Camp, Birthday, and back to Florida

Saturday, July 23rd, I drove from Portland to Gig Harbor, WA to volunteer at Camp Agape. Camp Agape is a camp created to provide a fun, relaxing, and loving environment for families with children who have cancer. This year I believe 15 families attended. The camp is really neat because it provides an individual counselor for every child who attends camp, whether they are a child with cancer or the sibling of a child with cancer.

The first two days in Gig Harbor were spent setting up camp, doing counselor training, and preparing for the families to arrive. As part of the setup process I was able to put my engineering skills to work helping set up an old army tent without directions (let's just say we had extra poles when we were finished, but the tent didn't fall down during the week) and my carpentry skills assembling a gazebo type stucture for the parents to hang out in and relax. Let's just say I was pretty proud of myself. On Sunday the families began to arrive and were greeted by excited counselors ready to involve them in all kinds of activities. All in all, the week was filled with fun and new experiences for many of the campers, and a more relaxing time for the parents.

My role at camp was more technical in nature. I was part of the team taking pictures and putting together the end of camp slide show. I was very blessed to work with Emily, Dave, and Jon, friends from the AO House in Missoula. Dave, Emily, and Jon took most of the pictures, and I tried my hand at the art of photography as well. In the evenings we would copy pictures from our cameras onto an external hard drive and proceed to spend hours deleting, editing, and selecting pictures for the final slide show. I later inserted all the pictures into a powerpoint to create at 15 minute presentation with approximately 300 pictures. Not so bad for a weeks worth of work if you ask me! It was tiring, but definitely fun!

Camp ended with the slide show and a sharing time on Friday evening. It was great to hear the laughs and sighs of the audience as they viewed the pictures from the week. Such a blessing to be a part of something that touches so many people's hearts and lives. It is awesome how God allows us to be a part of things so much bigger than ourselves!

I don't quite know how to express the way this camp has impacted my heart, but I think I met some of the bravest people I will ever meet in life sometime during that week. I still struggle to understand why God allows some things to happen, but I thank him for the opportunity to be a part of these families' lives.

Following the slide show and sharing time I got back into my car and drove back to Portland for the night. The next morning I drove to Depoe Bay, OR where I met my family for my Mom's 50th Birthday! It really was an awesome weekend. My sister, Leigh, and her fiance, Waylon, flew in from Phoenix on Friday to surprise Mom. She had no idea they were coming! Then they all drove out to the coast to say at an inn by the beach. When I arrived I found my Mom and little sister, Lacey, down on the beach. The weather was sunny and beautiful with clouds of mist drifting in from the ocean, and the water was amazing colors of blue and green. I sat and talked with them for a bit, then we returned to the inn for lunch. Picture: The beach at the Inn from above.

Mom was again surprised when her coworkers began to arrive for the party as well as one of her friends from college who she had not seen in 25 years. It was so neat to see them all interact and the smile on Mom's face. We then had a delicious lunch and some cake, and she opened gifts. All in all, I think it was a great birthday! Picture: View from the beach!

The evening winded down and we all eventually went to bed. In the morning, we met some of Mom's friends for breakfast and a short walk. Leigh, Waylon, and Lacey were traveling back to Phoenix that afternoon, so we said goodbye to them and sent them on their way. Mom and Patrick went to visit some more friends, and I finally settled in for a nap. After waking up to the ocean breeze and sunshine I decided to head down to the beach for some sun, exercise, and time to journal. It was a very peaceful time! Picture: My sunny spot on the beach.

The next day Mom, Patrick, and I traveled back to Portland where I spent the remainder of the day packing for Haiti and running last minute errands. The next morning Dana came to pick me up and take me to the airport. We had a great breakfast together, and then I was off to Florida.
I was met at the airport by good friends from ECHO and was eager to hear all the recent news. We chatted all the way back to the ECHO farm where I was showed my room and quickly went to bed. The past couple days have kind of been a blur readjusting to the time, heat, and humidity here. I spent the first day saying hello to people and doing logistical things, the second day at the beach, of course!

My friends Carolyn, who I will be traveling to Haiti with, Andrea, Daphne, and I drove out to Sanibel and Captiva Islands to spend the afternoon. We stopped and had lunch at The Bubble Room, a very eclectic restaurant that puts theme restaurants like Applebees and the Hard Rock Cafe to shame. It was a really neat place. After lunch we went to the beach, threw around a football, went for a long walk, and a swim. The perfect beach day! Picture: Daphne, Me, and Carolyn trying to be bubbles outside The Bubble Room.

Later in the week, as sometimes happens on a farm, an animal is slaughtered. In this case, it was one of ECHO's goats. So on Friday we had a goat roast at an ECHO staff member's house. This was my first time eating goat, and I must say that it does NOT taste like chicken. Goat has a distinct taste of its own, but I liked it just the same. I'm sure this won't be the last goat that I eat for a while, so bon appetit! Picture 1: Me eating some goat meat. Picture 2: Grilling the goat.

Today I am again packing and doing laundry. I'm getting really good at both of these activities. This afternoon a group of us are going to the beach, and tomorrow I will travel to Miami with Carolyn and Daphne to head off to Haiti. Consequently, this will be my last blog from the states. Please pray for safe travel to Haiti and servant hearts for Carolyn and myself. I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to share this experience with all of you.

As I prepare to leave the Lord has placed this passage on my heart. I will leave it with all of you. Be encouraged, for Jesus has already overcome the world!

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

More soon...