Another Camp Season begins...

No, not camping season.  Camp Season.  You know, what I do for a living?  Some people call it playing and well,  so do I.  I heard once that if you want to do great at your job you should do something you love.  I love being an event coordinator for our conference.  I love our kids. I love our Servant Team and work crew.  I love our youth pastors and adult volunteers.  I love my boss, and his fam.  I love that I chase God and He allows me to do what I do for a living.  

With that said, it is still a job and my eye must be on the details.  Which is not where they should always be - they should always be looking upward towards Him.  But, we have a great team and should I miss something, someone else has already taken care of it.  That's because we work for God - and He puts together awesomely amazing teams.  

This weekend begins Tent Revival.  Our 2nd annual to be exact.  Last year it was a 24 hour period of non-stop worship, teaching and prayer.  This year, it is still 24 hours but with a lights out.  It is held in tents - from cooking, eating and worshipping to sleeping.  All tents.  Think Tent Village with God hanging out.  

These are taken before the arrival of students and youth workers begin. 

This is the quiet time.  Where we prepare our hearts for what God is going to do here this weekend. 

This is where we prepare our minds to witness the glory of a community of believers who will come together to honor Him with their entire beings for 24 hours.  Make no doubt, there will be singing, dancing and praying.  And a lot of all three. 

And hopefully at the end of it all, He will look down and whisper in our ears, "Job well done, good and faithful servants".  

Because at the end of the day, that is really what matters.

Have I mentioned how I love my job? 

Another School Year

Here we are at the beginning of another school year and we have begun quite a new journey.

Michaleh is a senior this year! Wow, it’s hard to believe that time goes by so quickly. She is trying to figure out what to do with herself next year – weighing the debate of college vs trade school vs winging it. She’s working hard at her new job (and passing on the perk of discounted groceries to her very poor parents) and trying to enjoy her senior year.

Joshua has enrolled in a new school in another town that’s 45 miles away. It’s a drive and a hefty payment which not only requires financial sacrifice on our part, but a lot of time commitment and faith. He attends a university model private Christian school which engages the parents in co-teaching. Basically, he goes to class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from early morning to late afternoon and then I co-teach in a homeschool setting at our house the other three days a week. We are into week 2 of this system, and so far, no one has died. Or been threatened. So I think we are okay.

But we love the school that he is at – just yesterday, I used the Bible to teach Social Studies! How cool is that? And he loves it as well – he puts in prayer requests during class, really likes his teachers and is full of information the whole 45 minute drive home (maybe the starbux frappucino helps a little).

We have also been preparing for the oldest to get married in October. A small, family affair hosted by family, catered by family, cleaned up by family! But it will be perfect for what she desires and that is what matters. Weddings can be insanely stressful and we’ve encouraged her more then once to elope – which she has said NO to. But I do understand that little girl fantasy of wedding and so off we will go in October – hopefully no Bridezilla there.

Chris and I have begun marathon training and we have reached the double digits – which means that usually one of is sore – somewhere, in some way. Juggling kids schedules and training schedules can cause an OCD type personality to actually overload at some point! It’s been a lot of hard work, and we are excited to reach the finish line in November. It will be our last marathon as we really want to play more – Tough Mudder and Warrior Dash comes to mind!

And in between school, work, training for marathons and weddings, Chris and I remain faithful that we follow what God desires of us – chasing Him every breath we take and sometimes making a mess of it all. I am always excited to see what God is doing in the lives of our campers and youth that He blesses us with throughout the years, and I’m even more excited about the upcoming retreat season – watching Him grow and develop new leaders at each one is always a wonderful gift.

We are truly blessed – even during these hard times. We are blessed because we are loved much by God and friends. After all, who wouldn’t love us… we are Freakishly Amazing!

Summer Camp Ends

Summer Camp Season is over and once again, even though I end it with a sense of exhaustion, I am renewed, replenished and reaffirmed that Chris and I have obediently answered His call to ministry. Camp season is always exhausting, constantly pushing my out of my comfort zone and relying on His grace, mercy and strength to bring Him in new and exciting ways to our campers. This year, we grew in size (again). I am not foolish enough to believe that any of that growth has to do with me, but I am aware that it has to do with all those in our ministry teams that constantly strive to keep camp focus on Him, relying on His vision instead of our own.

This year, we reached record numbers at our camps, meaning that we also saw record number of first time acceptance of Christ, reaffirmations of decisions and calls into ministry. None of this happens unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to flow freely throughout the camps. I am truly blessed to be in ministry with a God seeking man (my boss), supported by a God seeking man (Chris) and surrounded by God seeking people (Servant Team, youth leaders, friends). I recently had a conversation with Rev Ryan Barnett (brief, brief brief convo) and he mentioned his recent trip to Africa. I mentioned that Chris and I would jump at the chance to go to Africa and serve but didn't feel that God had opened those doors and paths for us. He pointed out that it was obvious that we were where we were supposed to be - evident by the abundant fruitfulness that was occurring in the ministry. What a great compliment and affirmation!

