The Rollercoaster Otherwise Known as MY JOB

Term Four:

Day 1- After dinner My kitchies inform me that the dishwasher (otherwise referred to as Hobie) is not working. I do what any good staff member does and call Donna. Donna is one of those people who does EVERYTHING, seriously. Kamp does not run without her. Seriously. She takes a look at it and calls Rice Equipment for me.

Day 2- 6:30am I arrive at the kitchen and see Mr. Rice Equipment taking a look at Hobie. He informs me at about 7:30 that Hobie is fixed. If I have any more problems I need to call him but he says if the float (?) is out and it will take a week to get the part in. Awesome. Good thing the Hobster is fixed. Or so I thought.

9:02am My kitchies inform that Hobie is not working. My mind starts to race and jump forward to the fact that this is the biggest term that Kauai has ever had. Not kidding. We have no empty beds in the entire kamp. I gather my girls up and let them eat second breakfast (we are truly Hobbits) and I formulate a game plan. We have to start hand-washing dishes. We currently have 315 people at kamp with 5-piece place settings not including serving utensils, prep dishes or cereal bowls. You do the math.

I call a neighboring kamp and borrow dishwashing soap (did I mention that we were out?) and Dee and I golf-cart it over and grab it and I devise a game plan. I assign girls to 3-step all the dishes (wash, rinse and bleach). I then decided to get all the cups, pitchers and silverware and truck it over to one of the Branson kamps. These dishes take up the ENTIRE bed of the truck. I head over to K-1 with 3 girls and we wash dishes for 2 hours. In the meantime, I have called Mr. Hobie himself and they are sending an emergency repair man. The rest of my crew is dominating the kitchen back at Kauai.

(loading the truck for K-1, annoyed but dealing with it)

(trucking the dishes over, sitting on cups and vats)

12:12pm Mr. Hobie arrives, tinkers with the Hobie. Which of course is working just fine at this point. My girls serve lunch and eat. I have them start cleaning up and hand-washing the dishes (thankfully we were allowed to use paper plates at lunch). I am secretly hating my job and selfishly wanting to curl up in my kamp-bed and hide under the covers. I drink a cup of coffee and try to brainstorm with Dee to decide what to do if Hobie does not get fixed before the next meal.

2:17pm Hobie is repaired. We clean as normal and girls are dismissed at 3:02. I decided to take a short nap because it had been a non-stop crazy morning. I was expecting a quick visit from KK and Michael and I was so thankful I would get to see them on this day.

4:16pm I meet Kristen and Michael in the office to officially sign them in. Which I never actually got accomplished…I hug on KK and side hug Michael (gotta keep it k-rated) I go behind the desk to get visitor stickers. KK tells me that she hopes I don’t pee my pants. I get confused, turn around and see A ROCK ON HER FINGER. Ladies and gentlemen. I scream, instant tears, drop to the ground, pounce on her, side hug Michael and keep repeating my shrieks of joy. The girl is ENGAGED.

(Just rocking out the Chiefs and the Wildcats, post-announcement)

The girl I have known since Mrs. Stetler’s kindergarten class, the girl I went to school with for 16 years, the girl who was my roommate for 2 years, who played Smash Brothers and Sporcle into the wee hours of the morning. The girl who kept me in check spiritually, emotionally and physically in college, the one who introduced me to Kanakuk, the girl who has been one of the pillars in my life is going to be a MRS!

This day started off as one of the worse days of kamp (kitchen wise) but I am so blessed by my girls who rocked out washing the dishes by hand and didn’t complain and then the Hobster was fixed. I got to take a nap, woke up 30 minutes later refreshed, ready to see my dear friends. Then I saw the ring and I have been so giddy since then. So excited to go wedding dress shopping with her in August.

In the words of Keith: ‘It’s all Good’.

(Michael, Kristen and myself after the shock of my day)

twentyfourhoursoff

Never underestimate the power of a 2-4.

For the past 4 summers, I start my first 2-4 of the summer the same way:
Turkey Bacon Bravo, Chicken Poppyseed salad and a Dr. Pepper (only because Panera carries Pepsi products, I won't hold it against them.)

I have never been so ready for a day off this early in the summer.

I usually spend my 2-4s by myself BUT I had some great friends off this time. Tanya, Mallory and Kristen (otherwise known as the best 2-4 ever) were all off and our time overlapped. it was so refreshing to have those women off at the same time. I was able to debrief with all of them about kamp and life. We laughed till we cried, told hilarious stories of the year and slept in this morning. And by slept in I mean we woke up between 8:30 and 9:00. Oh and ate tons of donuts.

The best kinds of friends are the ones that simply being together brings a sense of happiness that can't be matched.

And now we all will split up and go back to Lampe, Golden and Branson. Bring on the K.

Proverbs 27:17, As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

I never want to be at a place in my life that I don't have women who are holding me accountable. I want these women to confront me if they see sin in my life. I want to do the same for them. This 3 women are a huge blessing in my life.

All thanks to KK, I ended up at Kanakuk 4 summers ago.

Staff Training Week

These 10 days are the always the HARDEST at kamp. It may seem crazy but summer is easier than staff training. I am so grateful when kamp starts because it means life slows down! This year especially has been crazy. To start matters off, our entire lower fields was flooded. And by lower fields I mean bottom half of kamp was an ocean. Literally. We did not see grass for days, but thankfully all the storms have left for a while and we have had nothing but sunshine.

I am so exhausted from the schedule this week but I know it will slow down. And since this is my 4^th summer I know what it looks like when families are here and I am so ready for that aspect of kamp! I am so so so ready for families to get here!

I am coming into the summer so much more prepared than I ever have before. Being back in Branson by May 1^st did wonders for my kamp-mindedness. I had time to write the DHDL notebook. I did tons of research on health codes and created daily spiritual themes for the kitchen and assisted my director with anything from writing emails to new staff to making dinner for the family.

I have an awesome group of kitchies. Which makes my job so much easier and a ton of fun. I am excited to have this group of 14 girls. I cannot wait to dive into James with them and live life with these girls for the next 6 weeks.

It has been really encouraging to see friends from the Institute. I have seen the besties, everyone who is currently at kamp and some Insty staff. It is awesome to hear how the Lord is working in the lives of my classmates and seeing how the Insty was a training ground for the rest of our lives. We learned how to pursue the Lord using just His Word and how desperately we need Him EVERYDAY. It is not about being in the mode of the Insty and pursuing the Lord because my school requires it but it is about the rest of my life.