

sweet.....some PHOTOS :)

TRIPPY picture.... the tree is actually parallel with the ground!

Part of our AMAZING Race at Garner State Park

Pumpkin Patch loving...

Photo shoot at the beach <3

CELEBRATE good times come on! (celebration)

So on the final night at Garner State we made a campfire and everyone sat around trying to stay warm! It was during this time that our leaders shared with us that this was a time to be lifted up by our brothers and sisters.

Well for those of you who know me… this is an uncomfortable spot for me to sit in. I am very much a realist and it is hard for me to not only take compliments, but also be able to think positively when in reality I know how I am treated by those who are to be “uplifting” me. SIDE NOTE: for those of you who maybe haven’t been reading my blog… it has been a challenge to make friends with 18 year olds who show no desire in being friends with a 24 year old. BUT the Lord is good and he used a sweet young man to uplift and encourage me a lot that night.

After reassuring me that yes I am older and yes I have had many life experiences that most of them never have, he lifted me up through his kind words. He spoke of the choice he made to look past my hard, serious, and older outside and chose to get to know me. He shared that once he got to know me he understood me much better and saw the genuine heart that I have. That I do care for each and every one of them, but that it is more difficult for me to connect with them.

He spoke of the things I do in an effort to reach out to the family and the patience he has seen grow inside of me. He just truly spoke some truth and lifted me up. It was a HUGE blessing that I needed to hear and I am thankful he shared! I was glad to know that through both of our efforts to care about the family, we made a friendship!

Sounds cheesy I know.. but it rocked my world and made my night.

Celebrate you my dear friends. Celebrate your loved ones. Tell them how great they are.

-confession-----

So our time spent in conversation over dinner that lone night at Lost Maples was spent confessing to one another the deeds of the flesh we were each struggling with. We each started out discussing our personal deeds we were struggling with and then we had a time spent talking about the topic, ways we personally got through the same situation and praying over one another.

For the sake of my dear friends, I will not share their issues or air out their personal linen, but I will be transparent and I will willingly share my own.

WARNING>>>> may be more information than you want to read or may be too honest.

So the deed of the flesh that I most often struggle with is impurity. From living a life of almost being married to having numerous long term relationships (2 years or more)… My struggle currently is not physically, but in my thoughts. I often have impure thoughts and think of relationships in an unhealthy way. Though I am thankful that I am not acting out on these thoughts, I know that the Lord desires for me to confess and hold myself accountable to these impure thoughts. My friends were very willing to help me, talk to me, and most importantly pray for me. Thank you father for such sweet friends.

Another deed of the flesh that I struggle with is strife… (angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict). Though I realize this is normal.. my usual approach to this type of problem is to fix it and move on immediately. I am not generally a fan of dwelling in junk and wasting time. But if you read my “run down” blog… you can see that I have had some strife with not only my leadership, but also my WA family. The issue lies in the unwillingness to solve the issues and to move past it. I confessed this with my group and shared with those who I am most often holding bitterness toward. Thankfully, my friends shared with me that I wasn’t alone and that my willingness to confess it to them shows my willingness to take the next step… thus again the initial idea to have a conversation with my leadership. Again… my sweet group lifted me up in prayer! Man they were a blessing…

The most special moment that I felt in this time was when my WA family members prayed over me by name. To feel loved enough to know that each of the 4 members that was with me, that they were willing to not just say they would pray for me, but to actually take the time to right then and there voice their prayer for me. The power of prayer is evident.

Confession. It’s hard. It takes dropping your pride and knowing you can’t change anything alone. It is asking for accountability. It is seeking to grow. It is allowing HIM to help you vocalize your issues. To air your personal junk out. To be transparent. To grow closer to being Christ-like.

Sweet friends… what do you need to confess to the Lord today? He already knows.. just tell him. Give it to Him. Is there someone you can confess that to…? Someone you can tell to hold you accountable? Confess it. It’s a weight that can be taken from your shoulders.

I love you all.

***FeLlOwShIp***

An important part of Walkabout is the time we spend investing in our guests at Camp Eagle… and the time we spend with one another. The guests, the adults, the full time staff – wonderful friendships and conversations…. But my WA family… this has been a challenging topic for me since August.

