Well this past week was Daniel's last week with the CK7 team.
This was also Taylor's week to teach archery.
Talk about some new experiences.
Sunday night I sat down with Daniel and we went through the debriefs for the track and I suddenly got extremely nervous. I had helped Daniel the first week so I kind of knew what was going on, but not really.
Monday came and Daniel and I woke up early and did some work in the morning and got some really good conversation, then the camp week began. Literally within the first thirty minutes of registration it began to rain. And when I say rain, I mean pour. T-shirts moves inside and we continue to get work done no matter what weather... I guess you could just call us the United States Post Office.
Bible study went great this past week and the kids loved it, but probably the most exciting news is the Riptides won the Captain's Oar the first day at recreation! I nearly flipped out because I was so excited! I set up the archery track time and literally just began to pray. Track A went great without a hitch and track B suddenly became interesting. I had another child with Autism in this track and his name was Dima. He came up and told me on the first day that he probably wouldn't be able to participate a lot because he didn't do well waiting in lines and concentrating on something he didn't want to do. I thought that it was going to be a challenge whenever he started having the time of his life. He started challenging people to shooting competitions because he enjoyed it so much! It was amazing to see him in the zone! Throughout the weeks track times Dima became my AA (archery assistant) and he absolutely loved giving the commands and helping me out with whatever needed to be done. Dima quickly worked his way into my heart and it was a struggle to see him leave on Friday.
Not only did the Riptides win the Oar on Friday, WE WON THE ENTIRE COLOR COMPETITION. Which outside of camp that seems like no big deal, but seeing how competitive I am it was awesome to see all of our hard work paid off and the kids got to live in the victory for a little bit!
I am slowly coming to the realization of me going home and being without my team. I'm super excited to return to my family and friends but I know that my time for this summer is almost up, but that doesn't mean that God stops working in my life. He just starts working in a different way.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
IT'S CHRISTMAS AT CENTRIKID!
Last week was Christmas at CentriKid Camps and it was awesome! We all drew a name and they became our Secret Encourager that week.
Monday: One Dollar Day
Thursday: Pimp My OMC
I got to wear:
I got:
I promise that camp happened that week too, but Christmas was a huge part of it for the staff. This was actually the only week I got a TA and she did an amazing job being with the kids and getting them to do what I said. It was nice to have some backup. Track B was interesting. I had a kid named Jarod that had autism and he was amazing. The first day we played games and worked on trapping, and Jarod actually participated! His mom came and told me that this was the most she had seen him participate in a while and it made me smile that he found something that he could do with other kids and not feel different. Jarod became my little camper for the week and it was amazing to see him grow and come out of his shell more and more as the week progressed.
Not only did camp happen but my mom left for Peru that week. My heart went out to Peru and I so wanted to go and see the people that I worked with last summer. However, since I'm at camp I had to let other people go in my place. They had a safe trip there and back and I loved reading posts about what was happening over there. God had some amazing plans for that team and they were carried out.
Monday: One Dollar Day
- I got Hair TuTu's (hairband with ribbons tied on it)
- I got my person a cute rubber bracelet
- I got Diet Pepsi and Reese's Pieces
- My person got Sour Patch Kids!
- I got my favorite bible verse on a poster
- My person got a really sweet poster board note
Thursday: Pimp My OMC
I got to wear:
- Fluorescent construction vest with rhinestones vest
- fluorescent soccer socks
- ninja turtle boxers
- "Take it to the Streets" boys graphic tee's
- rhinestoned visor
- Black tee with I'm A Rockstar ironed on
- Miami Ink boxers
- Black bandanna
- Aviators
- I got a coloring book!!
- My person got a verse painted on a piece of wood
I got:
- Nice Gap shorts
- Painting
- Bowl
- Book of Useless trivia
- Headbands
- Black and white striped tank
- Paintbrushes
I promise that camp happened that week too, but Christmas was a huge part of it for the staff. This was actually the only week I got a TA and she did an amazing job being with the kids and getting them to do what I said. It was nice to have some backup. Track B was interesting. I had a kid named Jarod that had autism and he was amazing. The first day we played games and worked on trapping, and Jarod actually participated! His mom came and told me that this was the most she had seen him participate in a while and it made me smile that he found something that he could do with other kids and not feel different. Jarod became my little camper for the week and it was amazing to see him grow and come out of his shell more and more as the week progressed.
Not only did camp happen but my mom left for Peru that week. My heart went out to Peru and I so wanted to go and see the people that I worked with last summer. However, since I'm at camp I had to let other people go in my place. They had a safe trip there and back and I loved reading posts about what was happening over there. God had some amazing plans for that team and they were carried out.
