Avery County AKA The Learning Experience

Deep Impact, Week 1

Let me tell you, everything I thought that Deep Impact was going to be, I was terribly and horribly wrong.  

It has been so much better.  

Yes, I've had the stressfulness of Registration, fielding all of the youth leader's questions.  I've counted the money we've made from Canteen four times and gotten four different numbers.  I have very little cell phone service, so I barely get to talk to my family, which is really hard, as close as we are.  I've woken up earlier than I've had to in a LONG time, maybe since last summer's Deep Impact.  I've been stressed out, tired, weary, and frustrated.  

But it's also been positively brilliant.  

I've made such close, deep friendships with people that I'm working with, from both teams.  It's strange how terribly I miss them, even though I know I only met them a week and a half ago.  

I'm turning out to be a pretty good photographer, being able to capture all the moments the Campers experience on camera.  I like to think it's because of all those youth trips I've been on.  

I'm getting along with campers and chaperons far better than I expected.  I thought I might get along with one or the other, depending on my mood, but it turns out I'm getting along well with both at the SAME TIME!  I know, right?  It's crazy.  

I am actually being pretty organized and efficient with my space.  I've even voluntarily cleaned up around me because there was too much clutter and I knew it would get too messy.  You have to understand, that's a really big step for me.  Really.  

And I feel like every day I am walking in the Lord's will.  I know everything hasn't been smooth, but I've felt and sensed God along every bump in the road.  Around every sharp, mountain-winding-road curve, He's been leading the way.  And it's been phenomenal to see Him work.  

And the campers? They've been awesome.  I've made so many friendships with them.  And to be a tool in God's plan for their lives, I'm so humbled and honored.  I've helped them laugh, cheered them up, encouraged them, and smiled while they grew in their faith.  I'm so excited and thrilled to see how God has changed them in the course of the week, and pray that their growth will continue.  

And now, as I sit here in Shelby, exhausted but joyful, all I can think is: Bring on week 2!

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Prayer Requests:

• Pray for both the Orange and the Blue teams, while we're in Shelby and they're in Honduras.  
• Pray that we remain strong in the Lord, that we would draw upon Him, and continue to fill ourselves as we pour out to others.
• Pray that I would remain peaceful and patient.  It's easy for me to get into my head, get stressed out, and shut down.  Pray that God would keep me calm and focused.
• Pray that we would continue to work together smoothly and happily   There haven't been any real issues on our team, which I am so thankful for, so I pray that this would continue.  
• Pray that every hour of rest we get would feel like two.  We're all so tired!  :)  

Training Up AKA "The Most Sleep You'll Get This Summer"

Deep Impact, Staff Training

Well, this is it.  This is me, being on staff with an organization I've been a part of for 5 summers now.  This is me, working and being one of the cool staffers that I've looked up to for so many years.  This is real life.  And honestly, I can't believe that it's even happening.  Even though it's around me all day, every day, right in front of my face.  

It's finally sunk in though.  Now that we've sorted T-Shirts and gotten all sorts of swag with "Deep Impact Missions" plastered on the front.  Now that I've bonded with the amazing people, half of which I'll be with all summer.  Now that we're over halfway through with Staff Training.  Now that I'm about to learn how to make the famous "Smooshies"  [Where smoothie and slushy meet] that I've had every summer.  Now that I know Tom Beam, the director, and have already begun teasing him and the others here on staff.  Now that God has already shown us his providence and knowledge and just overall care and love for this amazing team.  

But every once in a while I just sort of step back and look at this place.  Where I was doing a mission trip as a Rising Junior in high school, a moment when God really spoke to me and told me he would take care of me and guide my life to where he wanted me to go.  

If you'd told me then that I'd go through the next four years and somehow end up back at this place, on Deep Impact staff, I don't think I would have believed you.  

This week has been a lot of information.  A lot of overwhelming sights and sounds and feelings.  A lot of sweat and uses of muscles that don't like to be used and are now in protest.  But also a lot of fun.  And a lot of blessings.  

I know this is only the first week, and I know I may have a momentarily different opinion come Registration tomorrow, which I'm mainly in charge of, but I am pretty confident that this will be one of the best summers of my life.  

