The Boys & Lately

I cannot believe how long it has been! I don't have anything spectacular to say today (or most days!) but thought I'd share a little bit of life lately.

Lately...I've been hanging out with these two jokers, Nick & Matt. It's amazing how you start to think you can't learn anymore from people around you and God just shatters that notion and makes something wonderful come alive right in front of you. 

I will always be a proponent of opposite sex friendships. Especially (and importantly) when you are single. I hardly ever feel that tug for a boyfriend when I have so many great guy friends that I know won't be in my life forever. I value the closeness of their friendships and adore each and every one of my guy friends in a unique way. God has totally fulfilled that ache in my heart for male attention, affection, and companionship with these guys. There's really no reason to want anything else until the time comes.

For now, I want to travel, eat, and have fun with the boys. I think they kind of love me too, because the other day we were talking about planning a road trip and Matt says, "I want to plan a bro-trip! Ashlee can come too." 

To my best guys, Nick & Matt.

Stuff Campers Say: Third Edition

For the third time during my days at Cho-Yeh, I was blessed to counsel the Gummies, the youngest little campers we have. They are always making me laugh with their innocent and blatant honesty as well as the way they process the world around them. Here’s the round up of funny things that came charging out of their filter-less little selves during Midwinter Madness 2013:

“To wake you up, do we give you mouth-to-mouth?”

“Oh, your hair does not taste good.”

“WHOSE HAIRBRUSH IS THIS?”

“I heard you talking but I was staring at those rocks.”

“Can that squirrel boy stay in our cabin with us?”

 

        What a cutie! (via http://pinterest.com/)

Silly & Stupid

(Image via Pinterest, text added by yours truly)

Never has this statement been more true than when working with kids at camp.

Never have I had more fun, never have I given and received more joy and love than when I am forgetting myself. Forgetting that the cute camp staff boy with the winning smile is in the same room, forgetting that pink feather boas are not my thing, forgetting that letting seven-year-olds fix your hair never means magazine-worthy, but loving every single second of it.

There’s always some resistance, some thought that says, “You’re an adult, you’re acting immature, people are staring,” and then there’s the smile of a little girl whose mom sent Groucho glasses for the whole cabin. There’s the joy at losing yourself in a dance made up by little girls unblemished by self-conciseness and peer pressure.

The fear of letting go of looking silly and stupid is constantly holding me back. But the moment I give up my resistance the Lord allows such an indescribable excitement and joy. It's the fullness of life all crammed into the moment you're dancing like a lunatic or attempting to cartwheel because you've lost it.

Gregory House puts it perfectly when he says this:

(Image via Pinterest, text added by yours truly)

Africa

I can’t pinpoint exactly when I started wanting to go to Africa. I don’t know who inspired it, I don’t know why I so easily fell for Kenya or Uganda, or why the only kids I’ve ever wanted to hold are African.

I also don’t know when or even if I will go there. I don’t know what I will do there or how it may happen. All I know is that for the past week at Cho-Yeh, we’ve hosted the Mwangaza Children’s Choir, an initiative of Africa Renewal Ministries and our Retreats Registrar, Miss Faith, put it so perfectly when she said to me, “When you can’t go to where your heart is, the Lord brings your heart to you.”

This makes me wonder, where is your heart? Think about it. Is it a specific place? Is it with specific people? Where are you home?

And then enjoy some of the beautiful sounds of an African choir.

Check out Africa Renewal Ministries for more information & to catch a performance! http://africarenewalministries.org/

My Christmas Letter

Recently, someone suggested that since I had now arrived at the very adult and mature age of 25, that I should start the good ol’ tradition of the annual Christmas letter. Not really having what one would consider a “normal” life for someone my age I considered what exactly this letter would report and came up with the following.

Dear Friends & Family,

Since the holiday season is now upon us I thought I’d take some time to share of the bolder highlights of my past year.

As many of you know, I am still currently employed as an Event Manager (fancy title for a glorified intern) and the year started off with yours truly getting her Level 1 Ropes Certification. This basically means I can not only belay but also hang out in what we call the Crow’s Nest and transfer climbers to the zipline, all the while pretending that I am cool and also not afraid of heights.

Soon after I got to counsel for the first time at Camp Cho-Yeh during our Midwinter Madness. I counseled the gummies, our youngest campers who would say things like “I found this candy on the ground, but I washed it off. Can I eat it?” And also called us out saying “You’re whispering. That means you don’t know what to do.”

