This week I am Thankful For:
{numbers go with One Thousand Gifts Journal / just ignore}
406 / Changing Bunk Beds.
I am SOOOO thankful that one of the sweet girls let me have the bottom bunk. I would have just slept on the floor otherwise. Someone should have videoed me just TRYING to get up on the top bunk of the bed. We'd go viral, for sure!
407 / Quiet morning time.
I did enjoy getting up a little bit earlier before the kids found their energy. This little retreat area was just down the path from our front door of our dorm. It was just so beautiful in the morning light.
408 / My girls.
It was just so wonderful spending time with all my girls. They are such special young ladies & I am so lucky & blessed to know them & to have the opportunity to try & help steer them onto straighter paths as they grow up
409 / Back up
I have been in situations where misunderstandings can happen & no one has your back. That hurts. Especially when its people you consider friends that dont stand up for you. So when I had someone stand up for me in a big way this past week, it just comforted my heart so much. There's nothing better than having someone stand up for you & putting their own word on your character because they believe in it.
411 / Final session.
The last session of camp was truly full of the Holy Spirit moving in my girls. So much emotion was happening & I know they left with a renewed sense of closeness to God.
412 / Future Nurse in our dorm
With all the sickness happening, I was so blessed for the young lady that is going to school to be a nurse. She was on top the game handling situations no one else wanted to deal with...... Puke.Yes, I'm talking about puke.haha... but also she was on top of our dehydration problem. She had to leave to go to school at night & she brought back bottles of water for all the girls in our dorm. She was just amazing having with us.
Here is is fixing another leader's foot that had something stuck in it :) |
I just loved getting to talk to the HSM girls that I got to room with. They are incredible! Simply incredible. How they lead the middle school girls & the wisdom they already know &share with these younger girls. I am impressed every time I get to know more about these girls.... & love they accepted the "old gal" in with them this week.
The games were Christmas theme & the girls added to the fun with Ugly Christmas Sweaters |
415 / Baptisms.
There really is nothing like watching all of these people get baptized. They did each one individually & each one made me equally smile AND tear up.
416 / GIRL POWER
So funny note - guys, you may not appreciate this one.... but during camp, it seemed like it was contagious to start your period. All the girls everywhere were starting. & then we actually had 3 girls in our dorm that started for the very first time. Remember when you started for the first time? It's a mark on your life.... but I loved that these girls were surrounded by friends that were like "Cool!"... & being the "dorm mom" I told them, "We're celebrating" haha... & told them we were going to have a "Moon Dance" - which confused them all. I told them that in days ole, women in families would take their daughters out under the moon & they would celebrate this new phase of life. I dont know if this is true or I dreamt it but I swore I heard it somewhere before... anyways, I said, We're going to do our own Moon Dance .... so before we went to bed on the last night, I got my wireless speaker, & my Spotify & we got all the girls & danced to Girls Just Want to Have Fun... haha... Tell me that these girls wont remember their first period when they're older? ... but it was funny because everyone ewas like, "Next year, we're having a dance party EVERY NIGHT'... I agree. Totally will.
417 / Ricky had me a surprise.
Ricky met me at Panera on my way home & then had to run to Home Depot & I just wanted to get home. I opened the door & he had me a surprise sitting on the counter. Isnt he the cutest. (I had surprised him during the week too by having a card sent to him through the mail that let him know I missed him.... we love each other) ;)
418 / Starbucks after 4 days
I get what people say now about good coffee. After drinking the coffee at camp, I just wanted to get Starbucks. It was almost like a detox at camp but as soon as I was behind the wheel of my car, you know the first place I stopped. It tasted like heaven.
419 / My own shower
Let me tell you.... camp showers just dont cut it. They were so small, I couldnt even bend over to shave my legs. I had to bend them up & then keep my balance. Fun times. I think I just stood in my own shower at home an extra 10 minutes just because.
422 / Father's Day
Blessed to have an incredible dad in my life.
