Friday, April 9
spring is here.
as the interns have returned from spring break, warm weather has returned to the ranch. spring is here and with that said so are many new and upcoming changes!
with the ending of winter meltdown, we have returned to hosting retreats and planing for summer. outdoor education will also be returning in full gear in the near future! in the past few weeks we have deep cleaned all of frontier town, gone on a recruiting trip (girls), had our first open house, completed some planing for the spring trip, and had a week off for Easter.
being an intern comes with many positives. one of them being that we are privileged to have a 5 day trip to anywhere of our choice. we are in charge of every detail of the trip including schedules, cooking, gathering supplies, finding directions, managing money, and much more. as a group we have chosen to take our trip to Assateague, Md on the Assateague National Seashore. Our last day and a half will be spent in Great Falls, Va camping and rock climbing. we have chosen to go to multiple locations so that we can all have an opportunity to do what we would like on a camping trip. while down at Assateague we will be canoing into our camping site. that means miles and miles of canoing! how exciting! we will have the chance to see wild horses, go to the beach by foot, and canoe to the pirate islands to have a picnic. :) in Great Falls, we will have the opportunity to boulder and top rope! most of us enjoy climbing and are excited to see how well we can do! if you ask me what i am most excited about, it is the fact we will be camping on a beautiful peninsula with some great friends! another highlight of the trip is the fact that we have budgeted so well that we have enough money to make a delightful pit stop at an outback before we return to the ranch. who would want to pass up a juicy steak!? :)
as ryan last wrote, time really does fly. we have almost been interns for a full 8 months. that leaves 4 months left of our time here at the ranch as an intern. the majority of the time left will be spent in our summer jobs. we have all now decided, with the help of full-time staff, where we will be working this summer. Sarah will be a Fort Roller counselor and she will be in charge of our new Super Sleuth program for girls! she is working away on planning out some pretty cool adventures for her girls. Ryan will be a ropes wrangler and will also act as an assistant to Zack who is our adventure camp program director. LaDessa is going to be the dinning room TNT crew chief. she will be in charge of about 8 girls for 4 weeks at a time. she has the opportunity to be an example to these girls as well as disciple them to be more like Christ. Taco is the program director of the whole TNT program. he will be brad's right hand man throughout the rest of the spring and summer helping him prepare for an awesome program. Bill is going to be the chef of Fort Roller! that's right, not an assistant chef, but the actual chef of fort roller. way to go Bill. he will be cooking for sarah and i, plus a lot of others, this whole summer. :) lastly, i will be the program director of fort roller classic camp. i will be matt's assistant in making sure the summer runs smoothly and that the program is as best as it can be for fort roller. it will be an exciting summer for us interns, as we are all involved in different positions... :)
we have grown so much as individuals and as a group during our year as interns. we have been so blessed to take part in many of the happenings around here at the ranch. i know that the other interns and i are so thankful for the experience and the lessons learned we are receiving. most of us don't have set plans for after the summer. we trust that the Lord will open doors and show us the way. please be in prayer for us as we continue to seek the Lord and find out what He has in store for us next. for some of us, it will be our first big step into the work world. Lord, prepare us for what is next. give us the skills and heart to finish well in where you have placed us. continue to provide for us as you so faithfully have for our whole lives. may we be living lights to your love and your word no matter where we end up next. Amen.
along the journey,
beth.
with the ending of winter meltdown, we have returned to hosting retreats and planing for summer. outdoor education will also be returning in full gear in the near future! in the past few weeks we have deep cleaned all of frontier town, gone on a recruiting trip (girls), had our first open house, completed some planing for the spring trip, and had a week off for Easter.
