Don't Just Survive, Live.

SENIOR SURVIVAL. I just got back from a week in the great outdoors--it was truly amazing! there is nothing better than sleeping in the woods especially when it is chilly and you can cozy up in your warm sleeping bag. I loved it! I had the amazing opportunity to be one of the counselors for the senior class at WWVA on their trip. I had prayed that I'd get the right girls in my group and that God would lead the entire time we were there. He definitely answered my prayers. I feel so blessed to have been able to share this experience with them. Our day consisted of cooking, initiative activities, cleaning, walking, & learning out to "survive". 

My group & I sure shared some hilarious moments together. Each girl had their own little quirks that made everything so much more fun. I had the pleasure of falling asleep to the sounds of my groups screams as they scurried away spiders and any other type of bugs until they finally fell asleep themselves. They were notorious for screaming the night away and I would just smile to myself as I was laying in my tent while they were freaking out and laughing/screaming over their misfortunes. That might sound cruel but it was a part of their experience in the woods and I didn't want to rob them of it. haha! I was tempted to get up and "save the day" but they survived the nights and all made it safely back to Walla Walla. My favorite night was when I heard the girl who was most afraid of the spiders stop everybody and say "Let's pray"! Everyone was quite as she said a prayer of protection for them. I admit that I would check my sleeping bag and tent every night before I crawled in myself to make sure there weren't any creatures. I also would be praying as I was smiling listening to them that God would indeed protect them from the spiders and let them fall asleep in peace. Although they only would find daddy long legs, which are harmless, they very well could have had the awful luck of being bitten by a black widow or some other type of seriously dangerous spider. That would have sucked!


Another one of my favorite daily rituals was morning worships. I enjoyed sharing with them and letting God speak as we joined together to really think about what He would want us to become, where He has led, etc. 
I had the pleasure of observing/participating in a number of activities the seniors went through as their "survival" experiences. Eating crickets, avoiding muddy waters & failing miserably, scaling walls, & trust falls. I sure hope they realize how insanely awesome this trip was and that they will remember all the cool things they learned during it.

Each afternoon they had a class with a man who would teach them how to build fires, find their way with compass, the usual woodsy stuff. One afternoon he had us walk through the woods and observe all the things around us. Focus on what we saw, smelled, felt, and heighten our senses to the outside world. It was a beautiful experience and so simple yet we often just brisk through life unaware of the creation around us, even when it is as obvious as it is in the woods. He then explained that surviving was doing the bare minimum in life. Doing what you absolutely had to do in order to make it out of an experience alive. He said how we so often "survive" on a day to day basis instead of truly living. WOW! how true is that? Surviving through high school, surviving a boring job, surviving college, and so on instead of really doing the best you can do and really living your life to the fullest potential. What a challenge! It seems so simple yet how many of us do it?

I pray that God will help me live these 9 months here in Walla Walla and not just survive them. I already feel that He has led me SO much these past few months. My life has been an ever changing adventure & I am so blessed to be where I am today. I know I have said this before but I wouldn't be where I am today if the things I had hoped for in the past had come true and honestly, this is WAY BETTER than the things I had hoped for. As Joseph Campbell said, ‎"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us"!


All in all this past week was beyond grand & I am so glad that I got to go. I can't wait till I get to go camping again. I praise God for each of the girls that were in my glorious GROUP 3! I am looking forward to doing more things together with them and getting to know them even better. 

the honey bees!