425 / Lunch outside
We had a small break in the heat & I love eating lunch outside during work. Let me inhale fresh air instead of stale, stuffy, office air.
What are you thankful for this week?
What a great week you had! :) And I love the Moon Dance idea! Those girls will definitely remember this moment that they might have been dreading otherwise.
ReplyDeleteGood coffee after a detox is definitely one of life's little pleasures.
ReplyDeleteI love that morning picture of the cross and the lake. I think you should get it framed!
ReplyDeleteRebecca! I LOVE that you celebrated the girls' first periods! What an incredible statement about womanhood and the confidence to be a girl- completely and totally without embarrassment or shame!! You were DEFINITELY at that camp for a reason. God knew what He was doing ;)
Coming back to your own shower after camping is always a blessing! And I just love that you SO graciously and so kindly and so sweetly put your ALL into encouraging these girls in the Lord. I'm sure they'll think of you like a second mama, who loved on them so much during those days at camp. I keep thinking that God works everything for good to those that love Him, seeing the future nurse in your dorm, the girl who switched bunks with you, and so much more.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an incredible list this week! I miss those weeks of camp or retreat with the teens. They were always so....amazing. Sometimes I thought I got more from them than the kids did.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad someone had your back. Been there done the thing where you're thrown under the bus or abandoned by a so-called friend. In church.
How exciting to see all those baptisms!
I totally get the shower thing. Even worse than camp/dorm showers....mission trips with NO showers. Or the mission trip with no shower AND I forgot my razor. Ugh. Can you say ape woman?
Have a blessed day, girl!
So many things to be thankful for this week, including having an incredible earthly father. I am always so thankful for nurses and future nurses because that is so not me, lol. That pic of the lake and cross looks soooo peaceful. I love early mornings in paradise, especially if they're within walking distance.
ReplyDeleteThe morning retreat place at camp is so gorgeous and serene. I'd want to hang out there too. I love the Moon Dance! Those girls certainly won't forget it and the whole sync thing that happens between girls, whether friends, co-workers, campers, is just weird - right? Ricky knows your heart so well!
ReplyDeleteHahahahaha I love that you all danced to Girls Just Wanna Have fun to celebrate their new stage of life! That is a memory they will never forget.
ReplyDeleteYou two are too cute!! Glad you had fun at camp, but I am sure I'd be happy to be back to my own bed/shower/etc. too. And Starbucks... yes ma'am! Xo - Alexandra
ReplyDeleteSimply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
That's such a sweet gift from Ricky! And the cheap coffee I usually get at work is not very good at all so it always feels like a special treat when I get good coffee :)
ReplyDeleteYES to #409!
ReplyDeleteAfter vacay last week I was also thankful for my own shower and not having to worry about having my mouth open and ingesting water...haha.
So did the girls know what the games would be ahead of time so they knew to bring sweaters?
So sweet of Ricky to have a gift waiting for you!
A shower in my own shower and good coffee when it's been missing are two of my favorite things about coming home!
ReplyDeleteThat Panera lunch looks really good. Definitely a lot to be thankful for this last week.
ReplyDeleteI grew up going to sleepaway camp in the summers and it no doubt has a big part with who I am as an adult. What you're doing with and for those girls won't be something they ever forget.
ReplyDeleteMy own bed and shower are my favorite things about coming home. And dogs.
I know I'm late coming to the party, but I didn't want to totally miss out on Thankful Thursday. I've enjoyed hearing about and seeing your pictures of you camp experience.
ReplyDeleteWhat could be better than lunch and reading outside in the sun?
Oh man, thank goodness you had a nurse in your midst!! :) LOL at getting in the top bunk. That would totally be me too. We got a hammock in our backyard this year and while I love it, I look a nut getting into it. I always check and make sure there are no neighbors on their decks before I attempt that!!
ReplyDeleteLove all those baptisms! PRAISE GOD!!!!
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