being an intern comes with many positives. one of them being that we are privileged to have a 5 day trip to anywhere of our choice. we are in charge of every detail of the trip including schedules, cooking, gathering supplies, finding directions, managing money, and much more. as a group we have chosen to take our trip to Assateague, Md on the Assateague National Seashore. Our last day and a half will be spent in Great Falls, Va camping and rock climbing. we have chosen to go to multiple locations so that we can all have an opportunity to do what we would like on a camping trip. while down at Assateague we will be canoing into our camping site. that means miles and miles of canoing! how exciting! we will have the chance to see wild horses, go to the beach by foot, and canoe to the pirate islands to have a picnic. :) in Great Falls, we will have the opportunity to boulder and top rope! most of us enjoy climbing and are excited to see how well we can do! if you ask me what i am most excited about, it is the fact we will be camping on a beautiful peninsula with some great friends! another highlight of the trip is the fact that we have budgeted so well that we have enough money to make a delightful pit stop at an outback before we return to the ranch. who would want to pass up a juicy steak!? :)
as ryan last wrote, time really does fly. we have almost been interns for a full 8 months. that leaves 4 months left of our time here at the ranch as an intern. the majority of the time left will be spent in our summer jobs. we have all now decided, with the help of full-time staff, where we will be working this summer. Sarah will be a Fort Roller counselor and she will be in charge of our new Super Sleuth program for girls! she is working away on planning out some pretty cool adventures for her girls. Ryan will be a ropes wrangler and will also act as an assistant to Zack who is our adventure camp program director. LaDessa is going to be the dinning room TNT crew chief. she will be in charge of about 8 girls for 4 weeks at a time. she has the opportunity to be an example to these girls as well as disciple them to be more like Christ. Taco is the program director of the whole TNT program. he will be brad's right hand man throughout the rest of the spring and summer helping him prepare for an awesome program. Bill is going to be the chef of Fort Roller! that's right, not an assistant chef, but the actual chef of fort roller. way to go Bill. he will be cooking for sarah and i, plus a lot of others, this whole summer. :) lastly, i will be the program director of fort roller classic camp. i will be matt's assistant in making sure the summer runs smoothly and that the program is as best as it can be for fort roller. it will be an exciting summer for us interns, as we are all involved in different positions... :)
we have grown so much as individuals and as a group during our year as interns. we have been so blessed to take part in many of the happenings around here at the ranch. i know that the other interns and i are so thankful for the experience and the lessons learned we are receiving. most of us don't have set plans for after the summer. we trust that the Lord will open doors and show us the way. please be in prayer for us as we continue to seek the Lord and find out what He has in store for us next. for some of us, it will be our first big step into the work world. Lord, prepare us for what is next. give us the skills and heart to finish well in where you have placed us. continue to provide for us as you so faithfully have for our whole lives. may we be living lights to your love and your word no matter where we end up next. Amen.
along the journey,
beth.
Thursday, March 18
Time flies.
Over the last month we have returned to hosting retreats, as the Winter Meltdowns are just about over. Now that spring has decided to arrive we are beginning to see color return to the trees and the grass beginning to grow. Along with that we have seen an increased energy level at the ranch. The excitement from the Winter Meltdowns has gotten us all pumped up for the next Outdoor Education season and the quickly approaching summer camp.
Lately a lot of our time has been spent planning our spring trip, getting ready for our respective roles for the summer, and of course our typical cleaning duties. We have had quite a bit of excitement as well though. Recently we went to another Chick-Fil-A opening outside of Philly in which 20 people associated with the Ranch went in the hopes of being in the first 100. There were 115 people at the opening at 6 a.m. which means that we had to do a raffle. As we sat waiting to hear the numbers we starting mentally checking off people from the ranch as we were called. With less than 10 people to be called we still had 3 people remaining and we began getting a little anxious. Then two numbers were called nearly back to back from the ranch leaving only Beth with just 5 numbers left. Down to just one number, Beth had still not been called. Then as the announcer read the last number, it was Beth's thus making her number 100!! She was obviously very excited as it is the second time that she was the 100th person to be called. The next 24 hours we spent on the parking lot of Chick-Fil-A enjoying the company of everyone there and simply resting.
