busy and hot ♥ june recap

I can't believe it's July already!! My mind cannot keep up with the passage of time. Shouldn't it still be March?!

The first week of June was spent getting ready for the second week of June...youth camp! The only thing I can remember from the first week was getting our 2013 camp tee shirts in the mail and distributing and getting money for those who wanted to buy one. I designed them this year! :)

Yes, it's a backwards mirror picture and I look like I'm missing a hand. This has already been pointed out to me. ;)

The cursive writing beneath "C-Stone" says, "...be thou an example of the believers...", and the back just said "Cornerstone Baptist Church Youth Camp 2013". I loved the color. :)

June 10-15 was our annual Youth Camp, ages 13-19, with a 20 year old thrown in the mix (me), my mom, Grandma, and PawPaw cooking, a few counselors, and a lot of preachers! Seven or eight churches besides us were represented by their youth. A lot of work and preparation goes into this week, but it's always worth it. We say this almost every year, but my heart tells me this may have been the best one yet. If you've ever been to a Youth Camp, then you may have experienced the emotions, crying, testifying, and commitment making that goes on. That's all very wonderful, but that's not what happened this year. While there was all that in moderation, it was a more somber year, and I'm praying that commitments were made in hearts that will last for a long time. A lot of kids came just looking for the Lord to speak with them - speaking personally from our church, there weren't many nasty sins to be taken care of, just hearts to be renewed. Everyone has said it was a different year, and it was definitely special.

 

 And then there was a free week. We needed it, because the fourth week of June was a combination of VBS and Jr. Camp!

June 24-28 - VBS and Jr. Camp. The way we do VBS is this: This year the "theme" was Missionaries of the Past. We had five rooms. Each teacher had one missionary they taught about, they decorated their room according to the missionary, his field, occupation, however they wanted to. One teacher even made her room look like the inside of an airplane and the kids got to "fly" to Burma to learn about Adonirom Judson!  The teachers and their helpers also dress up as either the missionary, the nationals, or just to so along with their room. The children are split into 5 different age groups, and each day they go to a different class. This allows the teachers to go all out on their rooms, learn lots of details about their missionary, and adjust their lessons for the different age groups. It's a fantastic way of doing it for us (we have a TON of children), and it goes over splendidly. Our missionaries were Dr. David Livingstone, Adonirom Judson, John Paton, William Carey, and C.T. Studd. I "traveled" with the 2 and 3 years olds, taking them to their classes - lesson, activities, crafts, lunch. I got to sit in on each different lesson, and it was so much fun! Here are some pictures from the different places we visited.

 

Our church has always emphasized and made heroes out of missionaries, so this was a very special week. I think the adults got as much out of it as the kids did, though perhaps on a deeper level. Jr. Camp started Tuesday night and ended Thursday night. I wasn't involved in this, but Amie was and said it was wonderful. It was for ages 8-12, and they went to VBS the first half of the day, then had Jr. Camp the last half, with services and staying the night at the church.

June 30 - The Sunday before Independence Day. We honored our Vetrans by having them stand on the platform while one held the flag and we sang our national anthem. Christine, Amie and I sang "Who Will Go to America" for special music.

(I was in the process of putting my other arm up in this picture, and then the camera ran out of memory space.)

I refuse to believe 2013 is over half way over. Happy July, dear readers! :)