Join me on a mission of a lifetime!

A lot of folks have been asking about support and how everything is coming along so I decided to send out an update to spread awareness on the needs of my mission!

The Pizza Ranch Fundraiser was a success! So many people came out, the line wrapped around the restaurant, and to top it off, they ran out of food half way through so they had to go get more! It was such a riot and a ton of fun. A truly wonderful experience that I am blessed to have had. The total came to be $1,061.03!

I have a few families and churches interested in supporting me, but until it's finalized with camp I can't make any final plans about returning to camp. However, my goal is to get that all taken care of and be back serving at camp in January!

My support goal is $2,415 a month, I currently have raised 64.7% of that goal. I am in need of $852.50 a month. I am still in need of supporters who are willing to partner in this ministry with me long term.

If you would like to join this ministry with me please feel free to contact me! I would love to tell you about the wonderful things going on at Victory Bible Camps and Conference Center and how you can be part of it!

Praise God, Now & Always.

Today I was reading in James Chapter 5 about the Power of Prayer..

"Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops."

-James 5:13-18 (NLT)

As long as I continue to pray, fervently, then the results will be marvelous! God answers all prayers, big or small! I cannot believe how much of my life I wasted relying on my own strength. When all I had to do was ask The Lord for it! It's hard when you don't get the answer you were seeking. God's plan is always greater than our own. But sometimes our eyes are fixed on the here and now, rather than looking at The Big Picture. 

This past weekend I met a wonderful woman named Sarah, and she had a perspective that I couldn't help but take notice! When I told her about what we offered for her, things that we had done getting her set up, after EVERY THING she said two little words.... "Praise God!"  She didn't just say this once or twice, but she said this at least seven or eight times, every time we spoke! (Which was very often). I love to Praise God just as much as the next person.. But this was impressive! She had such a sincerity about this as well, you knew that it came from the heart! Her joy in thankfulness was infectious!

I think there is something we can all take away from the story of Sarah; her mindset. We should be Praising God consistantly! Our love for Him, and the joy we find, should all come from Him. Shouldn't we thank Him more often? I know that I should. It's so easy when something good happens to get excited, then quickly dismiss our joy and completely forget to thank the maker of joy. 

In just 22 days I will be back in Michigan. The thought is bittersweet! I am so blessed to be supported with 70% of my goal, $2,415 a month. God has been so good! I have been so blessed to have a few jobs set up for when I return to Michigan. They are for families that I am close with and understand that I needed something short term to help me out while I was in Michigan, WHAT A BLESSING!

Praise God.. I'll say it again.. PRAISE GOD! I pray that I will never forget to say a thank you to God for creating Joy. 

Re-Cap

I am blessed beyond measure.

We had a leadership camp out before orientation started for the summer staff. It was a blast! Three days and two nights spending time in the outdoors. We spent a lot of time sitting around the camp fire getting to know each other. When the trip was over, I was in awe of how incredibly wonderful our God is! He brought people from all walks of life to serve Him with one purpose for an entire summer. How cool is that?!

During our week two we didn't have a speaker for the week. We used our staff and we shared what God has done in our personal lives. I was blessed with the opportunity to share my testimony during week two of camp. God did some wondrous things that week, I am so blessed to be part of His amazing plan.

We took our staff to Seward, Alaska for a mini vacation during our dead week! Was able to spend the morning in this beautiful coffee shop drinking tea and talking about God with these ladies, plus Kelly who was taking this picture.

It rained most of the time we were in Seward, so we were soaked! But it was a blast even with the bad weather. 

Enjoyed lunch at the Portage Glacier! Also, I got to show off my new rain coat.

Fourth of July!

Espresso, my sanity through the summer... Three cups at a time. ;)

Busy as a bee! That's how summer camp goes. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but here was a re-cap of what has happened so far! We're currently on week four of our summer camp program! This summer has been one for the books! I have been privileged to serve God with some very strong leaders this summer. I don't mean to brag, but God really knew what He was doing when He put together our summer staff! I think back upon this past winter, we had absolutely no clue what God was going to do for the summer of 2013! We couldn't even begin to imagine who God was going to bring, it was a pleasant surprise! Something that I tried not to worry about all winter, God knew already. 

What is worry anyway, but the opposite of faith.

Everything rides on Hope now.

