Forest Home, Twilight, and The Dress

Hello Friends and Family!!

I hope this post finds you well and smiling! It's been a little while since I've written because I've been at Jr. High Summer Camp at Forest Home! Forest Home, is a summer/winter camp located in the mountains near Redlands, CA. It's a wonderful place really. We were there for 5 days, and let me tell you - Jr. Highers can really keep you on your toes!!! haha. But no worries, for even in the craziness I found time for a nap or two.

There are plenty of memories and camp stories I could share, but I want to highlight a few things from the week that really made me happy.

First Off - I had a cabin of 4 girls, 2 6th graders and 2 8th graders.... and our cabin was the problem child of the week. haha. We clogged the toilet, not once but TWICE! jeepers. I don't know how we managed that. I locked my keys in the cabin once... and our bathroom light went out on the last day. Each time I walked up to our team Deans (the two people leading our team that week....we were the Yellow Team by the way...) they would laugh at me and ask, "Ok, what now?" haha. It was amusing. As for the other girls cabin, we managed to put a blue stain on the cabin wall. It was amazing. The girls felt horrible, but it just made me smile. Jr. Highers are the best.

Second - The Jr. High boys at Glenkirk, can be real gentleman. Believe it or not! When we were hiking back to the camp site one night, they held branches back for the girls and helped us across the streams and things. So as crazy as they can be, they are kinda awesome!!! :0) It made my heart smile.

And my Favorite thing that happened that week...my absolute FAVORITE thing that will probably keep me in youth ministry for the rest of my life - was watching these kids worship our Lord. We had an awesome worship band which played some up-beat songs which allowed the kids to jump around and have a good time. And there were quieter songs played for reflection and stuffs and things. I would open my eyes and see these kids worshipping the Lord, eyes closed and hands in the air. Whatever their intentions in that act, Jesus was being praised by a group of 11-13 year olds on a mountain. We joined in the ever singing Angels, for a split second in time. Not gonna lie, I may have teared up a bit. a lot a bit. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Since we've been back, we've had a Pool Party and we went to see the newest installment to the Twillight Saga - Eclipse. We attempted to see Twilight at midnight, and that was quite the interesting experience for those who showed up. We had to ninja our way into the same theatre due to an online mix up. It was awesome. haha. The Pool Party was last night, and lemme tell you. That was EPIC. 31 kids showed up to swim, play tether ball, jump on a trampoline, and have a good time. There only one problem.... leaders. There were only 4 there, including myself and all female. Lucky for us there are some awesome Moms in our groups who helped us keep an eye on the kids and cooked the food. But MAN. We need some men. And women for that matter. Our group is growing and the only thing holding us back is that we don't have the needed leadership.
I need your prayer in that. Pray for some awesome men and women of course to hear a call to Jr. High Ministry, and come help us out. Scott and I are only two people. I can't reach every girl, and her can't reach every guy. Ministry is a team action, it cannot be done alone. Even Jesus had 12 buddies whom he empowered to help heal and cast out demons. The bible doesn't promote independence from one another, but community. We need eachother in all that we do, especially in ministry.

I could use prayer in coming up with some creative ways to draw in leaders, and also for creative ways to pull a group of Jr. Highers together - to break down cliques. We have some new kids hanging out on the sidelines, and I wanna get them involved. So please be praying for that. My goal is that every kid who walks through our doors leaves having felt loved and accepted. But to do that we need leaders, and open hearts. So huge prayer there, please!!!

In other news :

I found my wedding dress!!! Did you know it takes 3 months to order the darn things? Yeah.... 3 months. Sheesh. But I found it. It was lots of fun, my mommy cried when i put it on which pretty much sealed the deal - but I wanted my Daddy and sister to see too... so they came and approved the dress. And my parents wanted to pay for it as a wedding gift. So, my parents are basically amazing. :0)

Matt and I had a meeting the wedding people (Acia and Virginia) at Pomona Fellowship this morning. And it looks like it's gonna be a FUN wedding. Still have brainstorming to do in terms of the reception including decorations and stuffs like that... and thats the part I'm gonna LOVE!

Matt and I took engagement pictures the other day, and they're beautiful. I'll be posting some up soon. Our Photographer did them for free, and is also going to do our wedding!! I'm pretty excited, cause he's such a sweetheart. I loved him.

Let me see... I think that's the whole of it at the moment. It's absolutely crazy the amount of details and such things that go into a wedding! These are things you sure don't think about when you're in jr. high and planning your wedding in your head. In Jr. High you think it's just going to magically happen..but my goodness! It's crazy!! haha.

I love you all so much and hope that your week is completely wonderful! Happy 4th of July!
With all kinds of Love,
Jen