I've been back a month....

....and it hasn't exactly been easy. I've gone from being surrounded by eight people who were grounded in their faith, and in love with life...to the reality that not everyone loves the way Christ loves. Not everyone is as grounded in their faith as others. Not everyone forgives as they should. Not everyone believes. I expected it to be hard to come back to NC, to home, and to school, but I didn't expect to be as hard as it has been.
Through the difficult moments I have wondered why. I have wondered why I was around so many awesome people this summer, only to come back to what my life is really like. I have wondered why the accountability I had this summer had to be taken away when I got back to school.
Then I realized...I will never know all the answers. I realized my accountability wasn't taken away. Even though I am not with the people I was with this summer 24 hours a day 7 days a week, they are still my family. They still love me and care about me. I still love them and would do anything in the world for them.
I realized God has a purpose and a plan for me and he's simply been waiting for me to say "yes God I will do what you ask"...He's been waiting for me to realize that there is a call far greater in my life than simply being comfortable and content with my surroundings.
This summer wasn't easy all the time, but I was comfortable. I was content with the people I was living with.
I have to say God has really had to throw me on my tail since I've been home. He's had to show me that the fairy tale I had in my head doesn't exactly exist. He had to help me realize that there is indeed sin in this world and I have to fight against it daily. I have to live my life for Him, and glorify Him through everything I do...regardless of how hard it may seem at the time. It's called perseverance.
I have had to come to the realization that no one, and no thing is perfect. Things are going to be tough. People are going to talk about me behind my back, and not everyone is going to like me or love me. This perfect little world I was living in before wasn't real. It was what I wanted but it was far from reality. I miss summershine more than I ever thought I would. I miss the team we had. I miss the constant accountability. I miss knowing that I would go to bed each night with a cabin of girls laughing until we fell asleep.
I had people telling me this summer that my happiness was going to come to an end and that all good things will come to an end. That is a lie! I've felt like it within the past month, yes. I have felt defeated and exhausted, but...I was listening to those lies. I can still be happy because happiness is a choice. And that good thing I had this summer, it didn't come to an end. It may have changed but it's still going on...just in different locations....
God is great. Life isn't always easy but it's good =). There's a call on my heart that I have to listen to. I am in Greenville for a purpose. I am in CCF for a purpose. I am where I am for this moment to serve my Father in whatever way He calls me to do...and I'm done running away.

11 weeks down...1 week to go...

And it's a bitter sweet feeling. This summer has been absolutely amazing. I have learned so much about God, and grown so much in my faith and walk. I've been stretched many times to what may have seemed like the limit, but God continued to be there and help not just me, but everyone.
I can't begin to say how much of a blessing this summer has been. When I started this summer I never would have thought I would absolutely LOVE living with four other girls who I now call amazing friends and sisters. I never thought I could smile about cleaning, or working early and then late. I never thought I could do customer service! But then again, it's not me who has done these things...it is God! He deserves all glory, honor, and praise. This summer is a summer I will never forget.
I arrived May 22, and started working May 23. I injured myself the first day on the job, but survived =). I met amazing families who I will never forget. I received hugs and smiles from the coolest kids I have ever met, and from their Mom's as well.
I laughed about the silliest things...I talked about the most serious things....and I learned what it means to be vulnerable. I learned how to let God truly have control. This summer Mary (the assistant activities director) and myself prayed that God would soften my heart and teach me to really show myself through ways I haven't been able to do before. Since that prayer I have cried...a lot. I have opened myself up, given my testimony in front of complete strangers, and given God glory for it all. Nothing I have done this summer was about me...it was all about God. The summershiner's in Williamsburg could have never been the amazing team we were if it weren't for God.
From the first night we arrived we were already comfortable with each other. We knew and understood each other's personalities (for the most part) and we really united as a team serving God.
This campground wasn't always the easiest to work on. It wasn't always easy to take criticism or go 20 million different ways in one day...it wasn't always easy to take blame for things that weren't your fault...it wasn't always easy to get yelled at by irate campers...but it was easy to let God be the center...and it was easy to let Him shine through. Our prayer each day was simply to be the light God called us to be. "The sun never sets on a summershiner" has been our quote the entire summer...and in the middle of the summer we changed "sun" to "son"--because God's light will never set on us. We came to serve and our job is never complete.
This week Liz leaves on Tuesday and that leaves Mary and myself...I leave next Saturday (the 15th) to go back to NC, which is going to be the hardest thing I have had to do in a while...Mary will be by herself here for 15 days and then I will come back September 1st to help for Labor day.
God has blessed all of us this summer in ways we never expected. He built us into a family and our bond is so strong not even Satan can break it. We love each other and the relationships that God built here will only continue to grow because of the bond we have as brothers and sisters.
My prayer is that we will all continue to have our hearts and minds open to what God has to say to us. Wherever he leads we will follow. Whatever He asks of us we will do. We must remember that just because we leave the KOA and we aren't wearing yellow on our campuses or job sites, we are still shining the light of Christ to people all around us. The world is our camp ground!
Guys never close your hearts and ears to God...He has a lot to say...and you'd be surprised at how much you are willing to do!

