The Last Week at Camp

  It's been an adventure this past summer seeing how God's kept working things out in my life to bring me to places that I never expected to be. So, I spent this last week counseling at Northland Camp again. There were several things keeping me from being there last week, but God removed each and every obstacle in incredible ways, and while it was another long hard week, it was totally AWESOME watching God work.
   One of the coolest things was the night that an astronomy guy came in to talk about God's handiwork in the stars, and we were all praying for a clear sky. That evening there was a thunderstorm, but by the time we got outside to see if we could see anything, there were thunder clouds and lightening to the north, south, east, and west, but right above us, there was a circle of clear sky and we were able to do the lesson. Not only did God open up the sky for us, he gave us something to watch with several shooting stars, and a meter that we hadn't been expecting. While I was standing there, watching the stars, and the storm, I just kept thinking of the hymn, How Great Thou Art. 

"I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, THY power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings by soul, my Savior, God to THEE! How Great thou art! How GREAT THOU art!"

So, while this summer hasn't gone as I planned, it's been super awesome to watch how God kept working things out for His glory. And not only did He do amazing things, I had the privilege of seeing a lot of it firsthand.

On the drive out to Northland, we got to stop at the hospital and see my cousin's new baby!

And on campus, K. gave us a ride around on the golf cart.

And of course, Wacky Wednesday!!

Northland has THREE Escape Rooms, and I got to run the Bank Heist one. I just loved this bomb prop, so I had to get my picture with it.

It was a super long week, but at the end of the day, I could really sit back and thank God for each and every day. When I couldn't go on, God was my strength. When I cried, God was my comfort. When I felt alone, God never left me. When I was weak, HE was strong.

Tomorrow, my sister is getting married, so hopefully next week, I'll have some great wedding pictures, but until then, this is Priscilla Krahn reminding you to stand on the SOLID rock of God, because ALL other ground is sinking sand. Whether that ground is friends, plans, status, or relationships, ALL ground is sinking stand apart from the SOLID rock of GOD.

Just a Thought for the Week

2 Corinthians 12:10 "Therefore I take PLEASURE in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN AM I STRONG."

I've been thinking about this verse this week. How often do we take all the distresses, and persecutions, the infirmities and reproaches and necessities and take pleasure in them? Yet, God's given them to us to make us weak so that HE can be strong. Just a thought to dwell on this week. Can you take pleasure in the problems so that God can be glorified?

   Also, I'll be teen counseling at camp this week and would appreciate prayers for wisdom and patience.

Once More, God Brought me to Camp

Staff Training here at Northland Camp has come to a close. Every time that I’ve been here, it’s been neat to see how God worked it out, because every time I’ve come, there have been a million and one reasons in my eyes why I shouldn’t be here, yet God always works things out for me to be here at just the right time.

I’ve been really challenged this year, as I’ve sat through the training sessions and messages. I’m so blessed to be here with this awesome team. One of the things that I’ve been reminded of this week that has really been an encouragement to me is to keep my focus right.

I mean we hear about things like the Notre Dame fire, and thing, “How sad!” But looking ahead, everything here is going to burn up anyways. At the end of the day, the only thing that’s going to matter from this life is how we lived for God.

It’s easy to get caught up in the little things of life that seem big at the time, but keep it in perspective of eternity. At the end of the day, most things won’t matter, and we need to make sure we're investing in the things that do matter. Bringing glory to God, and showing the world HIS love.

So, yes. It's been a great week! I'm excited to see what God is going to do this week in my life, as well as in the campers.

A verse that I've been thinking about a lot lately is Matthew 13:58 "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." Sometimes, we want to see God working, but He's not doing mighty things in our lives, because of our unbelief. How often do we pray . . . "God, change this situation!" But don't actually expect to see a change? My encouragement to you? Have faith. Don't expect God to do great things if you're not living by faith.

I'll try to post again next week, but I do have very spotty internet connection and may not be able to. I guess we'll see. :)

VBS 2019

 I've missed the last two years of our church's VBS, so it was GREAT to be home for it this year! Our theme was "Kids on a Mission" and each day we explored a different aspect of being a missionary. Since each day was themed with a different country, I decided to dress up for each day!

 

I worked 'back table' with Miriam. And you may notice the color scheme is the colors of the wordless book. As part of the missions theme, we taught the kids to share the wordless book so that they can share the gospel wherever they're at.

Monday, our theme 'destination' was the USA, with special focus on the Navajo Indians in New Mexico where there's a Bible Camp my brother helped out at.

One day, was Ecuador.

The last day was India.

The Congo was one of my favorites, although it did take an hour and a half to do all the little braids, and longer to take them out!

The singing and lessons are so encouraging to me, even as a worker, it's a great week of Spiritual growth.

And one day was Germany!

We had a total of 86 kids come throughout the week, and a few salvations, as well as a lot of Spiritual growth. It was neat seeing how even the workers grew over the week.

Next step for me? I'm off to Northland Camp again!!! Sadly, I wasn't able to leave for the whole summer, but I'll be there for three weeks as a counselor. If you think of it, I'd appreciate prayer. Some of the teens we end up counseling come from really rough homes, and are dealing with things that I've never experienced. Pray that God will let me love them and know how to best help.