Skycroft, Week 1
So we arrive here about ten thirty at night and we all get out and guess what? If you said Taylor is carsick, you are dead on. We met the Skycroft Staff that we would be working with for the next four weeks and then crawled into our bunk beds, which are located in a four bedroom house that I'm sharing with 17 other people. Needless to say this was going to be an interesting experience for the team. We wake up and set up the Audi and let the normal camp set up process begin.
Monday arrives and the normal registration process of handing out t-shirts begins. I was sharing a church group that week with Daniel and little did we know instead of being on the ball, this church WAS the ball. They brought 40+ kids to camp and they were all great and well behaved.
Now onto probably the most phenomenal bible study group that I've ever had. Monday night we got in the room and the kids were rambunctious and two of my boys didn't want to listen to me. I even texted a friend that night and said I'm going to need some severe patience with that week. I had a little kid named Marc Nassar that became my permanent hip attachment that week. I was a bit worried about this group, but after Monday night Tuesday they came in and listened like little angels. The first day we talk about how God provides forgiveness and my kids ate it up. We had to go all the way back to Genesis to see the beginning of sin and I had to explain how God knew that we were going to sin, but he loved us so much that he made the plan with Jesus to save us later down the road. The next day we talked about God provides Calling and I shared the story of my brother, father, and Marshall being in the hospital allowed me to see God placing the calling of nursing on my life. I didn't finish Marshall's life Wednesday and when I cut off the story my kid's flipped out and asked me NOT to go recreation and finish the story and go into the next bible study. Needless to say, I made them go to rec and made them enjoy it.
We had to do rainy day recreation one day and we played a game called "Draw It On" where you have to draw on the back of the person in front of you and it continues on until the person at the front of the line has to guess what was drawn. Once we supposed to draw a house with a door on it and it turned into this, :P, I'm not exactly sure how that happened but the imagination of a child is limitless. Not only did I get to do rainy dac rec but I also got to go down an epic water slide called Damascus Road. I simple fell in love. The kids ate it up and after going down, I completely understood.
Monday arrives and the normal registration process of handing out t-shirts begins. I was sharing a church group that week with Daniel and little did we know instead of being on the ball, this church WAS the ball. They brought 40+ kids to camp and they were all great and well behaved.
Now onto probably the most phenomenal bible study group that I've ever had. Monday night we got in the room and the kids were rambunctious and two of my boys didn't want to listen to me. I even texted a friend that night and said I'm going to need some severe patience with that week. I had a little kid named Marc Nassar that became my permanent hip attachment that week. I was a bit worried about this group, but after Monday night Tuesday they came in and listened like little angels. The first day we talk about how God provides forgiveness and my kids ate it up. We had to go all the way back to Genesis to see the beginning of sin and I had to explain how God knew that we were going to sin, but he loved us so much that he made the plan with Jesus to save us later down the road. The next day we talked about God provides Calling and I shared the story of my brother, father, and Marshall being in the hospital allowed me to see God placing the calling of nursing on my life. I didn't finish Marshall's life Wednesday and when I cut off the story my kid's flipped out and asked me NOT to go recreation and finish the story and go into the next bible study. Needless to say, I made them go to rec and made them enjoy it.
We had to do rainy day recreation one day and we played a game called "Draw It On" where you have to draw on the back of the person in front of you and it continues on until the person at the front of the line has to guess what was drawn. Once we supposed to draw a house with a door on it and it turned into this, :P, I'm not exactly sure how that happened but the imagination of a child is limitless. Not only did I get to do rainy dac rec but I also got to go down an epic water slide called Damascus Road. I simple fell in love. The kids ate it up and after going down, I completely understood.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Combo Camp
Okay, so I'm a little behind on the posting but I'm human.
We arrived in Ridgecrest after a 13 hour drive from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to Ridgecrest, North Carolina. And let me just tell you, I'm so glad that I got out of the van when I did because I promise you I was going to toss my cookies if I hadn't been able to get out. We arrived and unpacked everything and I got asked if I could sew. I answered that odd question with an affirmative and agreed to sew without knowing what object I would be taking a needle and thread to. It just so happens that the object was plastic mesh that is part of the Paca Pit. Now, the Paca Pit is just this HUGE blue square with a partition that we fill both sides with packing peanuts and let the kids hop into and find the red ball for one of our games here at camp. The mesh however in the Paca Pit it a thick plastic mesh with about 1 cm x 1 cm squares. Apparently a child lept into the Paca Pit and busted some of the squares in the mesh and we couldn't have that so Taylor was recruited to sew those back together.... about two hours laterI have a sore back, poked fingers, a huge ego, and a rather dashing looking Paca Pit mesh (if I do say so myself.) After Audi setup I got to meet two counselors that worked the camp I attended last year and it made my heart so happy! It's a small small world.