For those of you who know me very well, you know that I am straight forward, blunt, and honest. I am not one to sugar coat, lie, or ease my way out of rough situations… so when it comes to making friends with 18 year olds. That is a TRUE challenge. Though I love each of my walkabout brothers and sisters… connecting with them is hard. Either I am too serious, too stern, too honest, or something. I am not the type of person an 18 desires to get to know, much less hangout with.

On a lighter note you will see that this trip to Lost Maples and Garner State Park for me was the most encouraging time I have had with any of my WA family. Like I said in my “run down” post about the overall trip… we were split into teams of 5 and we were to spend time with one another… hiking, free time, cooking, confessing, and relaxing. My group, my roommate and 3 young men, was absolutely wonderful!

As we got on trail the first day we quickly moved into great conversation and encouraging words. We hiked pretty quickly to our campsite, got our two tents set up, and cooked lunch all before our designated time to do so. I guess you can say we were excited and ready to spend time in fellowship with one another!

We had a “solo” time alone and read through the fruits of the spirits and the deeds of the flesh. The fruits of the spirit were to serve as an encouragement to see the areas we have grown in and a reinforcement of the areas we need to personally work on. My fruits that I can tell I have grown in are patience and love. Obviously, the other fruits are evident in some aspect of my life… but these two I can visibly see personal growth since August. The fruits that I need to work more on are peace and gentleness. These two are harder because of my style of leadership and my personality. Things are hard for me to hold in and not be blunt about… but I know some people can’t handle stern words or blunt truth. So I desire to find a way not to lie or sugarcoat to them… but to be gentle in my words. We read through the deeds of the flesh in order to think through those we struggle with and those we need to confess to the Lord and our camping group (read confession blog).

After we all finished our solo time, we decided to meet back up and spend the remainder of the day fellowshipping with one another through exploring the park! We went in and out on trails, along the riverbeds, up and down cliffs, and took many many pictures! Our group time was spent in a relaxed loving way of sharing time with one another. There were many times I gave God praise for those He placed in my group. He knew exactly who I needed to love on me! Let me tell you these were 4 people I have never really hung out with… this was done on purpose!

We also chose not only to fellowship alone, but to spend time fellowshipping with the other groups. So on our exploring adventure time… we made our way to our leaders’ site first (3 miles or more away). They were not there, but we eventually found them on the trail! After we passed our leaders we made our way to the next group we wanted to visit (another 2 miles away)… this trip was up hill and rough!!! But it was a lot of fun joking with one another and laughing through the calf cramps together J Once we got to this first group, we were greeted with love, laughter, and hugs! We were super happy that we were welcomed into the group. We joked around with this group for about 15-20 minutes before we decided we better head on to the next group’s site because it was getting dark. So we headed to our final group that we wanted to visit and fellowship with (1 mile away). When we got there we were not greeted as loving so we decided to leave after just a good minute or so. On our 1 mile trek home, we continued in our fellowship and laughter now in the dark going downhill! Though the last leg of our fellowship was not as uplifting as we desired, we were all very encouraged and ready for dinner.

During our dinner, which we ate 2 hours late because of our other plans, we discussed and had our confession time over the deeds of the flesh (read that blog). After dinner time, we laughed and told stories together until we were too tired to even stay awake listening to one another!

The following morning we chose to take a long trek (5 miles or more) together for one last round of exploring and fellowship with one another. I will say my group made me super excited to share life together. Each member contributed in an uplifting way and was so much fun. Our group totaled over 13 miles in the 24 hours that we spent at Lost Maples. And as I have said before…. That has been the best 24 hours of my Walkabout experience in terms of being a WA family!

Garner State Park was more focused on the group like most trips are, but the amazing race that I mentioned was for our groups again. This time of fellowship was FUN once again. We raced around together finding caves, painted rock, row boats, rope swings, putt putt, getting in freezing water, finding the dance hall and the list goes on. I was excited to spend time with these 4 people one last time before we returned to Camp Eagle!!!

Fellowship. It is important. It makes friendships grow. It is a time to spend with another person sharing life. It has changed my perspective of these 4 WA members. It has made me feel loved and wanted.

LOST MAPLES and GARNER STATE PARK

During the middle of November, the WA family loaded up for a surprise trip to Lost Maples and Garner State Park! Both parks were extremely fun and served as a time of blessing and growth amongst each of our hearts.