That following Friday Beth, Taco, Sarah, Hannah and myself all went to the Baltimore Blast where we handed out brochures and occasionally got glimpses of the soccer game. It was awesome to be able to talk with so many kids and get them interested in coming to the Ranch over the summer. After the game Hawk Nelson performed. The concert was awesome and of course provided plenty of entertainment.
This week brought more excitement as all of the interns went into Baltimore. We went to the Basilica, walked around Inner Harbor and just spent time together in there. It was great to just get away together and have some fun off the Ranch and really helped us energize and get ready for the final Winter Meltdown of the season.
It's hard to believe that we've been at the Internship for over 6 months. We have certainly come a long way since then and have already experienced so much. There is still a lot to do and a lot to learn. I am confident that the next few months of the internship will be just as rewarding as the first 6 months.
Lately a lot of our time has been spent planning our spring trip, getting ready for our respective roles for the summer, and of course our typical cleaning duties. We have had quite a bit of excitement as well though. Recently we went to another Chick-Fil-A opening outside of Philly in which 20 people associated with the Ranch went in the hopes of being in the first 100. There were 115 people at the opening at 6 a.m. which means that we had to do a raffle. As we sat waiting to hear the numbers we starting mentally checking off people from the ranch as we were called. With less than 10 people to be called we still had 3 people remaining and we began getting a little anxious. Then two numbers were called nearly back to back from the ranch leaving only Beth with just 5 numbers left. Down to just one number, Beth had still not been called. Then as the announcer read the last number, it was Beth's thus making her number 100!! She was obviously very excited as it is the second time that she was the 100th person to be called. The next 24 hours we spent on the parking lot of Chick-Fil-A enjoying the company of everyone there and simply resting.
That following Friday Beth, Taco, Sarah, Hannah and myself all went to the Baltimore Blast where we handed out brochures and occasionally got glimpses of the soccer game. It was awesome to be able to talk with so many kids and get them interested in coming to the Ranch over the summer. After the game Hawk Nelson performed. The concert was awesome and of course provided plenty of entertainment.
This week brought more excitement as all of the interns went into Baltimore. We went to the Basilica, walked around Inner Harbor and just spent time together in there. It was great to just get away together and have some fun off the Ranch and really helped us energize and get ready for the final Winter Meltdown of the season.
It's hard to believe that we've been at the Internship for over 6 months. We have certainly come a long way since then and have already experienced so much. There is still a lot to do and a lot to learn. I am confident that the next few months of the internship will be just as rewarding as the first 6 months.
Wednesday, February 24
Hay is for Horses!
Today we started our version of what I guess the medical profession would call a clinical rotation! We are going to be spending a few days working with specific programs here at the ranch to get a feel for how they run and to gain some new knowledge and experiences in different areas of camp! Today we started this process of obtaining a well-rounded education in the barn! We had a great day working with Biz and Morgan and the horses up in the Ramuda. Of course this experience didn't come without some fun and a trail ride through the snow! Besides a few basic, hands-on lessons in grooming and handling of a horse we also mucked out stalls and watched the farrier shoe some horses. Over all it was a very productive day!
Wednesday, February 10
Shovels, Camcorders and Tubes...
We worked Monday of this week since we had off on Saturday. We haven't been able to get in our classroom all last week because they were putting down a new floor in the new foyer! So after our meeting in the Conference room we got bundled up and went to work outside. There was 30 inches of snow out there that had to be cleared off the walkways and steps of all the buildings around camp. We shoveled snow all morning. Not an easy job, but we got it done. Matt is really great about knowing when we have worked hard and usually rewards us with some play time. Carpet ball anyone? We spent the afternoon taking our turns in front of a camcorder answering questions about the GPS program for the promotional video that we are making for the internship. That was fun and a nice change of pace.
