Camp- Wednesday and Thursday night.

There are a lot of details in here mostly so I remember what happen.

Wednesday during free time I was texting one of my best friends who wasn't at camp. (Shame on me for texting at camp I know but it was for a good reason) She had cancer last year and had been cancer free for a while praise God! Through out the past year and half, she and I have become such great friends, being able to relate to each other. We have so many medical stories to tell each other that make us laugh for days!

Well she went in for her routine scans and they found something. Last Tuesday she had a biopsy and Wednesday they called and told her that the cancer is back. It just broke my heart to know that. At that time, not very many people knew because she just found out.

Fast forward to Wednesday night. We were in our nightly worship which started at 10 or so. I love this worship time so much. We are outside under the pavilion and it is just a wonderful time of praise.

That night as we were worshiping, we could see a storm in the distance. We watched the lightening light up the dark sky and saw God's power.

After we worshiped for a while, Jeff got up to give us a lesson. Before he started he said that he had some news to tell us. He then told the camp that Rebecca's cancer was back. We all physically got on our knees and prayed. I wish we did that more often. There is something about kneeling before God that brings you closer to Him. During that time of prayer, our group of friends just couldn't hold it together enough to stay there and listen to a lesson. I'm sure it was a great lesson because they all were, but we had to do something. One of my good friends and I found each other and prayed and talked. There were several groups of people who left to go by themselves to pray. After the worship time was over it was time for family time. My friend and I decided that we just couldn't go. So we decided to sit in the field to pray and watch the storm and look at the stars. We had a great talk about God's plan and how He is always faithful. But we also talked about how we didn't understand.

We went to the circle time and they said that after that all the seniors that just graduated (the grade that Rebecca is in) were going to meet at the pavilion after we sang. I'm not in that grade by they told me to come. When we got there they had homemade ice cream for us. After everyone ate the ice cream we all put our chairs in a circle. People started leading songs and praying. As the worship and prayer time went on, the more we could feel God there. People were angry. I was angry. Not angry at God, but angry at life. As people began to lead songs like Blessed Be Your Name and It Is Well, people started getting more honest. I can't even describe what happened. It was the most honest and powerful worship I have ever been apart of. At first people just prayed about Rebecca. And then people started praying about their life and they were so honest about it. No one was afraid to cry out or say why God or just admit that they don't understand. I don't know how long we stayed out there but it was to at least 1 am or later. Time didn't even cross our minds because we were so into crying out to God.

A song came to my mind called Better Than A Hallelujah by Amy Grant. It talks about how God wants to hear our cries and that sometimes that's better than a hallelujah. Here are the lyrics.

"God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves a drunkards cry,
A soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
We pour out our miseries
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah
Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out,singing out.
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah"

As the worship time was almost over, I started having trouble breathing. I told my friend who was sitting next to me just so someone would know. And then all of the sudden, my legs and arms went numb. I couldn't feel my body. I was shaking so much which I couldn't control because I was numb. I thought I was going to pass out so I don't really remember very much after that. Most people had left by then, but I know the youth ministers were there and some of my friends. I remember there being a lot of people around me telling me I was going to go to the hospital. I convinced them not to take me. We sat there for a while until I could breathe and some of the numbness went away. I was able to feel my arms after a while but my legs stayed numb. They all helped me get to a car and then took me to my cabin. I don't even know what time it was but it was so late! Everyone had stayed out late that night so they moved our morning meeting time to 8:10 instead of 8!

I know a lot of people didn't sleep well that night. It was just a hard night for many reasons.

Thursday morning came way too early. They let the senior cabin sleep in a little since we were up so late for good reasons. Thursday morning was really hard for me. My legs were still numb but at the same time it hurt so much to walk. I don't understand how they could be numb but hurt so much. I was really struggling to walk. That morning it was so cloudy and humid. So humid. We heard that it was supposed to rain. We all had a refreshed hope though that today would be a better day. It was a new day and God was still faithful. I was reminded of this verse.