This specific trip we would be focusing on three different spiritual disciplines, similar to how we focused on three different disciplines while at Padre. The three spiritual disciplines this time were Fellowship, Confession and Celebration. I plan to write an individual blog for each spiritual discipline experience so look for those in the next few blogs! But for a simple run down…

LOST MAPLES

 

As we arrived at Lost Maples on our first day, we were sent off to our separate campsites, unlike our usual plan of business. Generally, the whole WA family camps at the same site and stays together, but this trip would be different! Each of our campsites were about a mile apart from one another, some were even further! This gave us the opportunity to get to know our group. Since we were separated you may have already gathered this, but we were placed into 5 different groups to camp the night with. Both groups were filled with a few girls and a few boys!

My experience is based on my own personal group so I can’t speak for everyone or any other group, but we had a great group with two girls and three guys. As we hiked to our campsite, we chit chatted and explored along the way. I plan on telling a lot more about our time spent together during my FELLOWSHIP section of my blog! So look for that blog for more info….

We spent a lot of time getting to know one another through our fellowship and CONFESSION (look for that blog too) time at Lost Maples which made for such a great experience. If you remember from my past blog… I have been struggling with acceptance and love in my WA family. That beach trip was extremely hard…And for once… being placed in this small group of 5 – I felt loved, supported and accepted. These four friends took the time to listen to me, pray over me, and laugh with me. I was SO BLESSED…

We only stayed at Lost Maples the one night, but so far that trip has been my absolute favorite!

GARNER STATE PARK

Another experienced that we shared together followed the first day on trail in Lost Maples… the next two days and nights would be spent at Garner State Park and was a lot different than Lost Maples. We continued our fellowship as a discipline and focused also on CELEBRATION at this site. Look for my celebration blog to know more about that spiritual discipline through my eyes!

When we arrived at this state park, we immediately set up camp, all together this time! We had tents set up everywhere and 5 or 6 of us slept in hammocks! It was more of a relaxing trip with not too much on the agenda. Time to spend alone and focus on fellowship and to think through things going on during our Walkabout experience.

We spent a good about of time in a “solo” during this trip… focusing on our disciplines we were given in the beginning of the WA semester. Mine were to focusing on reading my bible more than reading books and to not complain to the leadership. As I thought through the disciplines and how they were evident in my current experience… I prayed over each one and allowed the Lord to speak to me. I was shown that my current disciplines needed to be added to and taken away from. Personally, I feel that I have done a good job at reading the bible or focusing on a bible study ALWAYS before reading any of my nerdy books that I love to read. So with this in mind, the Lord allowed me to move from focusing on this discipline (removing it from my fake list in my head) and adding focusing on pure thoughts. This addition to my discipline makes more sense if you read the confession session of this trip (different blog post)!

The other discipline about not complaining to my leadership was a lot heavier on my heart and had actually been something I was battling internally and finally was willing to sit down and talk to the Lord more about it. I spent a lot of time in prayer during this “solo”… so it was a lot harder to think through. But ultimately it came down to the Lord speaking to me that I can’t continue to hold this anger, bitterness, and just pure frustration in any longer. I personally removed this discipline from my list and in addition added prayer. Prayer for my leadership and prayer to learn how to submit even when my expectations are not being met and I disagree with the way things are done.

 For those of you reading… please don’t misunderstand the intention of sharing my heart and my struggles. It is hard to be the same age as your leader. It is very hard when I am a natural leader and have to serve under a different leadership style. My leadership always means well and does a great job with the younger students in the program!

Anyway after this solo and the additions and the subtraction of my personal disciplines… a much needed conversation needed to happen with my leadership and my accountability partner.

So…

We had a great time of celebration (blog) our last night at Garner State Park and had an eventful last day the following morning. This section could go along with fellowship, but I’ll give you a rundown of the events! We basically participated in our own AMAZING RACE throughout the park. It was a time spent running around the trails, trying to find different markings and spots we were to take pictures at! My group, the same 5 people from the Lost Maples group, had an awesome time!!! Hopefully I can post some pictures for yall to see J

Well sweet friends… that’s the summary, but you should definitely read the individual blogs about Fellowship, Confession and Celebration!