Campus by the Sea #3

Family Camp week #2 ended this past Saturday and on Sunday we brought in our week #3 group. It was hard saying goodbye to last week's group because I had some good friends in that group. But other than that I was really excited to move on to new campers!

On Saturday after the campers left, a small group of staff kayaked over to a sandy beach about a mile and a half west of the Campus by the Sea called White's Beach. Some of you may know that our camp has a rocky beach. You may think I'm kidding, but I love having a rocky shore because it makes the water so clear, however, it is nice to visit a sandy beach every so often. So about 10 of us headed over to White's with our soccer balls and frisbee in hand. After 30 minutes of paddling we landed on the beach and witnessed the biggest swell I have ever seen here on Catalina Island. One of the dangerous parts about this swell was that it was causing the waves to crash right on the sand so I was not comfortable swimming in it. Some of our kayakers flipped while trying to paddle into shore, but luckily no one was injured. We didn't think anything about the huge waves until the next day. On Sunday, a bunch of us were sitting on the beach waiting for the campers to arrive and huge waves were breaking on our camp's shore. About 20 minutes prior to the arrival of our campers, a huge wave came up and over the end of our pier. We were just finding out that this huge swell was caused by a storm off the coast of Mexico. Our staff was reminded of the power of God's creation but were so thankful no one was washed away. That night the waves destroyed two of our sea walls. Thankfully, the water was safe enough to swim in on Monday and was completely calm yesterday. We are so thankful to God and his protection over our staff and our campers!

This week Sydney is working with the nursery and play yard (ages 0-3) which is a huge change from working with the junior high and high school the last two weeks. She has had a cold since Saturday morning but is feeling better today. I am so impressed with the way she is taking care of the little ones! I love her heart. This summer has been a great time for Syndey and I to  grow closer as sisters!

This week my partner Seth and I have 13 four and five year olds. We are very lucky to have our friend Cody help in our class this week because of the dramatic increase of kids. Although we have 13, this is definitely one of our most mature groups we have had so far and we are SO thankful for that. I am just incredibly blessed by each and every little face and how each one of them has a heart for Jesus. Their eagerness to learn more is so encouraging and I wake up every day excited to see each and every one of them. I am also in awe of how God blessed me with Seth, my teaching partner. We balance each other out and we are always on the same page. We never disagree on anything and we are constantly picking up slack for one another. I couldn't imagine teaching with anyone else.

My parents are coming to camp this Saturday and I am so excited to see them. It's going to be great for them to get a sneak peak on how Sydney and I get to spend our summer.

If you feel led to pray for us you can pray for our Staff's health. None of us got the stomach bug but the majority of us have a cold, Sydney and I included. It hasn't really brought us down but it is a huge inconvenience.

Love you guys!