Tuesday we had a bible class in the morning and in the afternoon Matt came in and told us that our job for the rest of the day was to make sledding tracks in the snow! No joke! RVR wants to run snow tubing as an activity for the Winter Meltdown this weekend. So they wanted us to make paths through the snow to the top of the hill by the zip line and several tracks for the kids to tube down. We got bundled up, inflated the tubes and headed to the hill. First we rolled down the hill to help pack the snow and then the only thing left to do was climb and slide over and over again to get the tracks smooth and deep. So fun! So exhausting! We spent all afternoon out there! It was so pretty on the top of the hill! It snowed all afternoon and the big flakes were coming down steady on top of the already deep snow. We had lots of helpers come out too. Just as we were slowing down the ranch kids came out with fresh energy and revived ours. It was fun watching them and playing with them! Zig brought out the tractor to see if we could get the big toboggan to the top of the hill. The only problem was the snow was too deep for the tractor to get to the top of the hill! It did make it up a few times and we dug and pushed the toboggan down the hill to get a path created for it. It wasn't working and finally we decided that the snow was too deep for the tractor and the toboggan. We were all exhausted by the time we called it a day. By that time the day's snow had already added a few inches to the preexisting 30!
I still can't believe that this is my job!!!
Tuesday we had a bible class in the morning and in the afternoon Matt came in and told us that our job for the rest of the day was to make sledding tracks in the snow! No joke! RVR wants to run snow tubing as an activity for the Winter Meltdown this weekend. So they wanted us to make paths through the snow to the top of the hill by the zip line and several tracks for the kids to tube down. We got bundled up, inflated the tubes and headed to the hill. First we rolled down the hill to help pack the snow and then the only thing left to do was climb and slide over and over again to get the tracks smooth and deep. So fun! So exhausting! We spent all afternoon out there! It was so pretty on the top of the hill! It snowed all afternoon and the big flakes were coming down steady on top of the already deep snow. We had lots of helpers come out too. Just as we were slowing down the ranch kids came out with fresh energy and revived ours. It was fun watching them and playing with them! Zig brought out the tractor to see if we could get the big toboggan to the top of the hill. The only problem was the snow was too deep for the tractor to get to the top of the hill! It did make it up a few times and we dug and pushed the toboggan down the hill to get a path created for it. It wasn't working and finally we decided that the snow was too deep for the tractor and the toboggan. We were all exhausted by the time we called it a day. By that time the day's snow had already added a few inches to the preexisting 30!
I still can't believe that this is my job!!!
Wednesday, February 3
Preparation.
We just finished up with another winter meltdown retreat. All of us were able to enjoy a day's rest after the retreat and now are back to work getting ready for the next retreat. As always we have been hard at work cleaning the facilities so that each retreat that comes here can feel at home and comfortable. Last night the ranch got a couple inches of snow that gently covered the ground. As we woke up this morning, the sun was already starting to rise and warm up the ground. We began our day in fellowship and prayer and then proceeded to finish the cleaning of the ranch. Throughout the day, it began to get warmer and warmer and the snow that had fallen the previous evening began to melt away. As I sat there thinking about the snow melting away it got me thinking about the winter meltdown retreats. These retreats are a glimpse of summer to the kids who come here. They are excited and thrilled to be away from school and to have the opportunity to have an adventure. Their time at the ranch brings them joy and excitement which you can see in their smiles and enthusiasm that they have all weekend long. It reminds me why we do the things we do during the week, like cleaning toilets and vacuuming the carpets. It is so that those kids can have the opportunity to experience Christ in a way that they may have not before. During these retreats we are given the honor and privilege of seeing these kids start to grow much like the grass does soon after winter has ended. So we may simply be cleaning and getting last minute details around the ranch ready, we do it for a purpose and that purpose is to help kids enter a new season of their spiritual life, one full of growth and maturity where they can become passionate for the Gospel and make a difference in their world.