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Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for us staffers, both the Blue and Orange teams, that we would continue to be hard-working and diligent in everything we need to do to get ready.  
• Pray for the campers at our first two sites this week, that God would begin to work in their hearts before they enter camp.
• Pray that we would be patient and calm with our first week, for a lot of us it truly is our first ever Deep Impact missions week as staffers, and it's a little daunting.  
• Pray that no matter what happens, God would get all of the glory.  May He shine in our shortcomings and show us his magnificence, or may He be given all credit when everything runs as smoothly as possible.  Let Him increase, and let us decrease.  

Preparing for Deep Impact, A Timeline

For those of you who are unaware, and to remind those of you who are, I am working this summer with a group called Deep Impact.  It is a branch of NC Baptist Missions, and I will be helping to lead week-long summer mission projects for middle- and high-school aged youth.  I'll be traveling all around this lovely state of mine, and living out of suitcases along the way.  

I am super excited for my trip, but I've decided that it might be fun to describe my last day here at home as I prepare to go.  Partially to keep myself on track, and partially because pre-trip Kailyn is always super procrastinating and super stressed a lot of the time. 

So, here we go, my last day home, June 8, 2013, occurred as follows:

8:00am - My mother enters my room to make sure I am waking up. I had actually set my alarm for 8:10.  I grunt some sort of reply at her and am asleep again as she closes the door.

8:10am - Alarm goes off.  Reluctantly, I crawl out of bed and grab a small hand mirror near my bed to asses my hair.  It is frizzy.  Braid it is.  I braid my hair, quickly dress, and head downstairs.

8:18am - I am running late already. I realize I should have woken up when my mother woke me up.  Once again, she knows my morning-self better than I do.  I need to print off my proof of certification that I completed the online portion of my CPR/First Aid class.  The printer is not working. I reboot it, and the printer turns on.  I rush around, gathering my things, grab the printed paper, and head to the car.

8:27am - I enter the address of the place I'm going into my GPS.  It's in a nearby town I haven't been to since middle school, when one of my friends lived there.  My GPS has me arriving at 8:59,  My class starts at 9:00.  I begin to panic slightly, but I maintain composure to set off driving.  

8:42am - I begin to enter unfamiliar territory.  I begin to become more alert, listening ever so carefully to my GPS.  

8:51am - "Just Give Me A Reason" comes on the radio.  I resist the urge to Snapchat my friends Sarah and Schuyler, as this song holds deep and emotional significance to the three of us (that is to say, we just really really really really really really love the song).  I come to this strange intersection and have to concentrate missing the most climactic part of the song, just at the end of the bridge.  I sigh heavily, continuing to drive.

9:00am - I pull into the parking lot of the building I'm taking the class in.  I park, and rush inside.  

9:03am - The community center is a maze.  I go to the woman at the front desk, who points me toward clearly labled signs detailing where to go.  I mentally face-palm.  

9:05am - I sit in the classroom and text my father I made it safely.  I turn off my phone and loose all track of time.  I perform various CPR tasks, then first aid-like procedures.  All I have to show for it is a nice little card saying I'm certified, and the assurance that now my friends and family members are much safer with me around, since I could help them in an emergency situation.  

11:43am - I make it to the car.  My class ran late.  I call home and get lunch orders, learning my little sister is just now waking up.  I am jealous momentarily, but push the thought away as I drive off.  

12:02pm - "Suit and Tie" comes on the radio.  I immediately think of my friend Sarah, wishing she were here to impersonate JT.  

12:15pm - I pull into the McDonalds drive through.  I go to order only to discover they are out of all things ice cream   After a few silent tears fall gently down my face, I gather the strength to order a cherry berry chiller instead of a chocolate shake.  I hope my father won't be disappointed.   

12:26pm - I arrive home like a victorious conqueror with the spoils of war, in this case, McDonalds.  We all eat in fellowship.  

1:10pm - My sister tries to steal one of my fries.  I frown at her.  She complains she hasn't had anything to eat.  I sassily retort that this has been my first meal too.  She pouts.  I eat the fry.  

1:13pm - I pull out my laptop to spend some time on it relaxing. My sister is sitting next to me on the couch, watching Doctor Who on Netflix.  I am a proud nerdy sister.  