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:22-24

That is so comforting.

During the morning sports time it started POURING down rain. It was so fun to watch everyone playing their sports in the rain. Everyone was SOAKED and no one cared! I was so excited because Rebecca got to come to camp for the day!!!!!! So she got there just as it started to pour! Lunch was next so we went ahead and went to the cafeteria. They always gave us cookies for lunch and dinner and I have to say that they were amazing! We might have stolen one or five maybe...but who's keeping track.

It kept pouring through rest time and Bible class. I know the power went out one day. It was either Wednesday or Thursday I think. They cancelled the second sports time! Thursday was such a good relaxing day. It poured the whole time and we had free time for a long time. We definitely did NOT convince a youth minister to sneak us out and take us to Sonic at the beginning of free time. That would be SO unfair to the rest of the world. And if we DID go to Sonic which we DIDN'T, we did NOT throw the evidence away in the dumpster.

The rest of the day was really good! It stopped raining for the most part!

The last night of camp is always really emotional and life changing, but I would have never thought it would be this life changing! Canteen is right before worship and they make popcorn but they can't make very much of it because it takes forever. My friend and I had to take some medicine with food so we were going to take it with popcorn because that is the most food you can get at canteen. We waited for so long for that popcorn but it was fun because everyone had already left so we just hung out with the counselors making the popcorn! We got to worship really late so we sat at the back but we didn't miss anything except camp videos. I'm glad we sat at the back for this one. We sang song songs and then Phil got up to talk. First he talked about Hell. He read scriptures and just told us about then. Then he started talking about Heaven. He read scriptures about Heaven too and then they turned off the powerpoint and lights. He said he was going to walk us through an exercise about Heaven.

We sat up straight with both our feet on the ground and took deep breaths. We breathed the phrase be still and know that I am God. I breathed in and said "be still", then breathed out and said "and know", then breathed in and said "that I", then breathed out "am God". It is a great technique for calming yourself down. You can do it with any phrase or verse or anything.

After a few minutes of that this is what he told us to picture. I am probably leaving things out or adding things that he didn't say, but that's the point. You are supposed to use the imagination that God gave you. This is what he said:

Picture yourselves in a hospital room, laying in the hospital bed. I had such a vivid picture because I've been in so many hospital rooms and beds. You are very, very sick and are about to die. The doctors tell you that you have very little time to live. You have said goodbye to everyone and you know that it is time. You take your last breath and you leave this world. Back up from the room and look at yourself laying in that hospital bed. Next, angels come to get you. Picture what that would be like. They take you to heaven. You come up to the gates of heaven. What do they look like? What do they feel like when you reach out and touch them? The gates open and you go inside. There are people waiting for you, welcoming you to Heaven. Who is waiting for you? Who do you see standing there? What is the look on their faces? After you greet them, you look a little farther and Jesus is standing there. Jesus, your Savior is there and you finally get to see Him face to face. What does he look like? What is the look on His face? What are the first words He says to you? Do you hug Him or kneel or what?

Next, Phil let us have a couple minutes of silence to take in what we were seeing. It is a lot of emotion to picture that. He then said that we would be going to the indoor chapel row by row. My row was the first dismissed since we were at the back. He said that as we were walking, picture the angels, surrounding you, taking you to heaven. I remember that as I was walking, I felt so light, I don't remember feeling pain. As we got closer to the chapel, we could see bright lights and hear cheering. One by one we walked into the chapel. There were such bright lights shining on the isle. When we went through the door of the chapel, the isle was lined with ALL the counselors. As I walked in, they all were yelling my name, hugging me, clapping, chanting, and with the biggest smile and tears saying "welcome home, you made it". They were welcoming me to Heaven. It was unbelievable. I started crying even harder with tears of joy. After being welcomed, we sat down and watched and cheered as others were welcomed to Heaven. Every single person was crying as they walked in and were welcomed home. I'm doing a horrible job of explaining it because there are no words to describe it. Once everyone got in there, everyone was crying tears of joy. It was so overwhelming and powerful. We then spent the rest of the time worshiping and it was such a powerful and uplifting worship! More tears of joy were shed during the entire worship time. I love how supportive everyone is of each other especially during these times. Some people were crying because they have people waiting for them in Heaven that they miss greatly, some people were crying because they were free of sin, some people were crying because they were free of pain. It felt like such a burden was lifting and we felt how REAL Heaven is. We were reminded that one day there will be NO more pain, death, sickness, sin. It IS going to happen.

