CC4G: Update #3

Hello, friends and family!

Right now, I am sitting in the corner of a red sofa in one of the best coffee shops in the nation (The Dripolator aka "The Drip") located in the mountains of North Carolina sipping on an (expensive... but oh, so good) Iced Killer Bee latte while the song Waters by JJ Shiplett is pouring into my ears. Life. Is Good.

So how have I been, you may ask? Really good. Like, really good. Really. It's crazy, and I mean the absolutely-insane-I-can't-believe-it kinda crazy, that I'll be leaving this place in less than two weeks. It's also crazy to think that just a week ago I felt so ready to go back home to hard water pressure, homemade meals, and five hour long naps. But now that my time here is winding down and coming to a close, I'm beginning to realize how much I'm actually going to miss this place.

The little mouse that shows up every once in a while in our cabin.
The long, hard, exhausting climb up to my little home on the hill.
The paint wars (...even though the paint gets in my eyes, ears, and nose, and basically every other hole in my body).
The mud pit. Yes. THE MUD PIT.
The shaving cream parties.
The mountain sunsets & sunrises.
The lake that actually resembles more of a heart-shaped pond.
Making Pazooki (this delicious dessert consisting of half-baked cookie dough and vanilla ice cream. Yes.) in The Lodgemahal with my two closest friends here.
Hearing little giggles and whispers from my girls when all I'm trying to do is take a nap.
The cool, hip, and artsy town of Asheville, NC.
Driving down the highway with those awesome mountain views you can't get anywhere else.
This restaurant called Biscuit Head where I ate the equivalent of my body weight in biscuits and jams.
Standing on chairs in the dining hall and singing songs from the Sound of Music.
Random dance parties and dabbing when it doesn't make sense.
Comforting ten 11-year-old girls during thunder and hail storms.
Hearing 500+ voices sing along to a worship song that I wrote.
Singing my sweet angels to sleep every night.

Ahh. I'm tearing up. I must stop making myself feel this way.

We're halfway through the last session already. After this session, we only have one more week of starter camp, which is for the girls (or parents) that aren't ready for a full two weeks of camp. This session has been so great. My girls are so sweet, wild, and crazy! Luckily, no mice have shown up in the cabin (yet... *knocks on wood*). I had the chance to play a worship song I wrote called Echo at chapel twice. It was so amazing to see so many people praising God through lyrics that I wrote from my heart. And just to think that those words strike different emotions in every girl that sang my song... that means the world. That's what I want my music to mean... something different to everyone. When you take a song and apply it to your own personal circumstances, it becomes all the more beautiful. And seeing over 500 people do that very thing was something I'll never forget, and something I want to do the rest of my life.

It's hard to say this, but I think God has been confirming to me lately that this was my last summer working as a counselor at a summer camp. And that breaks my heart. But at the same time, I know that there comes a time in everyone's life when your season changes. And this may be that time for me.

Next summer I want to work on my music. I don't know what in the world that's going to look like, but the Lord has placed this idea and desire in my heart and I haven't let go of the thought of it. I may be dreaming big, but my God is even bigger, and I'm excited to see where He takes me as I trust in Him and follow the narrow road.

Recently, I wrote this song called Kaleidoscope Eyes. It's about how when I see the gray and the unknown in my future, I must look to God because through His eyes, my future is bright and colorful and unexpected with every twist and every turn - just like a kaleidoscope. I was talking to one of my friends the other day about how crazy it is to think of how different my life and my dreams were a year ago today. WOAH. Who knows where I'll be next year at this time?! This is what I'm learning to love about these years of my life. To be brave and to take these little steps forward into the unknown is exactly what God wants for me. To put all my trust and faith in Him, just knowing that these little gut-feelings of mine are worth something and worth the pursuit.

Recently in one of my quiet times, I was reading the parable of talents in Matthew 25. Basically, it's about this rich guy who goes on vacay and gives his servants "talents" to take care of while he's gone. He gives one guy five talents, another guy two talents, and the last guy one talent. The guys with five and two talents work hard to double the number of talents their master gave them so that when he returns, the guy with five gives him back ten and the guy with two gives him back four. However, the guy with one talent just buries it in the ground and walks away like "whatevs." When their master returns, he's super happy with the two dudes who doubled their talents but really disappointed with the lazy dude who just buried his one talent in the ground.

This story reminded me of the "talents" (not bags of gold, but actual skills/gifts) that God has given ME. My music. I don't think He wants me to bury my talent in the ground and dismiss every opportunity to pursue it - rather, He wants me to work hard every day and use my talent to build His kingdom. How cool is it going to be when I get to heaven and am able to stand in front of my Lord and tell him that I wasn't lazy and didn't just bury my talent in the ground. Even when it was hard, I want to tell Him that I chose to pursue it wholeheartedly ONLY for glorifying Him and not myself. I don't want to live this life of mine in indifference and laziness. Do you? Think about that. What are your talents? Have you buried them? Maybe it's time to dig them back up.

Ahh. Well, that's another blog post in the books, kids. I love you all and am so happy that you're keeping in touch with my life. Adios muchachos.

- Kenz

CC4G: Update #2

Hey friends!

I can't believe my summer here at Crestridge is halfway done. Only two more sessions of campers to go! These past two weeks I had a crazy bunch of campers... and by crazy, I mean C-R-A-Z-Y. It was so so SO much fun! My favorite part of the week was probably campfire night, which was last Tuesday. We made chili in a pot outside of our cabin, and randomly started a water fight with our water bottles. By the end of the night, we were all completely soaked! After our cabin's campfire, we walked (still soaked) to the large campfire circle where the whole camp meets on Tuesday nights. We sang campfire songs and heard a message from one of the girls on staff. Afterward, we all lingered around the campfire circle while music was playing and it was awesome to have that time to talk to some of my campers one on one. By the end of the night, it felt like we all had known each other for years. And it was only the second full day!