Plus the laundry was free and so I finally got to clean my clothes without having to put quarters in the machine. Outside of the laundry room was what I learned was called and "Eno Village" an Eno is a type of hammock and Lindsey had one so she put hers up there and was just a swinging when I decided it would be fun to try one out. Although I was completely terrified that I was going to end up flipping out of it and onto the ground, this gentleman got up out of his and let me try it out for a little bit. I successfully sat in and exited the hammock without landing on the ground, and in my world that is an accomplishment all in itself.
Let camp begin. This camp couldn't be normal seeing as we were working along side Fuge Camps and we began on the 4th of July! The kids were great and I was just ready to begin dancing and having fun. My church group was the last one there but man were they awesome. It was their first year doing a CentriKid camp ever and I couldn't be happier that I was their host. After the opening celebration I met my bible study and knew that we were going to be a fantastic match. I had a sweet little girl named Haley that soon became my helper because she clung to my leg and followed me wherever I went. My kids had a lot of energy and a lot of love to give me and coming off of a severely emotional week I was super ready to receive it.
Now Monday night was the same as the regular schedule but that was about it. Tuesday morning the wakeup call was super early because I had to set up my track time since we had to do tracks in the morning. That being said, we get done with I Can't Wait and begin the, I kid you not, fifteen minute trek UP the mountain trail. It actually wasn't that bad until some people started to lag behind and then Fun Miss Taylor disappeared and Business Miss Taylor showed up. I began to herd those kids up the mountain like a flock of sheep and believe me they made it without any scars.... the first two days. The last day of track, the kids were coming back down I hear a yelp and see a kid sobbing and sitting on the steps. Now I've only had one official class of athletic training but I know that a kid sobbing and sitting and holding his leg is never good. I ended up carrying him back up the stairs and to my director to get him taken down the hill. I'd never felt more like a fireman in my life.
After track times was lunch followed by recreation. We had about an hour to eat meals and it was literally like heaven on Earth. I don't know what I'm going to do whenever I get back into the real world and have to carry on an adult conversation while eating and have the option to eat slow... BUT, recreation was fun as always and my kids loved it. (Even with a June beetle infestation) Thursday was OMC and that was AWESOME!! The Green Team did The National Anthem as our cheer and it was fantastic!! We won the oar for the cheer!
Friday was bittersweet. It was nice to get to the last spot but I also didn't want to leave Ridgecrest. The van pulled out and we began our trip to the next and final destination for Team 7 of CentriKid Camps 2011.
We arrived in Ridgecrest after a 13 hour drive from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida to Ridgecrest, North Carolina. And let me just tell you, I'm so glad that I got out of the van when I did because I promise you I was going to toss my cookies if I hadn't been able to get out. We arrived and unpacked everything and I got asked if I could sew. I answered that odd question with an affirmative and agreed to sew without knowing what object I would be taking a needle and thread to. It just so happens that the object was plastic mesh that is part of the Paca Pit. Now, the Paca Pit is just this HUGE blue square with a partition that we fill both sides with packing peanuts and let the kids hop into and find the red ball for one of our games here at camp. The mesh however in the Paca Pit it a thick plastic mesh with about 1 cm x 1 cm squares. Apparently a child lept into the Paca Pit and busted some of the squares in the mesh and we couldn't have that so Taylor was recruited to sew those back together.... about two hours laterI have a sore back, poked fingers, a huge ego, and a rather dashing looking Paca Pit mesh (if I do say so myself.) After Audi setup I got to meet two counselors that worked the camp I attended last year and it made my heart so happy! It's a small small world.
Plus the laundry was free and so I finally got to clean my clothes without having to put quarters in the machine. Outside of the laundry room was what I learned was called and "Eno Village" an Eno is a type of hammock and Lindsey had one so she put hers up there and was just a swinging when I decided it would be fun to try one out. Although I was completely terrified that I was going to end up flipping out of it and onto the ground, this gentleman got up out of his and let me try it out for a little bit. I successfully sat in and exited the hammock without landing on the ground, and in my world that is an accomplishment all in itself.