3:47pm - Oh dear, where did the time go?  I have lost some hours.  Well, I'll watch one episode of Supernatural on Netflix then I'll start packing.  

4:24pm - Aww man, this episode is one away from the season finale?  Ok, one more episode... *yawn*

6:37pm - Wha... WHAT?   I wake up.  I had fallen asleep   I know I should pack more... but I smell food cooking.  Momma is almost done making it.  I decide to eat and pack afterward.  

7:10pm - In a moment of procrastination, I decide to blog about my day.  

7:15pm - I finally get off the couch and decide to start gathering my things to pack.  

8:00pm - I take a break to watch ANTM with my momma.  It is an episode we recorded the end of.  It is super important I see the end, so all packing must stop.

8:30pm - I begin packing again, rather reluctantly, but with a smoothie from my daddy to tide me over.  

9:43pm - I take another break to shower, realizing a number of shower items are needed in order to complete the packing process.  

9:45pm - I turn on the TV.  Monsters Inc. is playing on ABC Family.  I become distracted.

10:22pm - I realize I should probably get in the shower.  

10:30pm - I exit the shower and begin fixing my hair.  

10:53pm - I resume packing.

11:20pm - One suitcase is packed.  One more suitcase is yet to be filled.  I look around, slightly discouraged at all I have left to fit into one suitcase. 

11:43pm - I loose all sense of reality.  I have been packing for an eternity.  The packing will never ever end.  

11:58pm - I become pulled from my world of packing by Snapchat.  I must respond to such important photographs.  

12:02am - I realize it has become June 9th, 2013.  It is officially the day of my first day of training for Deep Impact.  I realize I still have much to pack.  I sigh as I resume packing.

12:26am - The zipper on my final suitcase closes.  I lean against it in relief and accomplishment.

12:27am - I go into the kitchen to find my mother backing up my laptop.  I realize I never finished my blog post.  I decide to wait for my computer to finish before going to bed.

12:42am - My computer finishes backing up.  I take it, promising to go to bed soon.  Church in the morning.  

1:12am - I finish composing my blog post and glance at the time.  I rub my eyes, quickly format the post, and hit "Publish".  I browse a bit more online before finally heading upstairs to bed.  

Memories

If you could have any sort of magical item from the Harry Potter series, what would you choose? 

I've thought about this for a while.  There are many wonderful magical items in the Harry Potter Universe.  And at times I've wanted all of them.  A flying car to get out of heavy traffic and get to places faster?  Heck yes.  A Rememberall?  Well, actually, taking the worlds Mr. Longbottom, "trouble is, I can't remember what I've forgotten".  Any sort of Bertie Bots, Chocolate Frogs, Acid Pops, or any of the other myriads of candy?  Absolutely.  

But I think I would honestly choose a Pensive, and the ability to save memories and live through them again.  

I know, I'm only 20 1/2 years old.  I'm not like Dumbledore, a man with crowded thoughts and a lifetime of memories.  And I also know that the wise Professor mostly used his to look back through thoughts of greatest importance to his current cause.  And Snape (at least in the books) only used his so Harry wouldn't see his most embarrassing memory on accident, though we can see how well that worked out for him.

But I think I would use mine a bit differently than good old Dumbles.  I would save the little memories I am prone to forget.  

The late nights I've sat in a car with my friends playing "Would you Rather".  The midnight Cookout milkshake runs.  The Sunday Afternoons after church sitting in the quad doing homework.  The WAY TOO LATE but hilarious adventures of the Knights of Club Jack [AKA late night study sessions at my university's Library, for those who are confused].  The quick drives to get a Roo Cup refill with my sister.  The rides with one or both of my parents to and from school.  Those moments of the day when I take a deep breath and just thank God for the little things and realize how I'm blessed.  

And that's just in the past two years of college.  That's not even counting all of the wonderful, small but fantastic moments from the rest of my life.  Some of which are blurred with time, or forgotten altogether.  

And I think, how many of these fleeting, small but lovely memories will I manage to forget over my life?  Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to extract them while they're fresh, and then store them away for safe keeping.

Then, when I'm particularly sad or lonely or stressed, I can pick a small vial of shimmering memory, pour it gently into the bowl, and sink into a moment not-so-long gone, remembering a simple time when I remembered I was loved, blessed, and happily enjoying life.