I love this song so much.

I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin

"There's a peace I've come to know

Though my heart and flesh may fail

There's an anchor for my soul

I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near

When this darkness breaks to light

And the shadows disappear

And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome

And the grave is overwhelmed

The victory is won

He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,

"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I hear the cry of every longing heart,

"Worthy is the Lamb"

And I will rise when He calls my name

No more sorrow, no more pain

I will rise on eagles' wings

Before my God fall on my knees

And rise

I will rise"

That night after family time, we got in our nightly circle to sing and there was so much joy. There was so much joy that people stayed and sang until at least 2 am maybe later!!!!! God is working in so many ways and it is unbelievable. Those two nights were some of the best nights of our lives and we will never forget that.

Camp Pettijohn- InTEXTicated

Camp was amazing. One of the best weeks of my life! The theme this year was inTEXTicated, meaning fully engaged in the text of the Bible, God's words. It was about getting back to reading our Bible, not just for information, but for transformation. I can honestly say that this week every single person's life has been changed. It was the best camp session I have ever been to. And you know how people get a "spiritual high" after camp and then it fades away? I really think that people will be forever changed by what God did this week.

We had Bible classes everyday. Each day in one of the classes, we learned different ways to study the Bible. They were practical things that we could actually do and we practiced them. They were learning how to use our concordance, summarizing sections to help us get something out of it that we can do, and meditating on a passage and looking for a word or phrase that God is telling us in that passage. We could read the same passage everyday and get something different out of it because the word of God is living. He shows us things that we need to know RIGHT then that applies to what is going on.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12a

We also learned about how we know the Bible is true. It was really interesting! We made shirts that had where verses are found and then a picture or symbol by them to help us remember what verse that is.

At camp we are broken into "families". Each day we have two family times. In the morning family time, we are read a Bible story and then we retold it different ways each day. We started at the beginning of the Bible and worked through the stories. I really like doing that!

Here is what we did each day...

We met at the flag pole at 8am for a devotional led by the guys of each family. Then we went to breakfast. To go to each meal, they dismiss you by asking you to do something or "if you.."questions. People would sing songs to be able to leave or you could leave on things like "if you haven't showered all week". It is hilarious to watch people do things or see who leaves on what question!

After breakfast was cabin clean up and then Bible class!

Family time was after that and that is when we retold the Bible studies! We also had quiet time during that family time.

Next was sports. I did not play sports so I sat with the nurse and watched! I liked sports time because I got to relax!

After sports we met for silly songs and cabin cleanup scores and then we were dismissed to lunch!

Once we were done with lunch, we had a little over an hour for rest time. This was the BEST idea anyone has ever had. Most people took naps and it was fantastic! Haha definitely everyones favorite time.

We then had 2 Bible classes where we made the shirts and memorized verses and the other class was ways to study the Bible.

Next was sports number 2! Again I hung out and rested!

Then it was free time! Free time was 3:45-6:15. Girls swim time was 4-5 and guys swim time was 5-6. During free time, canteen was open where you could get drinks and snacks.

After free time we met together and then went to dinner.

Every night after dinner we would have a big activity!

Sunday night was a Summer Singers concert (music group from Oklahoma Christian)

Monday- Family Olympics. With your family, you had to complete different tasks. There were gross food eating contests, making an ice cream sundae, diving for things in the pool, and things like that!

Tuesday- We watched the movie To Save A Life. Every teen and person older than that should see this movie.