Let camp begin. This camp couldn't be normal seeing as we were working along side Fuge Camps and we began on the 4th of July! The kids were great and I was just ready to begin dancing and having fun. My church group was the last one there but man were they awesome. It was their first year doing a CentriKid camp ever and I couldn't be happier that I was their host. After the opening celebration I met my bible study and knew that we were going to be a fantastic match. I had a sweet little girl named Haley that soon became my helper because she clung to my leg and followed me wherever I went. My kids had a lot of energy and a lot of love to give me and coming off of a severely emotional week I was super ready to receive it.
Now Monday night was the same as the regular schedule but that was about it. Tuesday morning the wakeup call was super early because I had to set up my track time since we had to do tracks in the morning. That being said, we get done with I Can't Wait and begin the, I kid you not, fifteen minute trek UP the mountain trail. It actually wasn't that bad until some people started to lag behind and then Fun Miss Taylor disappeared and Business Miss Taylor showed up. I began to herd those kids up the mountain like a flock of sheep and believe me they made it without any scars.... the first two days. The last day of track, the kids were coming back down I hear a yelp and see a kid sobbing and sitting on the steps. Now I've only had one official class of athletic training but I know that a kid sobbing and sitting and holding his leg is never good. I ended up carrying him back up the stairs and to my director to get him taken down the hill. I'd never felt more like a fireman in my life.
After track times was lunch followed by recreation. We had about an hour to eat meals and it was literally like heaven on Earth. I don't know what I'm going to do whenever I get back into the real world and have to carry on an adult conversation while eating and have the option to eat slow... BUT, recreation was fun as always and my kids loved it. (Even with a June beetle infestation) Thursday was OMC and that was AWESOME!! The Green Team did The National Anthem as our cheer and it was fantastic!! We won the oar for the cheer!
Friday was bittersweet. It was nice to get to the last spot but I also didn't want to leave Ridgecrest. The van pulled out and we began our trip to the next and final destination for Team 7 of CentriKid Camps 2011.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
God Knew... Taylor Didn't
Well to sum up Week 4 Cycle 5 would take a lot of tears, smiles, and phone calls. To start off I knew that these kids were going to be special seeing as it was my last week in Florida and I really really wanted to end on a good note. The kids arrived on Monday and we got them settled in like usual and then I met my bible study... Those kids had so much energy that it was just amazing to see what all they were willing to do just to chant "RIPTIDES" or "MEAN GREEN".
After the first day, Tuesday started out pretty normally with recreation then bible study. However, after bible study my day definitely took a huge turn. I learned that one of the campers mother had passed away from brain cancer and that the camper wasn't going to be told until the dad made up his mind on the arrangements. Although little Bridgette wasn't allowed to know they still wanted me to talk to her and basically do "what if" counseling with her. She had even prayed that morning that she wouldn't have to go home early. It was so hard talking to her and knowing in the back of my mind that her mom was gone. Bridgette talked about her mom in present tense and that really broke me. After talking with her I had to just make it through the day like nothing was wrong and I was only able to do that simply by the grace of God.
Wednesday went like any other day and I found out that Bridgette was going to be leaving the next day to go home with her dad. I made a special point to spend time with her and just love on her for that day and see how she was enjoying camp.
Thursday was the culmination of all things emotionally, physically, and spiritually testing. Bridgette's group leader called me and said that she was going to get her from bible study and that she wanted me to be there (which was fine) so I went on over and met up with Mrs. Robin before we went and got her and said that they were just going to tell her that she was going home unless she asked why she was leaving, they weren't going to tell her that her mom had passed. Well sure as the sky was blue, Bridgette asked why she had to go home and when Mrs. Robin looked at me with a look of sheer panic in her eyes I knew that she couldn't tell Bridgette that her mom had died, and that I had to deliver the bad news. I told Bridgette and then she just kind of looked into the distance and shut down. I think it was the shock of the news that made her do that. Whenever we asked her if she wanted to go or stay, she said that she wanted to stay to play OMC and the head home. I thought for sure that my role in her life was over and that she was going to go home and not have to hear from me again... in that area I was completely wrong.
Green team did the cheer and played their heart out at OMC that day. We were rewarded with The Captains Oar and placed fourth in the game part of OMC so it was overall a good day. After that I went on PM cooler duty with my crew and knew that I had a lot of track time setup to complete... whenever I got a call from Mrs. Robin. It turned out that Bridgette wanted to speak with me one last time before she left camp. Well I rushed over there and met her and I could tell that she had been crying pretty hard. We talked about her mom passing and how God had a plan for this and that maybe one day she would be able to comfort a person who was going through the death of a parent just like I was able to comfort her when it hit me. God knew that I needed to be on this specific team this summer just for this. No one else here had gone through that and could relate to her like I could. I started crying not from sadness but from joy that the purpose of my pain and sorrow was starting to be revealed to me in a way that I couldn't ever imagine. After my talk little Bridgette went home. I called Lindsey after that and it was a comfort to be reaffirmed that I was placed there for maybe just that specific reason.