At the end of summer camps, we take our Servant Team (aka summer camp staffers) that have worked every camp (same set of youth, chosen through a lengthy application process) on a post retreat to celebrate and replenish before returning them to their homes. This year, we baptised Joshua at the post retreat.

It was a great ending of the camp season for us and a great beginning for a new journey. Rusty baptized him, one of the guys from our Servant Team prayed over him and Michaleh and I stood beside him. Dad looked on proudly (and a little overwhelmed). It marks the beginning of a new journey for our family as we have chosen to put Joshua in a private Christian school which is based on university teaching model. This means he'll go to school 2 days a week and I'll have to home school him the other 3 days. They give us the lesson plans and resources we need to help with the home teaching part.

It's a new journey which will involve sacrifice as it requires quite a financial investment, as well as drive time (the school is 45 minutes away), and the extra teaching time (should I mention, a stronger sense of structure & discipline will have to be implemented on my part?). But we have prayed over it and set some guidelines in our decision making - all which God fulfilled and showed us that this was the path He was laying out for us. I kept waiting for the doors to close on this opportunity for Joshua attending the school, but they just kept opening. Affirming that we were beginning a new journey.

A new journey began for me as well in June, when the conference brought me on full time (officially, as I've been working full time anyway). Again, affirming that we were being blessed for answering the God when He called. We begin a new journey as we pray about selling our house at the end of this school year (with Michaleh graduating in June) and moving into a smaller, simpler home in Marble Falls (no more commute for school, easier for Chris to upkeep while I'm away at camps, etc). And while we are not sure about some of our journey, and we certainly don't have exact clarity on what our future looks like, what we do know is that whenever we follow our Creator, we are always well taken care of. It might not be in lavish lodgings, or deluxe vacations, or new luxury cars - but we are well taken care of the way that God desires us to be; and that brings us peace and comfort (which in this world, are often hard to find). Wherever our Father Abba takes us, we have joy in knowing that we are on this adventure together!

Camp Season is right around the Corner

It's mid May and that means, I've basically had to finish up the prep for summer camps. One of our favorite camps is MYMission - not because it is my mission. Here's the official description: My Mission (Methodist Youth Mission) is a one-week, inner city mission camp sponsored by the SWTC Council on Youth Ministries.

My Mission Mixed 2011 is designed for Sr. and Jr. High students (entering 6th thru 12th grades) and will be at Travis Park UMC in San Antonio, TX, Friday at 6 PM until Tuesday at 12 PM. This will be a safe but "intense" week of homeless street experience, poverty simulation, and service in and around inner-city San Antonio. Students will gain an understanding of what it means to be homeless and to live in poverty. Jr. High students will have more of an introduction to inner city ministry and will be separated from Sr. High students during the day and during sleeping at night. Programming will be age-specific and well supervised.

We focus on service, not the hammer and nails kind of service, but the relational service - much the way Christ focused when He walked the earth. We reach as many homeless as possible, handing out 1000s of water bottles, 150 sandwiches each day, and sharing the love of Christ in simple conversations. We offer those that we meet on the streets our time, our non-judgement and our sincere friendship. Too often, we have to drag our students off the streets and back into the church where we sleep at night. This is a good thing.

We try to spend the week doing with less then our normal daily, all too comfort lives allow us too - often giving up some of our possessions, going without showers, and even "roof sleeping" (a fenced flat top roof atop the church, in which we stay, where we sleep for a night). We roof sleep so we understand that sleep on the streets is not easy - we are able to smell and hear all the sounds that downtown San Antonio has to offer. And it impacts our lives. The next morning we are more kind and more gentle to all those that we meet.

We want the homeless to experience the true grace and love that Christ holds for them, and we try our hardest to share just a piece of that. We often leave MYMission, feeling inadequate and asking if we could have done more. We always leave with knowing that we will forever be changed by the people that we have met and we know that we will never be able to go under a downtown bridge without looking for a familiar face (one that we've met during our days on the streets).

If you would like to help, we will be putting together 100s of homeless bags to hand out. To get more information on how you and your church can help, simply click here: http://www.reachingyouth.org/f/My_Mission_Hand_Out_Bags_Poster.pdf

I have been saying it a lot lately, and I'll say it one more time, I am blessed to be able to chase God's heart, and share Him with students all while calling it a job and getting paid to boot.

W

Get Away

Sometimes a couple just needs to get a way - and this past weekend, we did just that. Our 22nd anniversary is literally around the corner and Chris had a huge high school event scheduled this past weekend. At the last minute, we decided we'd go to the reunion, and make it an anniversary celebration as well. What fun we had. From surprising people (who thought we weren't coming), to making new friends, to seeing the oldest daughter and our beloved grand-daughter to overcrowded flights, and lost vehicles in the parking lot!