A Summershine Birthday and more

I have to say that in the past four weeks I have built relationships that I know are going to last the rest of my life...and NOT just with the Summershiner's. The camper's these past few weeks have been absolutely amazing. We had a couple of families last week who were the sweetest people we have ever met. This week we have Cody and Dawson who are some pretty cool kids, and I think Cody may just do summershine next summer. Honestly, I can't imagine God placing me anywhere other than here this summer. I am learning so much. I am growing in my walk with God and learning to be reliant ultimately on Him. I am learning how to really be a sister in Christ to my other brother's and sister's in Christ. I've been here four weeks and I have already decided to extend my contract to the middle of August. I have never been happier, or felt more of a sense of family than I do right now with these people. My birthday was this past Tuesday and the Summershiner's made me feel like a million bucks. At midnight Monday evening they sang happy birthday to me and Jeb and Liz gave me a birthday gift, then Tuesday evening when I got off work we celebrated with Sparkling white grape juice and my favorite cake, Strawberry with cream cheese icing. Yes, I celebrated turning 21 sober and it was the best birthday I have ever had.
I'm learning to be vulnerable....I'm learning to give up myself in order to Make God bigger. This place is amazing and I can not begin to describe the things that God is teaching me =)

Why--Oh WHY?

So into my second week of working with the KOA I am finally given permission by our Assistant A.D to get on the jumping pillow, as long as I'm careful. I was indeed very careful. Whenever Mary and all the other staffers were jumping, I sat down, and when they sat down I jumped. No problem there, right? Well I thought so too. I was fine all Tuesday night when we were done jumping....Wednesday morning I wake up to my knee being SO SORE! I wasn't understanding....and I'm used to it being sore so I went to work Wednesday....but most of the day I had to sit down. Wednesday night we're all laying in bed and all of a sudden we here (and I feel) "POP!!"---My knee. I thought it was out of place again...but I didn't get to work yesterday because it hurt so bad...and at around 1:00 yesterday afternoon Mary and Kristin took me to Urgent Care. O how much fun it is to go to an Urgent Care two weeks into living in a new state. Still thinking my knee's popped out of place....we go back and Mary holds my hand the whole time....he plays with my knee (which by the way hurt terribly and I squeezed Mary's hand as hard as I possibly could)--and then said that my knee was in place.
All of a sudden he starts naming off LCL, MCL, and I'm thinking "O NO PLEASE DON'T SAY ACL!"--He doesn't....PHEW! I basically have a sprained LCL and MCL....which isnt that bad even though it FEELS 10 times worse. I thought I could go to work this morning. I got ready and Mary drove me to the office, but our Boss said no : (--so I'm once again off work today which really stinks and is really frustrating considering I've become the clutz of the summershine family. By the way...being the clutz isn't always funny..... : (
So from all of this frustration has been setting in. I'm here to work and to bring God glory, but instead I'm stuck inside with my knee propped up. I thought I was over the knee problems in high school! Apparently not. So last night our staff had a prayer time just to prayer for our staff as well as for all the other summershine staffs....because we really haven't done that. We read scripture that God's been showing us, we prayed over it and asked God to really be in us while we're here, and that we would bring Him glory--not ourselves. This morning when Gary told me I couldn't work today I really wanted to cry. I was extremely frustrated....but about five minutes after being frustrated it's kind of like God put a sense of "it's okay" around me...and basically told me that I had my five minutes of pity, now I have to get over it...and remember that I will be able to work Sunday.
What's the point of this whole blog? Well one it's a prayer request....seriously. One for my knee to heal and for me to LET it heal....and Two for all of us to remember why we're here...to bring God glory. His glory is our reward.
Also though it's to simply say--when people pray together for a purpose, that purpose comes alive. God reveals why we're here...and allows us to vent...but then says "okay it's time to move on"--I'm in love with our Heavenly Father. I'm in LOVE with my job! Most of all....I'm glad I have God by my side.

Go out and bring Him the glory today! =)

Wait...What's my name again?