The spring was full of projects, like remodeling our camp store, going to planning weekends with the summer leadership staff, and experiencing my first “Cowboy Church” for Easter. And then I got a tattoo in Galveston and it made me feel really hardcore for a while.

I traveled to Las Vegas this spring to watch my brother compete in the World Pizza Games (this is not a joke). He came in second in the fastest box folder competition. I was mega-proud. Then we all got drunk and ate a huge pizza.

All of the sudden it was summertime & one million college students came to work at Cho-Yeh and I started working as an office assistant, only adding to my disconcerting notion that I am getting old. I got to counsel the very last week & again had the lil’ gumdrops who constantly told me “You dance really funny!” and asked me “Do you like being tickled?”

After transitioning back to retreats I was offered a full-time job here at Cho-Yeh & also applied for (and was offered) one at a Conference Center in Oregon. I turned both of them down, due to the fact that I am young and/or afraid of commitment.

However, I’m still going to continue my current job through May of next year. Can I get a whoop-whoop for job security? And also a hoorah for the hundreds of tacos I am sure to consume at our favourite Mexican eatery, Los Pinos. Most of the first draft of this letter was just a gushing about how good their guacamole is. (YOU CANNOT EVEN KNOW).

In other news, I have watched seven whole seasons of Criminal Minds. It is safe to say I am now extremely paranoid about being murdered AND that I am officially obsessed with Spencer Reid/Matthew Gray Gubler AND that I am confident that I could easily work for the FBI as a profiler.

For Thanksgiving this year I went out to California to visit my sister at her camp, Forest Home. Sometimes I feel like we are living the same life, except she’s doing it way better and with more money/stability/beaches/mountains/hot college guys. So, not really the same at all. But a girl can dream, right?!?!

Oh, I also tried to go gluten-free this year. I’m not the best at it, due to the fact that cookies & pizza was pretty near all I ate last year. I also started running more (we’re talking a whole 6 miles a pop, people!) while shamelessly blasting Justin Timberlake and/or music from the hit television show, Glee.

All in all it’s been a good year. Most of my money went towards plane tickets, tacos, and patterned socks.

Happy Holidays!

A little history...

As I think about my future whereabouts, plans, wanderings, I keep coming back to things like this:

My friends from Minnesota. I think, as I get older, I find that I want to make my own life, plant my own roots, build my own house (not literally, of course. I once tried to use a table saw under supervision, and was doing well until I open-mouth smiled and ate half a pound of sawdust. Go figure).

But there’s this part of me that wants to be around people I have a history with. People who have seen me through bad break-ups, bad decisions, bad test scores, bad driving, and tons of bad hair days. (What can I say I had to have my own bad short haircut despite the pleadings against it).

These girls were and are my foundation in so many ways and I long to live life in a more frequent manner with them. As usual I’m torn by my independence and my desire to belong to people.

I think that’s why the promise of the Lord being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow is so comforting. Because I don’t know what today or any of my tomorrows may bring but I can be comforted that I know the One who has my itinerary planned out. The One who understands my need to belong, to have stability and to be known.

And for that I am incredibly grateful.

Adaptability

Our schedule can (and does!) change multiple times a week. Our retreat groups have needs we didn’t (and couldn’t!) anticipate. The weather can change in minutes (thanks, East Texas!)

But we’ve all learned to be quick to accept change and to readjust our plans, thoughts, and actions accordingly. We’ve learned that if you want sleep, you’ve got to get it while you can. If you want peace, you’ve got to seek it out. If you want to drive the truck, you have to call it before anyone else.

You’ve got to be ready and willing for all of it.

This spills over into other situations in my life as well. Learning to adapt has helped me to connect with and love people better because I try to be more understanding and graceful as I learn more about them. It has opened doors for building relationships with those around me.

Being flexible is what serving others is all about. You can’t claim to be a servant if you are unwilling to do even more than is asked of you. Loving people takes a lot of willingness and adaptability but it’s always worth the time and effort it takes.

One example was from a youth group I was managing a few weekends ago. It turned out that the group leader has more set-up needs than I had expected but she assured me that her students could set it up before their first meeting. I decided I could bless them by setting up before the group arrived at the meeting hall and the group leader was floored by my simple gesture. That set the tone for the entire weekend and allowed her to feel loved and cared for.

This is worth it.