Wednesday- Capture the flag. This is like no other capture the flag you will ever play. There are 8 families and each family has a color for capture the flag so all week people trade clothes to get the perfect outfit of the color your team is. The field we play on is huge so each team has an area where their flag is and that is where they start. You get out of the game by being hit by a wet sock. During the game, battle music from Pirates of the Caribbean or some other movie is played. It is so intense! I didn't play because obviously you have to run around the huge field. Thankfully it is so fun to watch! You see clusters of colors and then when the game starts, they start charging at other teams and making alliances with teams. It is SO much fun! I can't even tell you how big of a deal it is and how intense it is. We played 2 or 3 games and the last game was revolutionary war style. That was fun to watch!!

Thursday- There were supposed to be inflatable things like obstacle courses but it rained all day so they got cancelled.

After the activities we went to canteen again!

Then we had our nightly time of worship and a lesson around 10 and then family time to talk about anything on our hearts.

The last thing of the night is when we all meet in the field under the stars and stand in a circle and sing songs led by anyone.

We always close with the song When the Night is Falling.

"When the night is falling
And the day is done,
I can hear you calling, "Come."
And I will come
While you sing over me.
When the night surrounds me,
All my dreams undone,
I can hear you calling, "Come."
And I will come
While you sing over me.
When the night would hide my way,
I will listen until
I hear you say:
"How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you!
"How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you, child, I love you.
How I love you!"
Hallelujah, hallelujah,
Hallelujah, hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
How I love you, Lord, I love you.
How I love you, Lord, I love you.
How I love you!
When this life is over
And the race is done,
I will hear you calling, "Come."
I will come
While you sing over me."

Here is a picture of me, Alex, Miriam, and Kailey!

I'm writing another post about what happened Wednesday and Thursday night at camp. God worked in amazing ways.

Numbness and another ER trip

Here is a quick medical update...there have been some weird things going on.

Late Wednesday night at camp all of the sudden my arms and legs went numb and tingled and I started shaking like crazy. I got so hot and felt like I was going to pass out. I really don't remember what all happened after that but I know they were fixing to take me to the hospital but I convinced them not to take me. I knew the doctors wouldn't be able to do anything because it was Lyme related. We had to sit there until I thought I could get up. I needed help walking that night. That was really scary and frustrating. Thursday it was really hard and painful to walk and my legs were still numb. On Friday, it still hurt to walk but it was a little easier. Today, my right leg is still a little numb but it's not too bad. I can walk much better now. So we don't know what is going on with that.

Yesterday I woke up and it felt like there was something stuck in my chest. I couldn't breathe so I did a couple breathing treatments throughout the day. They really didn't help. At dinner when I swallowed my chest hurt so badly. I ate most of my dinner but it just hurt too much to finish it.

This morning I woke and up and got ready for church. I woke up all sweaty and really didn't feel good. I took a bite of breakfast and swallowed and had the worst pain in my chest and the food almost came back up. My chest felt so tight. I tried to drink something but that was almost unbearable too. So my parents decided to take me to the ER.

So we headed to the hospital and I was taken back pretty quickly. They took some chest x-rays. Then the nurse came in with this cocktail and told me to chug it. She warned me that it was to numb my throat but I had no idea what that meant! It was the weirdest thing. As soon as the medicine coated my mouth and throat it was numb. I thought it would just numb part of my throat but it went all the way down which didn't feel good. It was so hard to swallow but the pain was gone! The medicine lasted for about 20 minutes then wore off. That cocktail made me so tired and out of it for a few hours after! The doctor came back in and said that my esophagus is eroded or something so they gave me medicine to take for that. I've never had any problems like this before!

I was discharged just in time to make it to the last 20 minutes of worship! Today is Mission's Sunday at church where we raise money for missionaries and works around the world. I was so angry that I had to miss most of it. I'm staying home from evening worship tonight which I'm bummed about too. But I know I need to rest.

That is the quick version of the story!

Camp

I forgot to say that tomorrow I leave for camp with the youth group so I won't be able to update until next weekend. Have a good week!!