And there it went.....what a special summer! :) Even though I am safely home now, I still need to give a recap of all that happened both at camp and as I came home.....but first, here are some pictures. :)

Laura and I before our last time to support our color teams on relay day :)

My team at the Pro Ultimate Frisbee game. The weird blue thing in the mild is the team mascot. :)

Amy, Jen, Me, Christine, and Johnathon at the gum wall in Seattle

All of the ladies.....

This summer I got to have the med kit in my room every week at camp and "play nurse". I had to say goodbye to it and that made it sad so I made a sad face ;). 

I got greeted a huge greeting from friends and family at the airport. My dad got these fun pictures of all of us. :)

God did great things once again at the Washington camp. It was not an easy week knowing that it was my final week of camp, but it was a rewarding week. :)

A Bible verse that really stuck out to me this week was from Psalm 34:8-10 "O taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing." As I put my mind and heart to wrapping up an awesome summer part of my hard really struggled with the idea of going home...but God used this section of scripture to show me that any good that happened this summer came from Him and that He would go home with me and continue to sustain me and blow my mind with his good gifts. I was reminded to be excited that life is full of various experiences in which I can view the goodness of my God play out in unique and special ways. :)

Bullet Points of Blessings:

• The gum wall in Seattle
• Smelling fresh flowers from a street vendor
• Watching my first pro ultimate frisbee game
• Team time of prayer
• Chick 'fil A lemonade
• Riding in the back of a stick shift car while riding up Seattle's huge hills
• Honey sticks
• The neat lecture hall at Northwest University in Kirkland, WA
• The great salad bar at the cafeteria
• Doodling to let my mind relax after a long day
• The lyrics to "My Lighthouse" that said, "You will lead us safe to shore" and realizing that my "shore" for the summer was in sight and that God would safely  and successfully guide my team to the finish line as we endeavored to finish our last camp with excellence
• Sending out a text of encouragement to my team
• Trip to Safeway for groceries with Amy
• Getting to "play nurse" for a student with a bad headache
• My camp director calling me "Rach"
• Being surprised when a Worldview student brought her pedal harp to camp. She asked me to sit with her and listen to a song and provide feedback and then had me play her as many songs as I wanted. When I touched the harp, I realized how much I love playing the instrument that I do. 2 months without playing my harp was hard for me, but the sweet thing was that the Lord knew this and surprised me with the opportunity to bless a student and be blessed in return by getting to play. After I got done playing with her, I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. :)
• Two of my students and I creating "banana salad" which was our version of dessert with bananas, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, and marshmallows all mixed together. My girls told me that it was healthy because, "chocolate comes from the cocoa bean which grows on a tree so thus it is a vegetable and vegetables are in salad, so you are really eating salad and not sugar."  ;P
• The wind
• Cracks in the cement
• The smell of lavender
• Color contrasts in nature
• Having a mini "spa night" with my small group
• Hearing the words, "I love you"
• Dark chocolate covered espresso beans that one of my students gave me
• Overcast skies
• Laughter that involves rolling on the floor
• The last night as a team where we got to go out to eat at a restaurant that was overlooking the water and then have a time of sharing about the summer complete with chocolate, a slideshow, and tears
• Strong hugs
• Saying "So long" as opposed to "good bye"
• My arrival home complete with an adorable sign and  friends and family greeting me
• 10 hours of sleep
• The gluten free cake that my mum made for me. :)

The Lord very tenderly walked with me this summer. It wasn't an easy summer but it was an adventure that was saturated with so much growth and joy that I can hardly begin to describe. Now that I am back home, I want to put into practice the words of my sister, "And now to the next season of life." My life here looks so different from camp, but I can certainly apply all of the lessons that I learned and practice living excellently no matter where God takes me.

All glory be to God, my King and Friend....

~Rachel

Psalm 66:5:"Come and see the works of God, who is awesome in His deeds toward the sons of men."

Sunset in Salem, Oregon

When Danielle arrived I ran to hug her faster than I ever have in my life and started to cry. ;) I love my sister!

Kendra was my awesome intern this past week. We had a blast. :)

Another week done and more memories made. :)

Here are my bullet points from the week:

• Danielle arriving
• Cookies and muffins from home delivered by Danielle :)
• Psalm 73
• Talking with my sweet sister on a bridge on campus. Catching up with her was one of the best parts of my week
• God working out the food problems in the cafeteria
• Wild blackberries
• Being able to encourage my team with chocolate bars ;)
• The hill that I got to walk up and down every day 
• Tuesday night's sunset
• Moss covered rocks
• One on one times with different team members
• An americano with almond milk and caramel syrup
• Getting to ride a carousal with my female staff team 
• Walmart run with Amy and Danielle
• When my girls would initiate hugging me 
• The window seat in our dorm room
• Crunchy french fries
• Little and big opportunities to die to myself each day
• Soft t-shirts
• Free laundry 
• Little fountain on campus
• Speaking truth to myself
• God pursuing me
• Fresh North Western air
• The clock tower
• Quiet stillness
• Shower after 4 days of not having one 
• Strawberries and "happy almonds' mixed together ;)
• Powell's book store in Portland
• Getting to wander around Portland as a team
• Going to REI
• Getting to describe my team members as different flavors of pie to describe their personalities. 

In a week I will be flying home.....it has been such a sweet summer and I praise the Lord for all he has done in and through me. God is so good! He has walked with me when I desire to serve him and when I don't.....when I am excited and when I am weary....when I am complaining and when I am praising him.....He is my faithful God. His faithfulness has become all the more apparent this summer. :)

~Rachel

It is so crazy how fast these weeks are flying by here at Worldview...two more weeks to go and then I am home in Idaho! What a sweet summer it has been. :) Here is the recap of the Northern California camp. 

