Frontier Week 1

Week 1 has definitely been an adventure.  Flying out here with two kids by myself went surprisingly smooth.  It helped a lot that the airport allowed my mom to go to the gate with me to help me with everything, especially getting through security.  Both kids did great on the plane, except for a little whining from Mary Kate, but I'm pretty sure that's because she was running a 102.7 fever the night before!  Even with a 3 hour delay in the Denver airport, everything went fine...UNTIL Mary Kate woke up in convulsions with another high fever and throwing up on the 3 hour bus ride into Buena Vista.  She also had a noticeably large swollen gland on the right side of her face.  Our Camp Director immediately took us to the camp doctor when we got to Buena Vista.  He diagnosed it as an infected parotid gland (However, now we're not sure that's the case.  This week's doctor feels like it's a swollen lymph node.)  By now, the swelling is going down a bit, it's not red anymore, and she's not throwing up with a fever, so the doctor feels like it's slowly getting better with the antibiotic.  Even with all that going on and getting 2 kids settled into a hotel room at midnight GA time, I was amazingly peaceful and calm.  I knew people must have been praying for me.  I guess they must have stopped praying the next day because the floodgates opened and I became an emotional wreck.  It seemed like it was just one disaster after another.  On my way down the hall to breakfast, Chad Chandler said, "Good Morning" and I replied, "No" and started crying.  I was very ready for Joel to get there, even though I knew he'd have to go straight to work.  When he finally arrived, it was like a huge weight was lifted and I didn't have to "hold it together anymore."  I  started crying so hard that I thought I was going to hyperventilate.  I know this sounds quite dramatic, but I'm not exaggerating.  Once we moved into camp and I got everything organized and MK wasn't throwing up anymore, I felt much better.  Although, there was more adventure to come.  Early in the week, we started having some problems with sickness at camp.  I'm not going into much details about that.  You can check out the Young Life website for more information: www.younglife.org  This has added a lot of extra work for the property staff, assigned team, work crew and summer staff.  Not to mention, the disappointment of the kids and leaders that didn't get the week that they were hoping for.  I know that God is sovereign and that He is in control, but it felt really dark this week.  It's been a strange week because those of us with kids have tried to stay isolated.  I don't feel like I've gotten a chance to know a lot of the assigned team yet, so hopefully we'll have that chance this week.  It's been a hard week for me since Joel's been extra busy.  I've felt much like a single mom, which leaves me wondering how in the world single moms survive, especially with more than one kid.  My mom has plans for coming out here in the middle of next week, but I was so desperate for help I had her on standby to come out earlier.  Now, that things have settled down a bit, I think I can hang in there until she gets here.  I'm really looking forward to next week.  I'm excited about campers getting here, and hoping that this sickness does not intrude again.  In the midst of all this darkness, I trust that the Lord is working hard and there is no doubt that He will be glorified and that His kingdom will grow.  Here's a few prayer requests if you are willing and wanting to pray:

1.  That God will clear this sickness out of camp and that it will not be an issue for the rest of the summer.

2.  For God to be glorified through the assigned team, work crew, and summer staff.

3.  For kids to experience Jesus in every aspect of camp.

4. That I will not be a stressed out, angry mom.  For me to rely on the Lord to be a loving, patient, compassionate mother and wife.  

Here's a picture of MK, Ford, and Caleb (MK's new boyfriend that she likes to french kiss)

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!  I hope that you have a wonderful day and that you have an awesome time in New Zealand getting to meet your new nephew.