Last week, Luke and I went to Camp Barakel to work (Kevin and Taylor are counseling there this summer) in their Summer Technician and Engineer Program. I spent the week preparing the dining hall for meals and serving food to the campers. It was a lot of work, but I had a ton of fun too. I also had some free time (a good time to take a nap!).

Our counselors challenged us to memorize Romans 6:1-5:

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (ESV)

The chapel sessions were about having a cross-centered life. I was reminded that I need to die to my sin and live to Christ. I realized that I love my sin and too often I let it take the center of my life, instead of the Gospel being at the center. I am not truly living to Christ if I’m still living in sin! I loved learning more about the Gospel and worshiping God with singing.

I made some great friends, good memories, and I grew closer to God. It was a great way to start a cross-centered summer. I loved being at camp and I can’t wait to go again!

“A glad heart makes a cheerful face.” Proverbs 15:13

Today I was sitting in church thinking and not really paying attention to anything going on around me (before the service started!).  I must have had a sad looking face or something, because a lady came to me and motioned, telling me to smile. I responded with a smile and after that I tried to keep a smile on my face. It was a good reminder that what I wear on my face is important. My attitude is my choice. I can choose to have a positive attitude and smile, or I can choose to be negative. I can’t smile all the time, there is a time to mourn. But most of the time my “mourning” is rooted in self-pity and can be remedied by a change of my attitude. I’ve noticed that when I’m in a bad mood, all I have to do is smile and my attitude changes along with my face. Proverbs 15:13 says that “a glad heart makes a cheerful face”, but it is also true that a cheerful face makes a glad heart. Smiling is good! Another good thing about a smile is that it is contagious. Not only can it change your heart, but the hearts of people around you. So try smiling today!

Photo taken by my dad.

I wrote a post for Lies Young Women Believe. Please, go check it out!

“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

I watched the sunrise over the lake today. It was a beautiful sunrise. As I was watching, a thought came to me. The sunrise wouldn’t be half as beautiful if it just popped up instead of rising slowly. It reminded me of the verse I quoted above. The slowness of the sunrise is what makes it beautiful. It is God’s perfect design for His creation. He makes everything beautiful, in its time. Sometimes we wish we could make time go by faster. Last night, my little brother and I were working in the kitchen. “Don’t you wish we could fast forward through life?” he asked. “If we did that, we would miss out on all the little stuff. And the exciting parts of life wouldn’t be as exciting.” I replied. The little parts of life are just as important as the bigger things. God’s timing is perfect, and His timing makes everything beautiful.

Photo taken by my Mom. See more here.

Today is the beginning of the last week of summer. It will not be back for another year. A lot of things are showing symptoms of fall fever. For one, the temparature is falling. We had such a warm summer where I live. It was one of the warmest we have had in a while. When the temperature started falling I knew summer would not last much longer.

The acorns are falling. Our trees have had a bountiful harvest of acorns this year. When they fall on the roof, it sounds like some one is throwing rocks. A couple of nights ago as I was lying in bed, an acorn fell so hard on the roof that I jumped up right. When I walk around outside, it feels like walking on marbles.

The leaves are falling. While on a walk with my mom the other day, I found a red leaf. It was one of the first I had seen this season. There is a tree in front of the church that turns a beautiful color red in the fall. When that starts changing I know fall will be here for sure.

The footballs are falling. Or flying, if that’s how you want to say it. My family really likes watching football. I like college football. Well, only when the Buckeyes are playing (Go Bucks!). Other than that, I am not really in to football. My little brothers have spent hours outdoors this week playing football. I think I might join them one of these days.

I will miss summer though. I will miss wearing flip-flops and walking on the beach and swimming. I will miss lying in the hammock and being lazy. I will miss sitting around a campfire and eating s’mores. I will miss the breeze coming in through my window and the songs of the birds in the morning. I will miss summer, but I will enjoy this fall season. There are plenty of things to enjoy about fall. What is one thing you enjoy most about this time of the year?

I’ve been doing some thinking lately and I’ve decided to start writing more on my blog. You see, all my posts so far are just posts about pictures and I thought it would be fun to start writing more.
After all, writing is one of my favorite things to do.

So it begins, my journalling blog.
I started a one year Bible reading plan this year. I’m a little behind in my reading right now, but I’m sure I’ll be able to catch up in time to finish by the end of the year. I have definitely been reading my Bible more this year than I did last year. I have never read through my Bible before so this is an adventure for me. I am glad I started this Bible reading plan. I know this is an area in my life that I need to work on, but I have grown a lot this past year, and I am thankful to God for His faithfulness to me and His patience with me. Like the song says. “He’s still workin’ on me.”

Another area of my walk with God that needs work is my prayer life. Right now I am reading the book “A Young Woman’s Call to Prayer” by Elizabeth George and it is a real challenge to me and it is helping me to grow in my relationship with God. It is a huge privilege to be able to communicate with the Creator of the universe! It is just so amazing that Somebody so important would even want to listen to me for just a second, to say nothing of the fact that I can talk to Him whenever I wish, wherever I am! That’s even better than texting and Facebook and IM. I can’t get on the Internet everywhere, and I would have to pay to text (plus I don’t actually have a cellphone : ). I have nothing like the power of prayer. There is nothing so instant and accurate and easy. I am humbled that I have such an opportunity, and I must remember that God can stop listening to me and answering my prayers if He chooses, but He doesn’t. God is faithful to keep His promises and to answer my prayers. The least I can do is be faithful to Him and glorify Him.