The adorable burger place we ate at as we were leaving California

The "Pengowl" that my student would draw for me...one for every lecture. She named it this because this was her adorable version of a cross between a penguin and and owl ;)

Katie Cook and I at Registration

Flash back to staff training..... I love my team so much!!! :)

A verse that stuck out to me this week was from Psalm 42:5, "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him. For the help of His presence." Many times this week I felt like a product of my emotions and I found myself disquieted in spirit. But when I read this verse, I was encouraged by the fact that no matter what my feelings told me, my hope comes from God period....end of story....not based on how I feel. I am so thankful that I serve a God who does not change. My emotions are fickle, but my God is steadfast. One of my all time favorite verses is from Malachi 3:6,which says "I the Lord do not change so that you oh Israel are not consumed." Praise the Lord for this fact. :)

Bullet points of blessings from the week :)

• FREEBIRDS BURRITOS. We need this restaurant in Idaho...just saying. 
• Watching fireworks as a team on the fourth of July
• The shine of metal on the sides of the buildings at William Jessup University
• The huge card I got int the mail from sweet people in my church. The card encouraged my heart so much!
• An amazing cafeteria
• Throwing a birthday party for two of my students complete with balloons, starburst jellybeans, and lots of laughter
• Neat industrial patterns displayed in the architecture on campus
• The wind every morning 
• Good long talks with team members when I needed to verbally process 
• The level of depth my girls plunged into this week
• Seeing Old Town Sacramento, CA
• The blessed feeling of getting to wear jeans
• The prayer chapel on campus
• Grading tests at 1 a.m. in the morning with Laura, Caleb, and Christine which was full of laughter, teasing, and consuming dark chocolate Hershey kisses ;)
• Having one of my students come to know the Lord this week at camp!!! :)
• Pengowl drawings from my student each day of the week. The drawings always made me smile so much when she would show me. I can't get enough of owls as it is, let alone drawings of penguins and owls together! ;)
• Strong hugs
• Honesty
• Personal wrestling internally with the Lord by my side helping me through
• The sweet gift my girls gave me at the end of the week of a journal, which they all wrote notes to me in, and a Starbucks gift card. I almost started crying when they gave it to me. Their kindness blew my mind. 
• Trying a chai tea latte with almond milk for the first time
• Tenderness 
• Having the Lord teach me more about compassion for my girls this past week.

I loved this past camp so much. I also am looking forward to this next week and experiencing all of the epic things that the Lord has already planned in advance to do. Onward to Oregon. :)

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean :)

View of the courtyard outside my dorm room 

Team go pro picture on the beach in San Diego :)

Lauren, Christine, and I at registration

After the San Diego camp finished, Jenny rejoined our team and gave me the biggest bear hug I have ever received in my life. ;) This girl is such a blessing!

This is my "I'm tired but so happy face" ;) My family sent a care package to me and it blessed my socks off :D

San Diego was such a week of growth for me in many ways. There was laughter and there were also a lot of tears. I was comforted and encouraged, challenged and surprised, loved and revived......

A passage that stood out to me at the end of the week was Jeremiah 17:5-8, "Thus says the Lord, 'Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trusts is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream. And will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." At San Diego, my strength ran out in a whole new way when I heard sobering and painful news from back home. I realized that no matter how much I fretted about it, I could not change the situation. God convicted me about how I was trusting in my own strength and not in his. I was like the bush in the desert described in Jeremiah 17....but God was calling me to be like the tree planted by the water. As I wrestled over the weekend, God's mercies became very evident to me in a new way. I love how closely God walks with me both when I am doing well and when I am struggling.

Here are my bullet points of blessing from the week. 

• Having my roommate Jenna surprise me by tickling me until I was giggling really hard ;)
• Palm trees
• The gorgeous ocean
• Trip the the grocery store as a team late at night
• Seeing "Inside Out" with my team 
• Finding shells on the beach with Lauren, one of the faculty kids, who is my buddy. :)
• Warm showers
• Finding a neat little notebook at a beach shop in San Diego to write more blessings in because I have almost completed my current blessings book
• Good long talk with Ashley
• Sunsets over the ocean
• Getting to play "nurse" for the various injuries on our team ;)
• The wisdom of our leadership team
• Having my heart break for one of my students....I realized that it is easy to become numb as the weeks go on, but I was encouraged again to let my heart be both excited for and broken for my girls each week
• The huge hill on campus that gave me a workout each day 
• Peppermint tea on an unsettled stomach one morning
• Ultimate frisbee game with just the staff when the students were in a lecture
• Having my female staff director, Amy, surprise us girls with a bible study time complete with fresh raspberries, strawberries, and 70% dark chocolate and studying the book of Philippians.
• God giving me fresh ideas for questions to ask my girls even when my mind was tired
• Peaches and pears in peanut butter
• Hearing one of my quieter girls pray for the group
• American Idol staff skit where we all got to act ridiculous and make the students laugh. ;)
• Getting my tears out and being comforted by Amy as I sobbed
• Talking to a dear friend on the phone twice

I can look back on this week and proclaim the truth of  Lamentations 3 when it says, "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease; for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness." In the midst of my exhaustion and weakness, God blessed me each day with new mercies and truly helped my heart to sing even when it was difficult. 

I am excited to continue to see what this next week holds and how the Lord will continue to mold and shape me into his image.

~Rachel