On Zip!

Minus the inital step off the platform, it was a blast!

A Prayer

I can't help but stop and think of Camp Barakel today. My heart is always with them this time of year. Today the first set of campers will be arriving on the grounds. For the next 12 weeks it will be filled with hundreds of kids who are coming, who will learn to love more passionately the God we serve.

Lord, will you guide the full-time staff this summer, as they lead these excited, and slightly nervous, group of young people this summer? May they be a comfort, when comfort is needed, help when help is needed, guidance when it is due. Give them wisdom as they nurture these men and women. Be with the counselors this summer, you have hand selected them to be yours this summer, God, to be changed by you. Help them to love you more than anything else this summer, and we pray, God, that the reflection of that love will pour into the lives of the kids that are coming. Give them strength, energy, a tender spirit towards you, and towards the kids they will come in contact with. Give them rest, Lord and give them a calm spirit today, specifically. Thank you Jesus for the blessing of this ministry and we thank you in advance for the lives that will be changed for your glory this summer.

rainy mornings

This morning we woke up to rain.
Per usual morning routine, I walked downstairs to put away some dishes, get coffee, you know the drill.

However, as soon as I walked downstairs, everything inside of me, said BARAKEL. A little odd, I thought, why was I thinking about camp at 6:30? Maybe because workshop starts this week?

Then it dawned on me.

We mulched our front porch area a couple of weeks ago. The smell of the rain, combined with the woodchips, triggered my many memories of camp, because you see, Barakel has woodchip paths EVERYWHERE. I really do mean everywhere. So apparantley everytime it rains this summer, I'll be thinking of Barakel. I guess it'll be nature's way of reminding us to pray for their summer of camping ministry.

talk to the animals

Last night was one of my final Spring Concerts at a local school. Every year the director does a "theme" program where the kids can sing pop style songs, provided it's in the theme. Well, last night was the middle school program and the theme was "Talk to the Animals" The kids brought in tons and tons of stuff animals to decorate the front of the stage, and then they were being donated to the women's AWARE shelter after the concert. They song numerous songs all of which mentioned an animal of sorts... like Close to You, by the Carpenters, All things Bright and Beautiful, Longer etc etc....

So, I was perusing the stage, chuckling at the GIANT snow leopard that was lounging on the grand piano, when I spotted it. A small monkey, with a familiar looking shirt. A animal about the size of what I knew so well. I went and pulled it out of the blow up palm tree, and true true.. it was exactly that.. A small monkey with a Camp Barakel shirt on it! I was thrilled. My mind raced to all of those stupid, ahem i mean silly animals i bought as a kid growing up.... What kid goes to Camp Barakel I thought? So, I looked on the back of the animal (if the kids didn't want to donate their animal they could put their name on it so they could get it back).. there it was.. LARISSA... I went and asked the director who Larissa was, because well, there are 100+ kids, I don't have a CLUE who it is. If you're lucky, I"ll know you're name when you're a senior. :) So, Bill, points her out and says, Larissa, Mrs Youngman wants to talk with you. Poor kid, she looked scared stiff. WHY does Mrs. Y want to talk with me? She walks up to stage, looking like perhaps she had met her death sentance.

And then I begin the questioning...

you've gone to camp barakel? summer? winter? how long have you gone? i grew up going there? yup, i was a counselor there. that place has been a part of my life for as long as i can possibly remember... I was practically ready to burst into Camp Barakel Camp Barakel we're glad to turn again... the kid was just staring at me looking bewildered then slowly, ever so slowly...relief crept across her face and she said... oh, i thought i was in trouble. :) poor girl. all i wanted to do was grill her about camp.

turns out. she's gone once, she said, it was only one night and it was "cold, really cold". winter camp, i said? and she just shrugged her shoulders as if to say, i just followed the crowd onto the bus mrs. y i have no idea. my excited talking quickly subsided and i encouraged her to go to summer camp through her church if she could. she walked back to her seat, i'm sure relieved to not be talking to said crazy piano lady any longer.

Camp, Birthdays, and a Lunar Eclipse

Not to much to report on around here.. but I'll give you the highlights.

Last weekend, Mike and I were able to head up to northern michigan to a place that is near and dear to my heart.... Camp Barakel. If you're interested their website is http://www.campbarakel.org/ Anyway, this is a camp I grew up attending and have been blessed by in more ways than I can tell you. Since we've been married, Mike and I have been able to head to camp a few weekends in the winter to help with the music for chapels. So, last weekend, we trucked off to camp. It's about a 4 hour drive. We enjoyed a weekend full of snow and fun. We spent Saturday reconnecting with some good friends from college, which was just incredibly nice. We also did some snowshoeing, which was... interesting... to say the least! We had a relaxing weekend, which we both needed after a very hectic week. Coming home was a different story!! They got hammered with ice and we could ice skated on the roads they were so terrible. It took us over 5 hours to get home, and we were never so happy. In fact, we were going to stay at Mike's parents for a while, but because of the weather, we were unable to do so. The reason we were going to stop was because.....


Mike's birthday was on Monday and he had the day off, as did I. He turned 27, and I like to remind him that that is getting rather close to 30! : ) He doesn't like that though! : )We slept in, and enjoyed the day together. Since the miscarriage, Mike has wanted a ring to wear to remember the baby by and for different reasons, this has yet to happen. The plan was to get the ring for his birthday. And, as plans sometimes do, they changed. He just wasn't ready for it yet, so instead we ordered a pizza, rented a movie and stayed home for the day, which was nice.


Wednesday evening was a lunar eclipse! Did anyone see it?? It was one of those moments in life where I was reminded of why I fell in love with Mike. Ya know, those things you do when you're dating, but not when you're married?? On a total whim, we decided to watch it. We first went outside to watch it and promptly froze, so then we came inside, realized we could see it from inside on of our rooms, curled up on the couch with popcorn, some wine, and each other, and had a REALLY nice time. Mike found some Debussy via YouTube and we just enjoyed the night together. We talked for quite a long time and really enjoyed our evening. I loved it!!!!! We talked a lot about our future, about kids, about our miscarriage. And after all of that, Mike said, I think I'm ready to get the ring. So.... we haven't gotten it yet, but hopefully soon, we will!I guess, that's about it....

when Mike get his ring, I'll post a pic of that, as well as of my necklace that I have to remember the baby by.


Until then... we are trudging along, enjoying winter, even when its cold and seems unending. We are thankful that the seasons change, and days continue to come and go, just as faithful as our God is.