This past session I learned from my campers that I was the "dad" of the cabin and Jenny was the "mom." Apparently, I'm more chill and laid back like a dad is with their kids. My campers also told me that I wasn't as intimidating as Jenny (...hmmph). During rest hour, Jenny and I always try to sleep and we're very serious about our kids being quiet - no passing notes, no whispering, no nothing! If we ever hear a noise, we tell our girls to hush. They told me and Jenny near the end of the session that whenever Jenny would tell them to hush or whenever she moved around in her bed they would all immediately quiet down... but whenever I did the exact same things they wouldn't care. WHAT! I am deeply offended by this. (:P) Hopefully next session I will be able to put on my intimidating face so my campers actually listen to me! ;)

Some activities we did this past session were:

• horseback riding through mountain trails
• playing in the mud pit at boy's camp (SERIOUSLY, this was so fun.)
• Night Of Chaos (this is a camp-wide activity that includes paint, shaving cream, water, ice, a series of tasks, and running around. 'Nuff said.)
• Carnival (this is an activity that takes place over at boy's camp. We get a bunch of blow-up bouncy house things, cotton candy machines, and set up a bunch of games! It's so much fun. It's funny to see the guy's and girl's interact with each other!) 
• Spa night (I started off the night by doing cornrows in one of my camper's hair, and then ended up doing braids for like 932 other campers because they saw me doing it :P not as relaxing as I thought it would be, but still so fun!)
• This wasn't really an "activity," but it was definitely something that I will remember so I'll post it under this category. ;) One of the nights during devotions, my camper spotted a mouse under my bed. For the next hour and a half, we scrambled to find this little mouse running around our cabin! We moved EVERYTHING off the floor onto the lower bunks, pulled our headlamps out, and followed the little rodent around. Before we knew it, it was like 11:30 PM and we still hadn't caught the dang thing and we had been yelled at 3 times by other counselors telling us to quiet down. Soooo, we ended up going to sleep without finding it - some of my girls literally cried themselves to sleep because we weren't able to find the mouse and they were scared. But later in the week once we had enough time to convince ourselves the mouse found a way out of our cabin, we were all able to laugh our heads off about that wild night. :D

As you can see, we do A LOT in one session. By the pictures I've posted on Facebook, you may think that I'm having the time of my life here. But what you don't know is that working at a summer camp is exhausting. It's tiring. It's emotionally draining. It includes a lot of mosquito bites, late nights, and physical activity. I actually feel like I've forgotten what it's like to sleep without getting sweaty, feel water pressure while taking a shower, and eat a homemade meal. It's strange to think that I haven't been in a house, like, in over a month. In a way, working at a summer camp is kind of like getting paid to be homeless with a bunch of kids for 8 weeks. But it's the best kind of homelessness out there, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Alright, I'm about to go deep here. Hold onto your horses.

God has been challenging me a lot more than I thought He would this summer. When I applied and during the months leading up to camp, I was so excited for how fun working at a camp in the mountains of North Carolina would be. I didn't think about the challenges that I would face, the ways in which I would grow or the obstacles that would be presented to me. All I could think about was the fun. 

However, God has been able to teach me a lot of things and give me a new perspective of this great summer adventure. I've learned so much about myself, who He is, and who He wants me to be. I've learned...

• I'm much more of an introvert than I thought I was
• Being 878 miles away from home is much harder than you think it would be
• I'm a small-group kind of person
• How to build a fire
• Getting messy = having fun
• 11-year-olds appreciate when you're a kid with them instead of an adult
• Rarely will a stranger approach you when you're sleeping in a hammock in a public place (no matter how afraid you might be that this may happen)
• Not to buy an avocado when you shake it and it sounds like moroccas because it is most likely rotten and moldy inside
• The secret to talking is listening
• It's okay to be quiet when everyone else is loud
• How to shave in (literally) the smallest shower in the world
• Large t-shirts are actually the comfiest pieces of clothing
• Honey tastes good on everything
• Serving others food before you eat yourself is one of the most sacrificial things one can do
• God has you wherever you are, right at this very moment, for a specific reason and purpose
• Looking forward to the future only causes you to miss out on the present
• God is making me better than I could ever make myself
• Spending time with the Lord in the morning is like putting your running shoes on before you take a run. You are then able to run faster and stronger. Spending time with the Lord at night is like putting running shoes on AFTER you take a run. 
• It can hail in 60-70 degree weather
• All people enjoy a nice back scratch
• Write songs that make sense to you and no one else
• Bring a camera and a hammock with you wherever you go
• Singing Taylor Swift songs at the top of your lungs with ten 11-year-old girls is a blast
• Smile and say thank you. Always. 
• Kids say the weirdest things. Seriously, the WEIRDEST. Instead of looking at them with the "what...?" kind of look on your face, just laugh and roll with it. 
• ...beards are attractive.
• what Patagonia's and Nort's are.
• "Y'all" is easier to say than "you guys"
• You can replace the clothes you got stains of paint and shaving cream in, but you can't relive those moments
• Being outside is so important

And so much more. And I've got half of the summer left! There are still so many kids to come into my life and so many things to learn. God is using me here, and just knowing that makes it worth it all. Thanks for sticking with me this summer, I love you!

- Kenzie