I've been meaning to write this blog post for weeks now...but life has been so crazy, I'll fill you in in the next post.
So in case you haven't heard I'll be working at Lake Junaluska for another summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, if you can't tell I'm beyond excited about this. Of course I was assuming I'd be hired again but nothing was confirmed until this month.
Today's blog post comes from this song by Switchfoot, "This is Home."
I heard this song for the first time last summer while at the lake and knew it couldn't be any more appropriate.
See, I was that senior in high school who wanted to avoid college at all costs. I asked my mom if I won the lottery if I could just not go to college altogether. Why I thought that was a smart plan, I'm not sure but good thing she didn't take me too seriously! Also, its probably a good thing I didn't win the lottery because I totally would have used that as my excuse to stay at home. I realize I am probably the only crazy person who didn't want to go to college but I was so content with my life at home that I couldn't imagine life getting any better/I was scared that life might get worse once I left. I didn't want to leave my family, my best friends, my boyfriend, or the life I had in Irmo.
Who knew just months from my graduation I could be so happy at Presbyterian College that I would call it home as well?
I think my mom's heart might have dropped a little the first time I referred to PC as "home". I don't blame her, I mean home has always been where our family's been, more specifically where she's been, so calling PC home was a big step for me! While I wanted to avoid college and keep living my high school life, no one was going to let that happen. Coming to PC I was excited, nervous, wanting to vomit, sad, anxious, more excited, a little scared, and just a complete mess! But, God gave me a calming feeling on the first day of classes. I'll never forget it. I was with Anna, Blythe, Sarah, and I think Callie walking from Springs to Clinton. We were underneath the big tree behind Richardson when I got this calming feeling. I just knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. From that moment, I didn't question my place at PC because I knew God was going to take care of me here.
In 2009, I had two homes. Irmo and Presbyterian College. I thought that would be all the "homes" I could have until getting out into the real world and making a new home for myself. I was wrong!
It was the summer after my freshman year and I decided to work at home all summer. I don't think I really entertained the thought of being somewhere else since there was so much going on at home. I figured I needed to get everything sorted out at home. I thought that was a genius idea but I learned rather quickly that Irmo wasn't the same. I guess really I wasn't the same so Irmo couldn't have been the same. All of my friends had had different experiences in our year apart. We all made new friends and new homes but I expected everything to be just the same! My family had changed in the year without me at home. While everything and everyone had changed I decided to be naive and pretend like nothing had changed including certain relationships that had very much so changed. The day I got home I started thinking about the next summer. All of a sudden, the thought in my head was "Lake Junaluska". Where did this come from? Well, God of course! I believe God was giving me a heads up so I could live with the fact that I'd be 3 hours from home for a whole summer. Since PC is less than an hour from home, going 3 hours away would be a big change. I immediately went to Lake J's website and looked into the application process and timeline. I told my family all summer that my plan was to be at Lake Junaluska the following summer. I knew that was God's plan for me.
Even though I had been preparing myself for a year that I would be living at the lake for 8 weeks and being 3 hours from home, I don't think it hit me until the week before I left. I was beyond excited for my summer and to see everything God had for me but I just hadn't really realized that I would be away from home for so long. I would assume whoever you are reading this knows me and knows how much I love my family, but just in case I need to reiterate it, I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!! Maybe a little too much for the average 21-year-old, but I beg to differ. My family means the world to me and I really cherish my time with them. Once I got to the lake, I felt like I fit right in. I loved my time there and didn't want to leave after my 8 weeks was up. Again, I think my family realized how much I was loving it when I would forget to call them or they'd call me during worship and I would forget to call them back. They knew I had been called to the lake and they gave me my space. I knew from the second I had to leave the lake that I would want to be back for this summer but didn't really think about it until the end of the fall semester. When I realized that every week when leaving Spartanburg, I had the choice to head towards Asheville (the lake) or Columbia (back to PC), and I always wanted to go to the lake instead of school, I knew the lake was where I HAD to be or I might seriously go a little crazy (as if I'm not crazy enough!!)
I was lucky enough to get to spend New Years at Lake Junaluska and couldn't imagine a better place to see one year end and another begin. Getting to reflect on 2011 at the lake was awesome!!!! Then getting to see youth worshiping the Lord as 2012 came in was even more awesome!!!!!!!! Now that God has revealed so much to me from last summer, I can't wait to see what God might have for me this summer. Of the staff for this summer, only 4 of us are returning, and I am the only girl returning, which is so crazy because last summer the girls outnumbered the guys. I even get to work with my grandbaby, Jamie. (for those of you taking this literal, not my real grandbaby, that would be really unrealistic and creepy, just my grandbaby in ADPi) Jamie and I are literally going to be together allllllll summer. We are going to Barbados together for 10 days in May then to the lake we go, then we'll have about a week at home then we have CA Training back at school. We might spend 2 weeks apart all summer. But we love each other so we'll totally love it! Also, I can't wait to get to see my bestie every day this summer!!!!!
