HLC Cubed... Best Summer EVER.

In the one day of rain and all the rest of summer heat,
Through all the humidity and beautiful blue skies,

With exhausted muscles and emotions of defeat,
The last thing on our mind was the time of goodbye.

We conquered the training in water and land
Quickly learning we had no more personal space
We grew together hand in hand
We came to know each other face to face.

All day working in the sun
Doing jobs of wondering why why why
Learning new things of fun
Like mowing and weedeating even if you’re not a guy.

There’s lifeguarding and the highs
Lets not forget about the ranges too
Everyone went there with a big sigh
Sitting in the shade with nothing to do

Except when those preteen camps came
And there were kids running around everywhere
We all thought the same
They should be on leashes, its only fair.

But in the end we all knew the real joy of it
To see all the kids each week come and go
To know Christ is working in all the midst
And see them as they go reap and sow.

To work behind the scenes is okay with me,
Sending people off ziplines, telling them not to run
Encouraging them to jump and serving them tea,
It was sad to leave when the summer was done.

Friendship made are everlasting and always
God really showed up in this place
His presence was there in every day
Along with his great mercy and grace.

Memories were made with each other
Forever cherished and never forgotten
Praises to the King as sisters and brothers
The beauty of it all, I miss it already, Amen.

· Busted Ear Drum….trip to emergency room
· Double pink eye…..trip to pharmacy
· Bells Palsy…..trip to docter
· Every movie I owned gone….lame
· Cleaned more toilets than I ever thought I would…not too bad

Working at Highland Lakes Camp…Priceless.

This Summer I was blessed with the opportunity to work at Highland Lakes. The first day I arrived I was so nervous and scared I almost turned around to go home before I even got out of my car. I have to say I’m glad I didn’t. The first half of the summer was rough. I quickly learned that working at Highland Lakes for Rec Staff is a lot more than you expect. An average day starts at about 7am give or take. We have devotion; we go straight into serving breakfast after that. Once we get done serving breakfast we get to eat, most of the time on a time limit. Morning projects come after that. Then back to the dining hall to serve lunch. We quickly eat after that and then go straight to our assigned rec areas. We stay there til about 5pm. Then go straight back to the dining hall to serve dinner. After eating, depending on what day it is your worship team will stay and clean the dining hall. That rotates every other day. And one night a week after dining hall we have concessions. After the camps leave at the end of the week we do turnovers to the dorms. I learned so much this summer. Physically, I learned how to clean a toilet, clean a shower, weed eat, drive a boat, CPR, and countless other things as well. But spiritually, I really learned what it is like to have to depend on God. To actually bow down to His majestic divineness and lay everything down to Him. I had to rely and depend on God more than I ever have. After busting my eardrum I was kind of like whatever, it didn’t bother me all that much at first other than I couldn’t get water in my ear which meant no more swimming for awhile. A little bummed, but I was okay with it cause I knew it would heal in a few weeks. Well a few days later, I ended up with double pink eye. I have never had pink eye before so that was a new one as well. A few days after that I developed this thing called Bells Palsy. This is something that I had never heard of, never even knew existed. That was probably the hardest thing I had to overcome and just give completely to God this summer to trust He would take care of me. Bells Palsy is when the nerve on one side of your face gets bruised or damaged and your face muscles on that side of your face basically go limp. So when I smiled, only one side of my face would move to smile, meaning when you looked at me from the right side I looked like a pirate cause all my muscles would move to that side so when I laughed my smile would go almost to my eye. But if you looked at me from the left side it just looked like a had a blank stare. At first I just messed around with it saying I had a serious side, and covered my face when I laughed. But as time went on, and different tests I quickly learned that it could take up to 6 months for this to officially heal. My lowest point during the summer was probably the week after a busted my eardrum when all this was happening to me. I became real close to God. I prayed constantly for healing. Not only healing but contentment. What helped the most getting through all of this was the people at the camp. Every single one of the staff members are the best people I know. It was them who helped me make it through. Their prayers and their encouragement were truly from the heart. The best part of working at this camp is the relationships you build with the rest of the staff members. Working with someone for 3 months straight (with a couple days off here and there) almost 24/7 days (okay really just like 16hours) you really get to know the people. I couldn’t ask for it any other way. I know when people say you make friends and it will last forever but these guys and girls became more than just friends. We saw each other at our best and at our worst, when we looked nice(only every once in a blue moon) and when we were dripping in sweat. Highland Lakes Camp was definitely the best summer decision I have ever made.