60 Days and Counting

60 Days until I move in to my room at Truman. Yikes!

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

30. Collecting Eggs

A new item was added, and subsequently completed, for my packing list yesterday. I, Rebekah Hall, collected eggs. From real chickens. All by myself. And I didn't get pecked or clawed or scared one little bit. Okay, well I was a little scared when one of the chicken flew suddenly down from it's little box onto the floor. But I didn't scream or anything like that. :) It was an exhilarating experience, and something that I would not object to doing again.

Sick and Alone

That sounds so depressing, doesn't it?


I'm just going to wallow in self-pity for several more minutes.


Okay, I'm done.

Anyways, the title of this post, while it may sound rather melodramatic, is entirely accurate. I am sick, which is just awful in the summer. But, I'm also alone, all weekend. Zeke and Andy both have baseball tournaments - Zeke in Kansas City, Andy in Joplin - and Abby is up in Michigan. So here I am, the whole house to myself. But I'm sick. Hopefully, this weekend will consist of several things. 1. Rest and recuperation. 2. A crazy awesome fun evening with my dear friend from St. Louis, Jenna. 3. Cleaning house. 4. Running several loads of laundry. 5. Catching up on my letter writing. and 6. Scrapbooking a large number of Pirates pages.

Hopefully.

4. Let's Take a Hike!

Well folks, another item has been checked off of my Packing List! This Saturday, a small group of us took a hike out to Bray's Lake, over grown woods, ticks, and all. Although the lake itself isn't terribly scenic, I thought it was pretty, and had a fantastic time with my friends. And playing volleyball, grilling hot dogs, and having a game of Balderdash afterwards was rather fun too. Thanks everyone, for helping me knock another thing off my list. ;)

Camp David

As many of you are aware, I've been working out at Camp David for the past few weeks. The last week in May was staff training week, and then the past two weeks have been actual weeks of camp - Sr. Girls Week, and Sr. Boys Week, both for kids ages 13-16. I'm the Camp Secretary, and do pretty much anything and everything in the office at camp. Aside from the typical office work that you'd expect, I also get to put together a scrapbook for each of the campers every week - 6 pages of photos of them, from the week of camp. It's a very challenging task, but I've had some great photographers to work with, which helps make my job easier! I really do enjoy it, although it exhausts me to work a full day, then come home and have all the usual things our family does going on too!

This past week, I had a helper in the office, which was terrific! She'll be helping every other week (she's a counselor on the weeks that she isn't helping me), so I am definitely looking forward to having her back. :) Here are just a few photos of the going-ons out at camp. Now, I spend almost all my time in the office, so I don't actually get to experience any of these things. However, becuase I'm doing the scrapbooks, I get to see countless photographs of everything that goes on! Which is nearly as fun. ;)

Group Shot from Sr. Girls' Week

One of the things the girls do during the week at camp are "Life Skills Classes" - babysitting, sewing, or cooking. Mum, Abby, Mrs. Hickle, and Sarah all came out three afternoons that week to help the girls, and they actually completed several projects! The girls raved about the sewing class - it's really important for them to have that feeling of accomplishment.
The sewing class with the quilt they completed!

Group Shot, Sr. Boys Week
My favorite thing about Sr. Boys week was getting to see pictures of Andy having a good time. :) Several weeks back, Grace told me that they were still looking for counselors for this week. I suggested that Andy might be able to, and it worked out that he was! He did a great job - his campers really liked him, and for a typically reserved guy, he can get pretty crazy. Here he is at pool time. . .

Dani and I decided that this guy looked like the kid from Holes. And the lizard thing just completes the picture. I pretty much fell in love with this photo.

Because I'm in the office, I have very little contact with any of the campers, counselors, or most of the staff people. However, there are a few people who spend more time there than others, so I'll introduce you to some of them. Today's lucky pick: Sissy!

"Sissy" is the camp nurse. Her real name is Elizabeth Marchbank, and she is the sweetest young lady. She did the scrapbooks last year, so we have a lot of fun comparing notes about that. She also ocassionally has things to do on the computer, and sits and keeps me company. Sissy has a lot of spunk, and a huge heart for the kids that come to camp, and the ministry of Camp David.

This Sr. Boys week, Sissy got to join in the archery lesson. I thought this picture was darling, although she informed me it was terrible form. ;)

Here she is all dolled up for the Princess Dinner - so beautiful!

I'll cover some other people in future posts. Please keep the camp in your prayers - we have four weeks left, all Junior weeks (ages 8-12). Pray for the counselors, and the campers, as well as all the staff, especially Ben and Grace. It's a fantastic ministry to be a part of, and I am so blessed to get to work with them! Thank you God for this opportunity!

Holding

"Steadfastness - that is holding on;

Patience - that is holding back;

Expectancy - that is holding the face up;

Obedience - that is holding one's self ready to go or do;

Listening - that is holding quiet and still so as to hear."

- Elisabeth Elliot, Passion & Purity

A Working Woman

It's true - I've put in several (nearly) 40 hour weeks for the past few weeks. It's a huge adjustment, and I now have total, complete, and unshaken admiration for single, working mothers. I don't have nearly the stressors, work load, or responsibilities that they do, and yet I fall into bed each night with a thousand more things I could do, and yet totally exhausted and unable to do an ounce more.

But it's good. It's really good. Hopefully, this weekend I will squeeze in time to post on what I've been doing, and some of the people I've gotten to work with. It's really exciting stuff - and if you are spending your summer lying around, being lazy . . . I'd encourage you to find some way you can be actively serving God. It's rewarding, and inspiring to be around others who are.

Hmmm.

"Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things, and then trying to make God's Word fit what you have said?"

My Utmost for His Highest

Morning Thoughts

"The Secret of the Lord"

"The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him . . . "

~Psalm 25:14

What is the sign of a friend? Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows? No, it is that he tells you his secret joys. Many people will confide their secret sorrows to you, but the final mark of intimacy is when they share their secret joys with you. Have we ever let God tell us any of His joys? Or are we continually telling God our secrets, leaving Him no time to talk to us? At the beginning of our Christian life we are full of requests to God. But then we find that God wants to get us into an intimate relationship with Himself— to get us in touch with His purposes. Are we so intimately united to Jesus Christ’s idea of prayer— "Your will be done" ( Matthew 6:10 )— that we catch the secrets of God? What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us— He knows every detail of each of our individual lives.

My Utmost for His Highest

Remember When. . .

24 years is such a long time! I'm looking ahead at 4 years of college, which haven't even started, and thinking that seems like an eternity! And yet, as my grandmother called to wish my parents a blessed anniversary, said that it seems like only yesterday she was celebrating her own 24th anniversary. :) Happy Anniversary, Mum and Dad! You still make a rather cute couple - but more importantly, your relationship has only served to glorify God more and more each passing year.

Love you both,

Becky

P.S. And guys - you have to be pretty old to have been married for 24 years. Just saying . . .