Smile About God Working Miracles in many people's lives

This past week I was able to go to Pleasant Valley Christian Camp in Mineral, Washington. It was the most powerful week in my life. I have never felt God working so hard through everyone at the camp. In the same way I have neer seen the Devil working so hard at one camp.

What I'm about to tell you is just the bare minimum of how the Devil tried to corrupt everyone there. For starters, our youth intern ending up severly injuring himself. His foot was so swollen he couldn't put a shoe on and it was all black and blue. He went to the hospital and had no broken bones, but unfortunately didn't end up coming back to camp. Then, in addition my sister Erika,was my counselor. I mean it wasn't a bad thing, but I was ready for it to be a really interesting week. I'll get back to that though. She ended up with a stress fracture in her foot. She toughed out the week. But my sister Stephanie ended up coming down to be her co-counselor. Because at the beginning of the week she had no one else to work with and she had the biggest cabin! Then, I also ended up hurting my knee during a slip-n-slide version of kick ball. I had fun, but it hurt REALLY bad.

We also had a huge thunder and lightning storm on Thursday night. The sound was so loud it hurt your ears and shook the cabins! The lightning was so bright that it lit up the whole room! It was very frightening. It also carried  through into the morning, and it POURED all night long and morning. We stayed in cabins about a quarter mile from where the base of the camp was, so they took 15-passenger vans and shuttled all the kids down to camp. We stayed down there for 5 hours and had absolutely nothing to do. Luckily, we lost NO campers for the storm. That is only a piece of how hard camp was. In total we only lost two campers throughtout the whole week. But bigger than that, a lot of people lost a piece of their pain, and left it their forever.

One of those people was me. I struggled through a lot throughout the week, and I fought to the limits against it. And I feel so much stronger now that I have. And for the first time in my life, I felt God speaking to me. Wednesday night, one of our interns, Martin was preaching and he talked about how God gives Grace to everyone. That led our whole cabin to open up about A LOT of different things. For me, it was about going through life and being  verbally bullied. The next morning I was reading through the Bible and found this GREAT verse. Ephesians 5:6- Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. In that moment, I knew instantly that God was talking to me. I have never felt that way in my life and it was such a powerful moment for me.

I believe that this week has changed my life completely. I feel that a majority of the is because of my youth pastor, Ryan Reed. His messages throughout the week helped me to overcome and open up about a lot of the challenges in my life. I would also like to thank our youth interns Martin and Skylar. Although, they are only interns and are leaving at the end of the summer, I do believe they played a big part in the transformation of my life. Lastly, I would not have had such a powerful week without my sister, Erika. She knew a lot of my struggles and was able to help me understand that once I got through it, I would only be stronger. I will never ever forget this week, no matter what. And, for the record, there are some really funny things that I will cherrish for the rest of my life too!
{}"Girl! You Cra-Cra! You drive like my Grama!!!!" (Specifically said in a light southern accent.)
{}Answering every question with "JESUS!" in a cute little kid voice.
-Thankyou to Skylar for those funny things I am sure to remeber!
Camplife: Smile About It!

Smile About Birthdays

I know birthdays can be difficult for some people because it brings up bad memories or you were never able to celebrate as a kid. However they're still something to be happy about and smile becuase! You don't have a birthday every day, every week or even every month! It only comes once a year, so you need to cherish that day. It is a chance for everything to revolve around YOU. I mean, when its my birthday, I love to just sit around and relax or have a party and enjoy myself. I take pleasure in all the attention I get! And since that only occurs once a year, I live it up! If you could only spend one day of the year with your family and friends, wouldn't you want to have fun on that day. You know, make it a day to remember? (remembering it for the good things that happened is always better than remebering the bad things) Just because you didn't enjoy yours birhtdays as a kid or you just don't like all the attention, doesn't mean you still can't have fun! That one day of year is meant to be a day filled with joy! So, BIRTHDAYS? Smile About It!

Smile About Summer

Smile about summer time! Summer is my favorite time of year for many reasons! One of them is that it is a great chance to spend time with family and friends. Although its hard for those of us in school because we don't se are friends as often. This is chance to do something FUN with them. And that goes with family too! There are a lot of people who don't like their siblings or parents, but you just need to get over it. I mean without them, would you be the person that you are today? Probably not, so we need to value the time we have with them, whether it is an extended period of time or just 5 minutes together! Every second counts! And during the school year or during work, nobody has time to spend with family and friends! So, summer is our chance to be with people we want to be with and to do things we want to do. And while we are at it, we might as well enjoy what little sun we get and just be happy! SUMMER? Just Smile About It!

Smile About LOVE

I'm not just talking about falling in love with the perfect man, but having those family and friend relationships. I love my friends dearly. I can only hope that they love me too, but there is just that strong and caring relationship. I have been friends with my best friend for 6 years, and we have never had one fight. We have been there for each other through thick and thin. Nothing can tare us apart. We have walked hand in hand through are spiritual relationship and our friendship. There is a reason the lord chose to put us together.....he knew we would always stay together. There is only six other people I love more than her: Jesus and my family. That love is so much stronger then I ever would have imagined!!!! When it comes to love, you know you can just smile about it!!!

Smile About Family

I know people tell you all the time, oh love your family you can't pick them; or things like your family is to valuable to waste. I know they sound really cheesy and you really don't want to listen to them, but they are somewhat right. No, I don't think you should just love your family because you can't change them. Although I do believe that you really should love your family no matter what. They are the only people who will NEVER leave, except true friends.  There is absolutely nothing that would make me want to trade in my family. They are the most important people in my life. In fact I couldn't live my life without them. So basically if i lost them, I would loose everything. They truly bring a smile to my face. That fact will never change. And I will never stop smiling!!! Family, just smile about it!
Three reasons to smile about family:
1. They will never leave you.
2. They will always keep you going after a hard day.
3. You can't change them, and you can't live you're life without them.

Smile About Friends

Smile about friends because there is nothing compared to an amazing friendship. You don't create a life-time friendship in just one day. Friends are ALWAYS. Friends come and go, but the best friendships are the good and the strong friendships. Have you ever thought about who your best friend is? Mine are always there for me and stick with it constantly. They bring a smile to my face and listen when I need them. If you have a friend like that, you know how amazing that friendship is. There is one person in the whole world who fits that category. Your best friend! You can't live a life without a good friend. Friends  definitely fit a category to be considered something to smile about it.
Three reasons to smile about friends:
1. They are always there for you.
2. Friends are someone that can make you smile.
3. The best friends are the ones who last.

Smile About Winter

Smile about how winter throws your life into chaos. Although it can be dificult to try and deal with winter storms and ice, there is nothing better than a good snow day! No work or school and you get to just sit at home with a book and a cup of hot cocoa. That, I tell you, brings a smile to my face every time. It is also cool to watch people have fun while they play in the snow, or just playing in the snow yourself is fun! The amazing scenery blows my mind too! The trees glisten with the snow and the ground is caked in the soft white powder poured from the sky! Winter could never put a frown on my face, and everyone can always smile about it.
Three reasons you should smile about winter:

1. It only comes once a year.
2. The view is spectacular.
3. It is the only time of year the TV gets to be replaced by a book.