Crossroads

So, I got back from a camp in Cape Henlopen, DE, called Crossroads, on Friday. It was an awesome experience. It was a middle school camp run by a group called Youth for Christ (YFC), and I was there as a leader. It was a new experience for me, and I got a lot out of it. I really feel like I have a passion for seeing students grow deeper in their relationships with God, and that DEFINITELY happened this week!

We were seperated into small groups and each of the small groups had a name based on the theme of candy. My group was called the '7 Musketeers' (we had 7 girls in our group). Other groups were called the 'Gnarly Nerds', 'Snickers Cadberry Eggs', 'Whatchamacallits', 'Last Minute Party Bars with Nuts', 'Chocolate Covered Sand', and 'Niner Laffy Taffy King Size.'

Our group was really quiet and introverted at first, but with time and lots of sugar, the girls really opened up and it got pretty crazy. We had some cool bible studies, intense worship, played some fun games, time at the beach and the boardwalk and a night out being just plain weird in the Dollar Store.

One game in particular that was a lot of fun was called 'The Golden Fleece'. Kind of like capture the flag, it was the kids vs the leaders and it was violent. Haha. The picture is a little bit of what the game was like.

I would be lying though if I said that I wasn't nervous. In fact, I was really scared. On a bunch of different levels. The most obvious (for me) being that I would be gone for a week and have no control over what I was eating. I've been to camps/retreats before as a student...and it rarely, if ever goes well. It typically ended up with others concerned about what I was (or wasn't) eating.

So I knew if things went badly, the equation would end up being:
middle school girls + adult leader who isn't eating = disaster!

Luckily, things went really well (IMHO). I ate a lot of things that I was uncomfortable with and I broke a lot of ED 'rules' and I didn't die or gain 100 pounds. I saw my therapist yesterday, and she was pretty much flabbergasted. I pretty much just told her that I tried to leave the whole situation up to God. And I just did what I knew I needed to do, and when I felt crappy about myself, I talked to other people about it instead of completely freaking out or restricting. Now, if only I could do this on a regular basis lol.

Anyways, it was really awesome getting to meet everyone and get to know them better. It was a great experience talking to some of the kids and listening to what they had to say and praying with them. I really saw God working in a lot of awesome ways. We had this one night of worship when I think God really came and touched everyone in a profound way.

We played a lot of games and we spent a lot of time looking at God's Word. We had small groups where we had our own night out to have fun (and eat ice cream...yum!) and we also had nights to go to the beach and watch the sun set and be quiet and listen to what God had to say to each of us.

I think I could write for hours and still not be able to fully capture everything that went on at Crossroads. So I guess I will suffice it to say that it was a life changing experience and I can't wait for next year!

Physics, Take II

-Edit (08/07/08)-

I finished the class...and I got a B!!! W00t! Never thought I would be so happy for a B, but I worked so hard for it!
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-Original Post (7/31/08)-


I really hate summer classes. Especially ones that are at 7:30 in the morning every day for three hours and pertain to a subject that I a) care nothing about and b) do not understand. The only good thing about this is the fact that the class is only a month long and I have less than a week left now. Thank goodness!

Overall, I am feeling pretty optimistic about the class this time. I was definitely embarrassed to have to take a class over with the same professor, but the fact of the matter is, having the same professor actually may work to my advantage. He definitely remembers me from last summer (lol); but he also can see that this time around I am making a lot more progress and grasping the concepts a lot better.

I somehow even managed a B+ on the last exam. Though, last time I checked, a 71% was not a B. At least he curves; he said that he expected the average to be around a 60 or a 70.

I was still a few points below the average grade for the exam, but honestly, I am just thrilled that I am passing. One of the other girls at my table was complaining about some mistake she had made, but she had gotten a 90% on the exam. It seemed absurd to me at the moment; but then I realized that that is exactly the same way I am when it comes to Chemistry or Psychology classes.

I wish I could say that taking the class over makes things a lot easier for me; but that is definitely not the case. I have been staying a couple hours later on lab days to work on homework and get extra help. And even with that, I have still been perpetually late with turning in my homework. But the professor basically said he didn't care when it was turned in, as long as it was getting done.

Also, it took me 3 1/2 hours to take the last exam...there were 4 problems.

It's good knowing that the fruits of my hard work are paying off.