Only 35 days until the lake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So in case you haven't heard I'll be working at Lake Junaluska for another summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, if you can't tell I'm beyond excited about this. Of course I was assuming I'd be hired again but nothing was confirmed until this month.
Today's blog post comes from this song by Switchfoot, "This is Home."
I heard this song for the first time last summer while at the lake and knew it couldn't be any more appropriate.
See, I was that senior in high school who wanted to avoid college at all costs. I asked my mom if I won the lottery if I could just not go to college altogether. Why I thought that was a smart plan, I'm not sure but good thing she didn't take me too seriously! Also, its probably a good thing I didn't win the lottery because I totally would have used that as my excuse to stay at home. I realize I am probably the only crazy person who didn't want to go to college but I was so content with my life at home that I couldn't imagine life getting any better/I was scared that life might get worse once I left. I didn't want to leave my family, my best friends, my boyfriend, or the life I had in Irmo.
Who knew just months from my graduation I could be so happy at Presbyterian College that I would call it home as well?
I think my mom's heart might have dropped a little the first time I referred to PC as "home". I don't blame her, I mean home has always been where our family's been, more specifically where she's been, so calling PC home was a big step for me! While I wanted to avoid college and keep living my high school life, no one was going to let that happen. Coming to PC I was excited, nervous, wanting to vomit, sad, anxious, more excited, a little scared, and just a complete mess! But, God gave me a calming feeling on the first day of classes. I'll never forget it. I was with Anna, Blythe, Sarah, and I think Callie walking from Springs to Clinton. We were underneath the big tree behind Richardson when I got this calming feeling. I just knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. From that moment, I didn't question my place at PC because I knew God was going to take care of me here.
In 2009, I had two homes. Irmo and Presbyterian College. I thought that would be all the "homes" I could have until getting out into the real world and making a new home for myself. I was wrong!
It was the summer after my freshman year and I decided to work at home all summer. I don't think I really entertained the thought of being somewhere else since there was so much going on at home. I figured I needed to get everything sorted out at home. I thought that was a genius idea but I learned rather quickly that Irmo wasn't the same. I guess really I wasn't the same so Irmo couldn't have been the same. All of my friends had had different experiences in our year apart. We all made new friends and new homes but I expected everything to be just the same! My family had changed in the year without me at home. While everything and everyone had changed I decided to be naive and pretend like nothing had changed including certain relationships that had very much so changed. The day I got home I started thinking about the next summer. All of a sudden, the thought in my head was "Lake Junaluska". Where did this come from? Well, God of course! I believe God was giving me a heads up so I could live with the fact that I'd be 3 hours from home for a whole summer. Since PC is less than an hour from home, going 3 hours away would be a big change. I immediately went to Lake J's website and looked into the application process and timeline. I told my family all summer that my plan was to be at Lake Junaluska the following summer. I knew that was God's plan for me.
Even though I had been preparing myself for a year that I would be living at the lake for 8 weeks and being 3 hours from home, I don't think it hit me until the week before I left. I was beyond excited for my summer and to see everything God had for me but I just hadn't really realized that I would be away from home for so long. I would assume whoever you are reading this knows me and knows how much I love my family, but just in case I need to reiterate it, I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!! Maybe a little too much for the average 21-year-old, but I beg to differ. My family means the world to me and I really cherish my time with them. Once I got to the lake, I felt like I fit right in. I loved my time there and didn't want to leave after my 8 weeks was up. Again, I think my family realized how much I was loving it when I would forget to call them or they'd call me during worship and I would forget to call them back. They knew I had been called to the lake and they gave me my space. I knew from the second I had to leave the lake that I would want to be back for this summer but didn't really think about it until the end of the fall semester. When I realized that every week when leaving Spartanburg, I had the choice to head towards Asheville (the lake) or Columbia (back to PC), and I always wanted to go to the lake instead of school, I knew the lake was where I HAD to be or I might seriously go a little crazy (as if I'm not crazy enough!!)
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| After one of our walks to the cross this summer |
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| Our staff from last summer! |
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| Me and my bestie, John!!!!!!! |
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| The first thing I saw when I drove back up to the lake for New Years. |
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