Week 1: (Staff Training)

Christine...me...Lauren

A beautiful fountain at Oklahoma Wesleyan University where we are having staff training.

Sunset on campus

I have been so blessed here this week! Each day, I am richly encouraged, challenged, and built up and I am not even one week into my adventure this summer. :) God has been taking care of me in such sweet ways. I realized this concept in a new way when God lead me to this verse in one of my first quiet times here in Oklahoma. Psalm 3:3-5 "But You, O Lord, are a shield about me. My glory and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice and He answered me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me."

Now, as promised, I wanted to share my bullet points of blessing about the week so far.

• The first night I got to campus for training and was surprised by my staff director with a gift. 
• The time with my roommates who will be some of my fellow staffers throughout the next 8 weeks
• Coffee with my "happy stevia" added in :)
• Eating pickled beets and loving them
• Catching the frisbee in ultimate frisbee, which meant a lot to me because I typically don't excel in that game. ;P 
• Hearing Mrs. Booth (one of the faculty wives) talk to us about what the condition of our hearts  should be as staff this summer. She said, "God's people are called to be tent dwellers, not comfortable. You do not deserve comfort. Instead of complaining about poor cafeteria food or a lumpy dorm mattress, look for how to make the situation an adventure." 
• The purposefulness behind every decision that Worldview Academy makes about  how to best run camp 
• Going witnessing in downtown Bartlesville, OK and sharing the gospel by using the starting question of "What happens when you die?"
• The tenderness of the Lord
• My leadership team and how they have come alongside us so wonderfully in this period of training. 
• Laughing so hard that I cried
• Last night having my female staff director, Amy, take all of us ladies outside and one by one wash our feet to demonstrate Christ like service as laid out in John 13.
• God taking care of me with the cafeteria food. I have been trying to take the advice of Mrs. Booth and make eating on college campuses an adventure. So I made up this "dessert" called "Cocoput" which has canned peaches, shredded coconut, and pecans in it. It makes my tummy happy and helps my mind to "feel" like I am having dessert without causing my stomach to hurt.. :)
• The unity of our team even after only 5 days.....I am super excited to get to travel with these people. They challenge me, make me laugh really hard, tease me about how I pronounce words and live Christ before me. 

I am thrilled that on Sunday afternoon, my first set of students will arrive. I can't wait to see their faces and get to know what is on their hearts. They are "God's kids" and I get to take care of them for a week and I can't wait!!! :)

Onward to the adventure.....

~Rachel