Later that day was the variety show and it went amazingly well! All the kids performing did a spectacular job! Plus we found out that night which color came in first place and won bragging rights over that entire week of camp. Which team came out on top? Well the GREEN TEAM DID OF COURSE!! I was SO excited that the Green Team came out with a win! That night after the variety show we got prepared for worship, and what an amazing service it was. So many kids responded to God and how he was moving in their lives it just made me so happy that the kids were getting it.
We packed up and moved on Friday to our current location of Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. We're doing a combo camp with Fuge this week so our schedule will be a little off but it's all good because I just get to meet more people and more kids! Please be praying that the team can adjust to the schedule without any trouble and that we'll be able to minister not only to the CentriKid campers but to Fuge campers as well. Also pray for health on the team, another climate change simply means another easy way for us to get sick.
Peace, Love, and CK.
-Taylor
After the first day, Tuesday started out pretty normally with recreation then bible study. However, after bible study my day definitely took a huge turn. I learned that one of the campers mother had passed away from brain cancer and that the camper wasn't going to be told until the dad made up his mind on the arrangements. Although little Bridgette wasn't allowed to know they still wanted me to talk to her and basically do "what if" counseling with her. She had even prayed that morning that she wouldn't have to go home early. It was so hard talking to her and knowing in the back of my mind that her mom was gone. Bridgette talked about her mom in present tense and that really broke me. After talking with her I had to just make it through the day like nothing was wrong and I was only able to do that simply by the grace of God.
Wednesday went like any other day and I found out that Bridgette was going to be leaving the next day to go home with her dad. I made a special point to spend time with her and just love on her for that day and see how she was enjoying camp.
Thursday was the culmination of all things emotionally, physically, and spiritually testing. Bridgette's group leader called me and said that she was going to get her from bible study and that she wanted me to be there (which was fine) so I went on over and met up with Mrs. Robin before we went and got her and said that they were just going to tell her that she was going home unless she asked why she was leaving, they weren't going to tell her that her mom had passed. Well sure as the sky was blue, Bridgette asked why she had to go home and when Mrs. Robin looked at me with a look of sheer panic in her eyes I knew that she couldn't tell Bridgette that her mom had died, and that I had to deliver the bad news. I told Bridgette and then she just kind of looked into the distance and shut down. I think it was the shock of the news that made her do that. Whenever we asked her if she wanted to go or stay, she said that she wanted to stay to play OMC and the head home. I thought for sure that my role in her life was over and that she was going to go home and not have to hear from me again... in that area I was completely wrong.
Green team did the cheer and played their heart out at OMC that day. We were rewarded with The Captains Oar and placed fourth in the game part of OMC so it was overall a good day. After that I went on PM cooler duty with my crew and knew that I had a lot of track time setup to complete... whenever I got a call from Mrs. Robin. It turned out that Bridgette wanted to speak with me one last time before she left camp. Well I rushed over there and met her and I could tell that she had been crying pretty hard. We talked about her mom passing and how God had a plan for this and that maybe one day she would be able to comfort a person who was going through the death of a parent just like I was able to comfort her when it hit me. God knew that I needed to be on this specific team this summer just for this. No one else here had gone through that and could relate to her like I could. I started crying not from sadness but from joy that the purpose of my pain and sorrow was starting to be revealed to me in a way that I couldn't ever imagine. After my talk little Bridgette went home. I called Lindsey after that and it was a comfort to be reaffirmed that I was placed there for maybe just that specific reason.
Later that day was the variety show and it went amazingly well! All the kids performing did a spectacular job! Plus we found out that night which color came in first place and won bragging rights over that entire week of camp. Which team came out on top? Well the GREEN TEAM DID OF COURSE!! I was SO excited that the Green Team came out with a win! That night after the variety show we got prepared for worship, and what an amazing service it was. So many kids responded to God and how he was moving in their lives it just made me so happy that the kids were getting it.
We packed up and moved on Friday to our current location of Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. We're doing a combo camp with Fuge this week so our schedule will be a little off but it's all good because I just get to meet more people and more kids! Please be praying that the team can adjust to the schedule without any trouble and that we'll be able to minister not only to the CentriKid campers but to Fuge campers as well. Also pray for health on the team, another climate change simply means another easy way for us to get sick.
Peace, Love, and CK.
-Taylor
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