Well, a lot sure has changed in my life within the past few days! Just as I was finally getting back in the swing of things, going back to work after my accident, there was a another twist in the lives of my family. I got a call on Sunday afternoon that my Great Grandma was placed in hospice, she didn't have much longer to live. Although we all knew this day had to come eventually, the terror of not being able to see my Great Grandma one last time haunted me. With the help of some wonderful friends and family, I booked a flight and left later that evening.

The flights were absolutely horrible! To make a very long story short, I was supposed to get in at 11:40am on Monday morning and I didn't land in Grand Rapids until 6:00pm Monday evening. I was tired, sore, nauseous, and of course emotional.

When I was finally able to see my Great Grandma, she didn't remember me.. How do you handle a situation like that? When a lady you've known your entire life, a woman that has been there for you through everything, doesn't even know your own name?

"Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

-James 1:2-3

Although I was not thrilled with my current circumstances I know that GOD IS IN IT! He had this all planned out from before time was even created. I've been reading a lot about Job, what a beautiful testimony he has! Trial after trial, he stayed faithful in Christ. As long as I have my faith in my God, then I can handle anything thrown at me. 

"We have this hope, it anchors the soul. Firm and secure."

-Hebrews 6:19

I've been listening to Addison Road all morning, praying that God will give me the strength to continue to be strong in Him through all of the struggles of life! He is my guidance, my protector, my strength, my stability, my everything. I will trust in Him through all things! 

Hope Now by Addison Road

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours
I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm
I'm not my own
I've been carried by You
All my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
You've become my hearts desire
I will sing Your praises higher
Cause Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free

New Chapter.

I have been serving at Victory Bible Camp since 2009. My first year I came up on a work team for two weeks, I served in the Kitchen helping prepare meals for the campers and staff. The following two years I counseled middle school age kids, then elementary age kids.

After my third trip to Alaska I decided that I was done. God had used me as much as I thought at Victory and it was time for me to move on. Boy, was I wrong! God laid it upon my heart to devote another summer, I was scared of taking a summer off of work but I knew that God needed me there. So I applied to come for another summer. After I sent my application I thought I was good! I was going to serve God for another summer and then return to Michigan and work again. Once more, I was wrong.

After the new year I really began to pray about the life God wanted me to live. Praying whether to continue my jobs of being a nanny and working at a tanning salon, or to do something more with my life. Through months of intense prayer, God brought me to the conclusion that I was not put on this earth to simply work and go through the motions of my everyday life in Michigan. He was asking more than I thought I could give!
When I brought it up to my parents, they urged me to continue to follow God's calling,  with caution. They were going to support me no matter where God wanted me! After I sent in my application, I didn't hear anything for quite some time. I was beginning to loose faith, I was starting to doubt the plan God set before me. However, three weeks before Summer Camp started I was informed that I was accepted to stay at Victory for a one year internship beginning at the end of this coming summer! I WAS ELATED! Words cannot express how truly excited and blessed I felt. It was all coming together, my support was coming in and I was getting to serve God the way I now know I was born to do.

After a few months into my internship I began to pray about becoming Permanent Staff. Was this something God wants me to do for the rest of my life? Is this a commitment I can make at my young age? I began to look at my life, everything I wanted to accomplish, things I wanted to do.

Was I okay with settling down at age 20? Not being married and living so far from my family?

Yes. My age does not determine my maturity nor my ability to serve God  in the biggest way I can imagine. When I accepted Christ at age 17, I chose to give my life to Him. I now truly know what devoting my life to God is! It is devoting my life to serving Him through the ministry of Victory Bible Camp. Being single has given me the ability to serve God and make crazy decisions like move to Alaska, work at Victory, become full time! If I had only five years left to live, I would want to spend every single day of those five years serving my awesome God here at Victory Bible Camp. I have truly fallen in love with this place and the ministry here. My joy comes from waking up every morning, knowing that in some way, whether big or small, I get to serve my almighty God today! I am so blessed to be able to work here at Victory Bible Camp.

As I become full time here at Victory, I am beginning to raise support to stay at Victory indefinitely  Many of you reading this have already been supportive of me here during my internship. I am looking to raise $2,415 a month for as long as God wants me here. I am asking for pledges to help meet my goal! My internship is done August 1st, it would be absolutely amazing if I was able to stay on after that! So please, pray with me as I am raising the support needed for me to serve God. Become a partner with me in the ministry God has here! Below you will find a link to Victory's website, I encourage you to see what's going on here! God is doing so much here, I want nothing more than to share it with the world!


http://www.victorymin.org/donate.html