I once thought we'd never go anywhere without the kids because I always thought it was such a selfish thing when parents would "abandon" their kidlets to go have adult time. Now, I totally am wiser and totally understand the value of such a time. We knew that with my camp season getting ready to start, that we'd have little to no time at all for the rest of the summer and knew we needed to take advantage of it.

So we flew into the spousal units hometown under the darkness of night (seriously, it was late) and stranded ourselves at a hotel for the weekend, having to rely on friends for transportation or take advantage of the laziness that lack of transportation affords one. We I got my training runs each and every day, and managed to eat relatively cleanly for having to have every meal at a restaurant; however, I think the chefs and waiters were glad I left!

I encourage you to take advantage of a quiet weekend with your spouse - you'll feel renewed and re-energized!

VOTE!!

Cute and paste this to your address bar: http://bit.ly/hQisAt


So here's the dealio - I'm in a competition sponsored by Athleta (some of the most amazing women's sports apparel on the market)and you can help me win. By clicking on the link above, you will be redirected to the vote website for me. All you have to do is simply leave a comment and then it will count as a vote. The winner gets to meet with Athleta stylists and give commentaries or something like that. The only thing I really have a hard time looking for in this world is a modest (albeit, appealing/womanly)two piece bathing suit that a mother of 3 would want to dare. I look for support, fit, wearability, sportability and the appeal - Athleta has been the only place that has come close. Second problem though is that I'm kindof small and now have had to begun shopping in the juniors department (I know - there's no sympathy here, but have you seen their clothes?) so the fit is a super huge deal to me.

I've been bombarding my FB friends daily with "have you voted for me yet" comments, links to the site, and even bribery when needed! I'm sure they are getting tired of it as well, but they are all being very good sports and haven't been yelling at me for it (yet).
I know, I know, this is a shameless plug but can you blame me? You know you'd do the same thing!

So what else is going on in the Jackson lives? Same thing - different day. Chris and I will begin training in June for our marathon in November. Yes, I know - we are crazy. I think you lose brain cells as you age (my kids swear I'm in a midlife crisis). But we've decided that we are going to participate in the San Antonio Rock and ROll Marathon in November, which is fitting since that was our first half. For the next few weeks, we'll be enjoying spring training - which is basically, enjoying your runs - not worrying about pace, tempo, stride, time. Just running because it's fun (again, yes, we know we are crazy).

The kids are the best as usual and are surviving TAKS week (ergh) and just being themselves. They are pretty amazing, we have no real complaints. Better go check on the voting. Did I ask if you had voted?

Supporting our Soldier

There is nothing more important to a soldier than them knowing that they are being supported by the people back home. So we set out this weekend to send our nephew, the marine, a care package and hope that he gets it in time for Easter. In our package, is some candy, whey protein (which he specifically requested), baby wipes, chapstick, animal crackers, nutella, homemade peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies, and of course, letters and pictures from home.

it seems so silly to write letters to our marine about our simple life back home – after all, his daily life is about conquering bad guys, keeping his fellow marines safe, and making sure he makes it back to his quarters in one piece at the end of his assignment. After all, I go to work in tennis shoes and running gear, he goes to work carrying a big gun. And I mean a BIG gun! He breaks down doors and looks for bad guys, eats MREs, and sleeps in sand pits. And I worry about the upcoming training retreat which involves sleeping in a tent (don’t get me wrong – not worried about the tent part).

But I will continue to send him letters filled with the insignificant details of our days here, and maybe at least he will be able to find a few minutes to get his mind off of 120 degree weather and shamaals. And maybe he’ll share the cookies with his buddies and they’ll all get a good laugh at our latest run pictures that I’ve enclosed (or the family ski trip one). But mostly, I hope that when he receives his package, that he knows that we think of him day and night and pray for a quick end to a war we don’t understand anymore, and a swift return home.

A super cool thing that his GF shared with me is motomail. If you have email and your soldier’s land address, you can send them an online letter (no, not an email) and they’ll usually get it within 24 hours. So cool! If you have a soldier you’ll have to find it – just go to https://www.motomail.us, and follow the easy online instructions - you can even attach pictures (which, of course, I did).

If you don’t have a soldier serving somewhere, but want to show support, another great way is to send them coffee. Now, of course, I adore coffee so I think this is the greatest gift you can send. Just simply go to http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/ and order a cup of Joe ($2 – cheaper then starbux) and send a quick personal note. I have decided that every time I buy coffee (anywhere – starbux, McDonalds, gas stations, etc), I will put $2 aside to buy a cup for Joe as well.

There are a lot more ways to support our troops – you can simply google for ideas and find yourself overwhelmed, but it is one of the most important things we do during our simplistic days stateside that we can do. Continue praying for our nephew and all the other amazing men and women who are serving!