Camp Taconic Tween Camp

Wow, what a week it has been! It has been several years since I have been on that sacred ground and I can't even begin to explain it in words, but some how every time I set foot on Camp Taconic something inside of me becomes restored and made whole again. There's just something so wonderful about that place. I just feel so blessed to have been able to hang out with such amazing tweens, counselors, CITs, pastors, staff, volunteers, and of course the ENC summer ministry guys. I truly want to thank the ENC team, because not only are they pretty cool dudes, but also because music is one the best ways I know how to communicate with God and I really appreciated their talents. Their worship was truly spirit filled. So, a huge thank you to them. Another huge THANK YOU to my Amazingly Awesome Praying Penguins!!! Woot Woot! My campers made my time at camp so easy. They were the best group ever and I feel so priviledged, amazed, happy, humbled, blessed, proud, and hopeful, because of them. I hope that I did the same for them or at least they were able to witness God's love for them at some point during the week. I also want to thank my co-counselor Persis for being so much fun, organized, patient, understanding, and waking me up pretty much everyday. You have such a fun spirit and I'm glad to have met you! Thank you to our Chapel leader Janet who made our chapels both fun and meaningful. The Indiana Jones hat was a nice touch by the way! haha Overall, the week was amazing. I have made some many more incredible memories of that place and I can't wait to do it all again with the Senior High kids. This should be interesting!! So, keep me and those campers in your prayers!

Oh, one really special moment that I would like to share is when I walked in to training and saw one of my campers from like 5 years ago volunteering as a kid's camp counselor! It was such a cool thing to see and I'm really happy to know that she's be influenced in such a positive way by the camp that she now wants to give back herself. It makes me feel so blessed and that I can be used in powerful and mighty ways. All I have to do is just head His voice and allow myself to be used. Well, I literally have to go drive back now before I'm late for training, but I wanted to make sure I blogged a little something before I left. Love, Peace, and blessings!

MONEY!!!

As always a HUGE Thank You to all my financial supporters. You guys are so amazing, but I am starting to see a decline in the amount of donations :( I'm only at $900 which is a little less than half way to my goal. Please please please give if you can! If you know of ways to raise money please let me know. I'm willing to try any method at least once.


Fundraising Ideas

Just Who Will You Be?

Maria Shriver once wrote a speech for her godson's graduation. It was so well received by the students and their parents that she ended up making the speech into a book, which my mother gave to me when I graduated from HS in 2004. I remembered it being a really awesome thought provoking speech, but I forgot until today just how important and pertinent it really was and still is. Recently, I just re bought the book to give as a graduation present to my friend. But before I give it to him of course I had to reread it myself! So, tonight I reread the book that impacted me 6 years prior and still even more so strikes a chord with me today. I'd like to share with you some of my favorite parts:

"What do you want to be famous for? When you try to answer that question, please set your sights high-because you can be famous for doing something great in this world, something that matters, something that makes life better.

You can use your fame to inspire people and give them HOPE. I think now more than ever we need famous people with integrity, character, and vision-people who want to lead, who want to change the world and make it more peaceful, HOPEFUL, and compassionate place, a place where more people feel accepted and valued for who they are."


"Allow me to challenge you to think about ... what you believe. Look at what you believe, in order to find out who you will become. In truth, that's the most important question we can all ask ourselves throughout our lives: "What do I believe-and what do I want to be? Answering that question is crucial, because what you believe is the foundation upon which you build yourself as you continue to grow."

"What is my truth?..."

"We're supposed to grow and evolve. We have to give ourselves the permission and freedom to stay open to change...I'm talking about letting life's experiences affect you and mature you. I'm talking about going down deep and finding out where you're at and where you need to go next."


Those are just a few of my favorite quotes from the book. I think the reason why I really love her book is because it just encompasses my life philosophy of really knowing who you are, what you're about, what you really believe in, what makes you tick, your feelings, your strengths, your weaknesses, etc. That's what I want my next tattoo to be "Know Thyself" and "Be Thyself" It's so important to understand Who you are, because it spreads all over into every other aspect of your life. And if you don't like one of your habits, your attitude, your flaws, etc. it's not the end all and be all. You have time to change yourself! That's probably one of the best things I've learned this past year: That I have a choice about who I am, how I act, and what I believe. Life doesn't control me. I control my life. I know most of these words are not mine in this post, but they've changed my life in a pretty profound way. I hope I can do the same for somebody else. Do yourself a favor and pick up "Just Who Will You Be" By Maria Shriver.

Peace and love!