Summer is here!!

Well friends and family.... SUMMER 2013 IS HERE! This is what we wait all year for. This is what we spend 9 months preparing for and it's here! It is such an exciting time and also such a crazy time for our marriage. These next 3 months we will have the honor and blessing of watching the lost be found, the dead come to life, and the blind, see. As you can image, this is why we do what we do. My husband will work 16 hour days most everyday with the exception of a night and a day off. I will be driving to camp multiple times a day to watch the Lord move in unbelievable ways. Taylor just started his new job as associate director at the Shores camp which is the high school camp! Last summer we had the pleasure of working at the Bluffs which is family camp. Each summer brings its own blessings and challenges. I think that our main challenges this summer will finding time together where we are not both exhausted from work and school. From what I have seen so far youth camp requires a totally different level of energy than family camp does. No joke, the loudest music I have every heard. I love watching my husband at youth camp. God has designed him which such incredible gifts and talents and as a wife, I find such joy in watching him do his job well. 

We have finished training week where a bunch of staffers come and get trained in ropes or lifeguarding.

I had the pleasure of training almost 40 lifeguards last week. Super fun to get to know people in that way. We are now in orientation week where every staffer is here. They are going through intense sessions each day preparing them for this summer. This is a long week for them and for us. In exactly FIVE days, campers.will.be.here. Whhhhaatt? That is crazy to me. 

If you find yourself in time with the Lord thinking of people to pray for, please add us to your list.

Things to pray for:

-That God would use us and our marriage in ways which exemplify the Gospel

-That we would be dependent on the Lord's strength and love and not our own

-That our eyes may be open to specific needs that people have

-Pray for our bible studies that we are leading this summer

-That we would stay unified as husband and wife and be merciful and gracious to one another

-Each week we have new campers, pray for their hearts to be ready to hear the Gospel

Thank you for all of your support and prayers in advance! Here's to another crazy summer!

Meet Laine.

My friend Laine just wrote a blog that is simply wonderful. Take a minute to enjoy her wise and witty words. Be sure to watch the video. 

http://lainelindsey.blogspot.com/

"It is in vain that you seek within yourselves for the cure for your miseries. All your intelligence can only bring you to realize that it is not within yourselves that you will find either truth or good." 

- Blaise Pascal

Boldly Proclaiming What Is True!

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love, 
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands, 
My name is written on His heart; 
I know that while in heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair, 
And tells me of the guilt within, 
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died, 
My sinful soul is counted free; 
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One, 
Risen Son of God!

Happy Birthday My Love

Two years ago today, my sneaky little husband proposed to me in the midst of a surprise birthday party that I could have sworn that I planned. He's so smart. Happy Birthday my dear, sorry I got engaged in jeggings :) You're the greatest.

Truth From My Text Book.

I ran across this quote in my text book. I love it and I pray to continue to think more and more like this. After all, He loved me and died for me although I was and still am a sinner. I want to love like that.

"Love every man in spite of his falling into sin. Never mind the sins, but remember that the foundation of man is the same- the image of God." - John of Kronstadt

A Little Nugget on Deaf Culture

Obviously I'm a sucker for Sign Language. I love everything about it and I adore the people who use it.  Deaf culture is such a wonderful thing to be educated on. SO many hearing people have never been exposed to deaf people, let alone deaf culture. I found this lovely video of a man willing to do a presentation on the deaf world. It's long but if you find yourself interested, it's worth educating yourself :)