"Suddenly I feel you leading me ..."
Wow, life on the mountain seems to be passing by faster than I know it - one minute Jimmy and Kelsey were picking me up from the airport in Louisville and the next I've finished with summer camp and have already picked a new program! I guess there's a lot to update you all on ...
The weekend after Jimmy's birthday we went camping at The Breaks - to give you a little background, millions of years ago there was an inland sea which receded leaving a passage through Pine Mountain separating Virginia and Kentucky, Daniel Boone first travelled the area trying to find a straight path into Kentucky through the Ohio River Valley thus naming the land "The Breaks." Jim and Pat first gave us the idea to set up camp in the area while they stayed in the lodge. It was a pretty chill weekend of camping, we went swimming in the river and went to an outdoor gospel concert - here's a few pictures for you to enjoy the view!
Greg, Kathie, Eric, Daniel, Bradley, Phil, Kelsey, me, Jimmy
me, Jimmy, Daniel and Kelsey swimming in the river!
The very next weekend was Ichthus! Which is a huge Christian concert event. We were granted free admission for helping work as a CAP volunteer, so we most definitely took up that offer. The concert was in Wilmore, Kentucky - about two hours east toward Lexington and slightly south. Greg and I helped with the recruitment booth while the other CAP volunteers assisted with security - working the gates and all that good stuff. It was really great because prior to going, we were able to plan our working schedule around what bands and speakers we wanted to see. I forgot my SIM card for my camera, so I don't have a ton of pictures but here are a few.
Following Ichthus, my babies graduated! Our preschool graduation, and my last day at the Center, was on June 28th. It was so wonderful sitting up there with our six graduates headed to Kindergarten next year! It was such a pleasure working with those kids as well as the women at the Martin Child and Family Development Center. Along with CAP moving out of the Center, a few of my closest friends were parting ways, their year of service ending. To celebrate my last weekend with them, we went to Red River Gorge to check out some of our favorite spots ....
Therese, Phil, Jen, Jimmy, Kelsey, me, Janet and Greg
Luckily enough, after the Center closed, I went up to Camp Shawnee for the month of July - so I wasn't completely without any kiddo's ... yet. The first week of July was Teen Girl Week - this is the only photo I was able to take on the very last day as we entered the kitchen for breakfast, our lovely cooks made this for the counselors. It sums up the week pretty well ...
After the crazy first week of camp, we decided to take a hike to Natural Bridge and get some delicious Miguel's Pizza - it was a well deserved break ... here are some of my new favorite people in one of the most magnificent places in Kentucky!
Julie, Angela, Molly, Bailey, Staci
We had just rolled up to Miguel's when the Ale 81 (a Kentucky soft drink) crew approached us asking if they could give us free Ale 81 and take our picture ... UMMM, OF COURSE! So here are all the Shawnee counselors :)
The second week of July were ages 9-11 and I had a group of boys - they were THE BEST! And following them were our group of girls ages 6-10, ending with day camp the last week of July hosting kids of all ages.
My favorite story to tell about camp - week three, 6-10 year old girls - goes like this .... it was Tuesday night of camp, one of our girls was so extremely homesick that her mom called and said she'd be around to pick her up. This poor girl was six and it was her first time being away from home and she was just so sad, the entire two days she was here she just cried and cried because she missed her mom so much. It just broke my heart to see her that upset. In any case, we all decided it was best if she left camp and her mom agreed as well. So she was sent home Tuesday right as all the other girls were getting ready for bed. Of course, my other twenty-two 6-10 year olds saw this child was so homesick she was able to go home which lead to HomesickFest 2012. There were four counselors in our group of 22 girls and usually one counselor stays to "mother-goose" - in other words, read or sing or play music or what-have-you to try and get the kiddo's to sleep. Well, this particular night, OVER HALF of our girls were crying hysterically because they were 'homesick' so all four of us stayed to cry and calm them all down. Sean first started by telling them a story, but they just weren't having it. So trying to alleviate the sound of sobs in the room Vanessa, Emily and I decided to try and sing the girls to sleep - but just as soon as "Jesus loves me ..." left our lips, the girls cried even louder! I finally told my co-counselors this wasn't going to work and that I was going to run up and get Jonathan to play guitar, hoping that would soothe them to sleep. I think he quickly recognized the panic in my face as I told him the situation - he went to get his guitar and when we walked in the room, he was overwhelmed with the amount of girls weeping. Trying to get things settled down, he walked to the middle of the room put his guitar down and asked, "So how are you all doing tonight?" Unanimously, the entire room erupted in howling and crying, which needless to say got the counselors rolling in laughter. Eventually, we got enough counselors to the dorms to comfort the girls and sing them to sleep while listening to Jonathan play his guitar. For the rest of the week, I was sure to bring music to "mother-goose" the girls to sleep, which I'm happy to report went rather well. With that said, here are a few pictures to conclude my summer camp experience ....
we decided to play dodgeball with our boys and it came down to Sean vs. the whole rest of the Bangarangs because I refused to call jail break ... he held his own for a while! then I gave in :)
playing a game with the girls after Spirit Time
our favorite morning ritual - the Birdie song
the most amazing couple I've ever had the opportunity to get to know ... they also were the camp coordinators
The wonderful life changing experience that was Camp Shawnee came to an end as did the month of July ... we were lucky enough to host a few of the counselors a couple extra weeks as they got a little glimpse of what long-term volunteering is all about, but now comes the time when they all have left.
Greg, Angela, Jonathan and Max at the Gorge
With all the recent distractions now gone, I've come to the decision regarding a new program for the remainder of my year in Kentucky. I've chosen to continue working with the Housing program - I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing right away, but I know the long-term goal is to finish the open projects from WorkFest that have taken a while to complete due to the Disaster Relief work we were helping with in March. Following those projects, we have been requested to help in the construction of the Mission Center which is up by Floyd House. It'll be the new dorm style housing for groups and such. Regardless, I'm really excited to be going back to what brought me to the beautiful mountains of Appalachia so many years ago.
Bailey B. is a long-term CAP Volunteer. She began her service in the Martin County Child and Family Development Center, which closed in June. After a few weeks at Camp Shawnee, she joined the Housing program, where she will serve until January. Bailey is a member of the Floyd Volunteer Community.
