Goodbye

Last week was difficult as I anticipated leaving camp and then had to say all my goodbyes. I know that I'm following God's direction to leave the camp, but it was hard to leave it behind. I'm so thankful that God lead me to IRBC six and a half years ago. I'm so thankful for the people He brought into my life as a result. I'm thankful for all I've learned. And I'm thankful for God using IRBC to continue to help shape me and mold me.

Here are a few pictures of some of my goodbyes. The camp staff surprised me in the office on my last day. I happened to be on the phone, taking my last official call when they all came in and surrounded me. It was hard to finish up that phone call with all of them circling my desk smiling at me. They sang a song for me, brought a yummy dessert and finished off with lots of hugs.


Hugging the camp kids goodbye.

These ladies have been such a blessing to me. I'm thankful for their friendship.

Here are the real show stoppers. The camp kids are amazing!!!!! It has been incredible to watch them grow and change over the last years. I will miss them so much. We're just missing two in this picture, Tyler and Amanda. Tyler did make it to the tail end of our little party, but Amanda was still at FBBC.

Then the camp ladies also had another goodbye for me. We met at Applebee's to have a final lunch together. My mom came along since she was there helping me pack and Mary Grismore joined us as well as my honorary mom. I'm so thankful for these ladies and their friendship.

Here's Judy and Barb. Judy gave me a baggie of her chocolate covered cherries since I'll miss getting her candy plate for Christmas. They aren't ready yet and I keep waiting for the day when I can finally dig in to them.

Lynnae and Mary - still tan from their South Africa trip. I think it's a little mean of Lynnae to finally have a baby when I'm gone! Yep, she's expecting and due in June. Mary has a perpetual smile on her face since she's going to be a grandma.

Anna and Michelle.

And finally, me with my two moms. Mary has been a great fill-in mom for me since mine was so far away. I'm very thankful for both of you.

No, James was not at Applebee's, but I thought this picture could wrap it up nicely. Boy, I'll miss this kid.

All Done!

It's all packed up and ready to go. "Go where?" I'm glad you asked. I have no idea. But it's ready to go where ever God leads me next.

My parents got to my place on Monday evening and we dove right in packing and sorting. I must say, my parents are amazing at packing! I think they have done this a few times. It would have taken me a month to do what they did in two days.

We left yesterday morning and got to their home early evening. I got everything that I brought with me unpacked and in it's rightful place last night.

Let me introduce you to my professional packers.



This one is better. If you ever move, I definitely recommend hiring these two. They'll have everything whipped into shape in a jiffy.

Love you guys! By the way, it's their 38th anniversary today! Happy Anniversary!

Progress?

So I'm supposed to be sorting and packing since I'm going to be moving next week. Okay, not really moving. I'll be packing up my apartment and putting all my stuff in storage at the camp. Then I plan to go to Illinois to spend some time with my family and getting some much needed rest.

So I thought I'd show you the progress I've made in packing. Ready? Are you sure you're ready? It's quite a site to be sure. Okay, here goes nothing.

Yep, this is it. But when you have a sinus infection, it's hard to hang your head down to pack up boxes. After packing up these boxes this morning, I'm ready for a nap. I'm very thankful my parents are coming to help next week. At this rate it could take me a month to do this myself.

End of an Era

Well, today was my last day to work at IRBC. Wow! Where has the time gone? I'm so very thankful that God chose to use me in the ministry here. I'm also very thankful for the opportunity to work with each secretary He brought to IRBC. They have each been a blessing to me. I'm thankful God has used IRBC to continue to mold me, transform me and help me grow closer to Him. I'm most thankful for the camp families who have become my family.


Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post later, but let's just say the camp family made my last day very memorable.

It's been bittersweet. I'm excited to see what God has around the next bend, yet my heart is breaking over leaving.

I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Giving Thanks

We had our Praise Banquet at church last night. What a wonderful time of praise to our Savior. One of our college guys gave the message and preached on Job. Not a typical thanksgiving message, but it was just what I needed. Somewhere in our little minds, we tend to make Thanksgiving about us. Oh, I know we GIVE THANKS for God's blessings. But what blessings to you tend to thank God for...family, job, home, friends, church, etc. Do we remember to thank Him for EVERYTHING? Job was left with nothing and yet offered praise to God. This is especially timely for me.

This is my last week at camp. Although I'm excited to find what God has around the next bend for me, it's also very heart breaking. I'm not just leaving a job, but my entire life from the last six years. Just thinking about it now is bringing tears. I know that it is an answer to prayer and I know that God will use this stage in my life to continue to draw me closer to Him, but it breaks my heart. But I choose to give thanks. I choose to give thanks for the difficult circumstances that brought me to this decision. I choose to give thanks I have no strength of my own and have to draw from His. (When I am weak; then He is strong).

I have wonderful things to be thankful for as well. But let's remember that even if God decides to take it all away, we still have a reason to be thankful - God. Job was simply rejoicing in who God was even though he had nothing..."The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21b

One of our teens sang this song last night and it was such a powerful message. Enjoy the song and let's be thankful for our Savior together.

Weekend with Annie

Annie came up to camp for one last weekend. We had such a great time. She brought work with her and did it up in the office while I was working too. Our weekend was filled with cooking together, movies, shopping, lots of laughter and prayer. I'm thankful for such a great friend.

Here are some pictures of our fun time.

Don't know what I was thinking..."Nose check!" No boogers...good.

We bought a fresh pineapple...so good!

Our table at Applebee's was wobbly, so Annie decided to fix it.

Lynnae and Stacy joined us for lunch. We had a great time.

Oops...Let's try again.

That's better.

I'm now addicted to shopping at thrift stores and I've passed along that addiction to Annie. Don't worry, we didn't buy all that. We did in fact try it all on though. It was a shared cart and most of it was Annie's. We both found some really nice stuff for really cheap prices.

Pigeon Impossible

I have a couple posts I want to write, but am waiting on pictures from people, so you'll have to be satisfied with this for now.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!!!!!

I promise you these are the best chocolate chip cookies you will ever taste. This is Judy's recipe and she is the best baker. So I hope you enjoy these as much as everyone else at camp does. These are going to my Jr. Girl's Class tomorrow night.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups chocolate chips

Mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

Just try to resist taking a bite while they are warm. Mmmmmm.

Incredible!

You guys will be amazed by this.

Freebie

This site has a free Christian audio book for download each month. This month is Desiring God by John Piper. There is a coupon code that you have put in so it's free. This month is NOV2009. Hope this is a helpful tool.