The Last Few Weeks in Pictures . . .

So, I apologize if I've posted some of these pictures before, but the last few weeks have been a little crazy. It's hard to believe that less than two weeks ago, I was still working at camp in WI. Since then, I've driven to SD for my cousin Abby's wedding where I was a bridesmaid, (a lot of the pictures are from that,) Also, we had some friends visit us, and help us out with the prep work before the maze, then we had our opening weekend of the corn maze and ALL the craziness that comes with that so . . . yeah, I've got a bunch of pictures. :) :) 

The wedding was great, and it was so fun to get caught up with some cousins that I hadn't seen in awhile.

My 'little bro' / cousin Josh and I had a LOT of fun!

And more cousins . . . :) 

The happy couple!

Sometimes you just have to take a break from work and take time to race ducks!

Or test out the straw couch. . .

Or go for a walk through the maze . . .

Or try out the Escape Room!

Back in WI, we drove by this waterfall every week on the way to church and decided to stop one week for a quick picture. 

The three of us have grown up together and done SO much together, it was an AWESOME wedding!!! :) :) :)

At the maze, we had a good thunderstorm, with some nice size hail.

This sign is for sale in our gift shop, and I laugh every time I see it. It sounds a little too much like me . . . :):):)

So, there's an old costume room on campus and sometimes, we have a little too much fun! Can you guess which one is me?

If you've ever seen me do the 'funny house' thing, you may enjoy this. A friend videoed me doing it with a filter and . . . well, yeah, you'd have to see it for yourself!

Almost Done =(

So, we're nearing the end of camp! I'm sad to have to be leaving soon, but excited to be seeing people at home. I hope I haven't already posted any of these pictures, but if you've seen them already . . . well, I hope you don't mind! :)

Our 'housekeeping' team had an impromptu run to town, and ended up with ice cream . . . I LOVE my job!!!!!!!!! 

A few of us took Francisco to a church where he was preaching and we had a great time!

So, I'm on the green team . . . if you couldn't tell. :)

When we were with Francisco, we stopped at a candy store. It was the COOLEST place!!!!

And yes, I do work too! :):):)

God Won!!!

  So, God ALWAYS wins, but this week, I saw it in a whole new way. We had a lot of unsaved campers, and I'd never felt Satan working so hard to hinder our ministry, but looking back, it was the greatest week of the summer so far. MANY young people came to know Christ, and many others were able to deal with some sin in their lives and get committed. Praise God!!!! And thank you for your prayers.

Thinks have been going well in the camp store, where I spend the afternoons. It's kind of a 'hang out' place and I enjoy watching people visiting and enjoying themselves.

On Team Spirit day, I decked out in green and got caught on camera with my stash of pop! JK, I was restocking the store. :D 

Although she's on the other side of camp, Hosanna still stops in the store once in a while, and she also happens to be on the green team.

It was GREAT to have my 'Brother' volunteering for a few weeks. It was a HUGE encouragement to me, and most all the staff. If you get the opportunity, encourage someone this week. You have NO IDEA how much that can mean to them. And if you don't get the opportunity, MAKE the opportunity.

So . . . WACKY Wednesday is  . . . well, it's WACKY!!!!! 

I looked across the dining hall and saw this hair-do . . . Are we even related???

Then there was the staff party.

So, all in all, it was a GREAT week!!!!! Please keep praying, as we only have a few weeks left. It's been AWESOME to see how God's been working in campers' lives, the staff's lives, and my life. Take the time to encourage someone today!

FUN at camp!

In the mornings, when I'm not in the store, I work on the housekeeping/hospitality crew and . . . well, sometimes, we work to fast, and have a little bit of time for fun! :) :):) 

So, we took a bunch of pictures to describe our summer. . . yeah, Wendy and I have had some issues with our ice machine . . . but thanks to our wonderful maintenance team, it's up and running!

And sometimes . . . we have rough mornings and we sit on the floor of the cleaning closet and cry . . . JK!!!!!!! I mean okay, maybe there's days, but we have a TON OF FUN!!!!!!!!!! It's actually really fun to fake cry for pictures. . . Just saying. . .

And when there's a tray of cookies, and a camera . . . well, you just got to shove your face full.

So, maybe this is staged, but it was fun to pretend!!!!

Go, Itsy Bitsy!!!! I love how A. is calmly driving and we're all dying around her! With cookies . . .

And when you go to the kitchen . . . and your 'little brother' is there . . . and you want a fun picture . . . you chew him out! Nicely, of course. :) :) 

And sometimes, you just gotta crash.

So, the cookies were good, but the oreos were AMAZING!!!!

And when you have no idea what you're doing, and all else fails, you just have fun!!!!!

But seriously, it's been a great week. I was more encouraged this week than I've been all summer, which is odd because it was a VERY challenging week. A lot was going on and it was hard to stay focused. We're going into our last week of teen/junior camp, so if you think of it, pray for us. It's amazing watching young people getting saved, and/or growing closer to God, but there's also challenges, and we can all use prayer.

So, have a GREAT week, remember that . . . "It's NOT about you!!! If you're day is going wrong, you're probably thinking about the wrong person." - Mr. M.