So I have been here in Williamsburg for a little less than a week and I am absolutely in LOVE with my job! I love being with these girls and getting to know them. I love running into families and talking to them, and then later on they come up and want to talk with us about things. I LOVE seeing fourteen year old boys with manners who say "yes ma'am" even though I'm only a few years older than they are. This job is amazing. It's exhausting, yes, but it's well worth it.
God is definitely working in our staff. We are all so close already. We love each other and we're breaking down walls already in order to be there for one another. We already have inside jokes (hints the "what's my name again")--and we have a lot of fun joking around and hanging out when we can.
Yesterday was my day off and I spent a lot of my day reading. I was able to take a nap and then I spent a lot of time in 1 Corinthians. It was really great to be able to spend time with God, and not have to worry about going in to work. I work today 1-9 and then I'm off again tomorrow and I am pretty sure tomorrow I'm going to spend time off the camp site reading and spending time away. I can not begin to explain how much this job is already changing me. Please continue to pray for us. God is definitely our energy here when things start to get tough--but overall, we have an amazing job doing what we love...bringing God's people closer to Him. =)

1 day down...and already injured!

Heyo! I arrived in Williamsburg Friday evening and I must say I fell in love as soon as I got here. I love this camp ground. I love my co workers. I love love love how God is already working! Friday night we had a flashlight peanut hunt for the kids on the camp ground. It was SO MUCH FUN to see these kids joyfilled expressions as they hunted for PEANUTS. Haha. It's like "O Okay Peanuts" but no...these kids are like "MOM! LOOK! PEANUTS!"--it's awesome.
Saturday morning we awoke and did an activity again. We helped the kids make beaded neclaces and braceletts. We had such an amazing turn out and I realize how open I was already being with the parents and the kids about talking about God with them. It was so awesome. I worked yesterday 1:00-basically 11:00. I was supposed to get off at 9:00 but then Rudy and Myself helped Matt with bathrooms. There's nothing like cleaning up bath houses on a camp ground and everything's going smoothly, then all of a sudden a toilet decides to overflow and there's urine filled water all over the floor. YUM! Haha. Rudy and I had to clean up the snack shop by the pool yesterday which took quite a few hours because the shop hadn't been opened in a year. There was DUST everywhere!

Now...how did Brittany manage to get injured? I'm a clutz. That's how. Haha. I'm hoping yesterday is not a sign of what's to come for me. I left from eating dinner in our office and I apparently missed the bottom step leaving the office and tripped. Let's just say I bled for about a mile as I went back to the pool to find the first aid kid. Of course I WOULD be the one to get hurt the first day on the job. It's okay though, I am def surviving and filled with the Joy God has given me. Today I work again at 1:00 at the snack shoppe and there will be activities going on around again. An Ice cream social at 1:00....games at 4:30...a movie at 8:30....all of which I will miss for work but I am here to shine the light of Christ and THAT is what counts. I can't express how, as tired as I already am, I am ENERGIZED by my heavenly father. Here's to the next two months!

Oh Love me!-and right now-HOLD ME TIGHT!

So I realize I haven't actually "blogged" in a while. I've been busy...and I've lost interest in writing. The past few weeks have been really hectic. They have been very busy with finishing school and just trying to keep my sanity. I can't begin to explain everything that has been going on in my life, but I can only say God is faithful and He loves me despite my down falls. I've struggled with all my might and tried as hard as I could to ignore God, and yet He's stayed right by my side...and gently whispered in my ear until I finally heard Him.
Next Friday I am leaving for Williamsburg, VA and I will be there until July 31st working with an organization known as "Summershine". It was started in 1979 by Pastor Chris Thore and it has blossomed in the past 30 years. I will be employed by the Kamp Ground of America (KOA) and will be working as a "summershiner" in order to Shine Christ's love throughout the camp site. I will be working along side 8 other people in order to make Jesus known to the people who are staying on the campsite. I am so excited to see how God is going to use each of us. We have a great team of people who have somewhat already grown close in the past few weeks. We had orientation in April and I have talked to a lot of the other staffers in the past few weeks. The assistant Activities Director and myself have already grown extremely close...I know that God is going to use us all in magnificent ways this summer. My patience will most certainly be tested but with God by my side I will most certainly perservere.

Tonight the assistant Activities Director told me to read Psalm 119:83-104. I won't post all of it but I will say that the jest of it is talking about God's great love for us. Through trials and tribulations God's word stands firm. Through everything going on in our lives...God is always there. When we feel like we've been knocked down and we can not make it anymore, God gives us that extra boost of energy to keep going. When we are being tested...God loves us enough to help us pass. O what a MIGHTY God we serve!