Winter Meltdown x2!
sometimes we experience things in life that just blow us away. some things are so simple and some so complex. either way it is hard to put into words how exactly you felt. i am reflecting on how much God showed up, how much He used us as a staff, and how much i grew as well. i must admit that i was excited for winter meltdown, but i was also so nervous. don't get me wrong i really couldn't wait, but you know how nerves can make you feel sometimes! we really had no idea what to expect because we had never experienced a winter program before. i guess that is a good thing so we wouldn't go into it with expectations! sarah's role was to create a reverse poem where it reads one way down and another way back up. it is called I Am. it is an absolutely beautifully written poem that shares about a person (or people in general) who has no hope and has no idea what they believe in. when read the reverse way it is about a person (or people) that has hope and who is living their life for the almighty I Am. she put so much work into it and it turned out beautifully. taco and ladessa wrote a skit/drama about the youth today and what they struggle with. it is about the expectations they feel they need to live up to and the ways they try to deal with pain. it is very powerful and unfortunately hits close to home for many youth. bill and ryan performed a different take on the verse of John 3:16 where they take this popular verse and challenge the youth to view this verse in a deeper way. i get chills just watching and listening! all of these interns are so talented! my role was to recite poems...4 of them to be exact. a few short and a few long. one was about 2 and a half minutes! well, now you see why i was so nervous! haha we were in constant prayer the whole weekend for the children and for the Lord to be our memory and calm our nerves.. He showed up so big.. my coworkers and i were in constant prayer for each other as well. it helped us grow in so many ways praying for each other and for the Lord to use us. we grew so much closer as a group. it is amazing when you do something for the Lord. not only did we grow in our walks, but we also had fun! just because we were working the program didn't mean we couldn't participate with the youth. haha it was a blast. the kids had so much fun as well. the Lord was really moving in their hearts.. around 5 people got saved and some rededicated their lives. we can never truly know the hearts of people, but i so believe that some of these kids came to know the Lord and experience Him in ways they had never before. we are blessed to be a part of this ministry.
winter meltdown weekend number 2 is done! it finished up 3 days ago.. it was once again a great and fun weekend. it was jr and sr high this weekend, so it was harder to get the kids to focus and listen, but i know the Lord was working regardless of that. it snowed a few inches friday night!! it was so much fun to experience a winter meltdown with actual snow on the ground :) a group of us still ran the zip line in 16 degrees while snowing! we had to get a picture of that kind of dedication! :) regardless of the freezing and snowy weather the youth were able to participate in the outdoor activities. we were more tired than the first weekend, but that is expected! this is where it is important to call on the Lord and not rely on our own strength. the Lord was giving us the strength and energy to help run the program well.. winter meltdown is such a cool program. it has some pretty powerful skits, dramas, poems, videos, and other ways kids can see the Lord. it is great to see it all come together.. another cool aspect is that our staff all comes together. we are growing so much closer and with the staff families as well. it is very unusual to see all the ranch families together and i am loving it! it is a cool thing that we get to reach kids for the Lord all while growing as a camp family. we like this camp ministry stuff. :) the Lord is good.
along the journey,
beth.
Monday, January 25
Our first Winter Meltdown
Winter Meltdown weekend number 1 has come and gone. Wow, What a weekend! When we got back from the CCCA conference we hit the ground running. Final practices, sound checks, run through and room checks took up most of the last few minutes before the youth groups arrived. Once they did the weekend blurred into one big, well oiled machine. Everyone pitched in and things ran fairly smoothly. Kids really seemed to respond to the worship, dramas, presentations and the messages. That was very affirming! Even the activities seemed to run smoothly. The weekend flew by and before we had time to slow down and catch a breath it was over. I personally can't remember the last time I was that exhausted. But with the exhaustion comes a sort of satisfaction. This weekend was very rewarding in many ways. To see all your hard work come together with other people's hard work and pay off is a great feeling. There is no doubt in my mind that God was in what we were doing at the Ranch this weekend. Because there is no way things would have come together that well in that short amount of time if He wasn't. We still have some things to work on, little changes to be made to help the weekends to come run a little more efficiently. But over all I would say it was a great weekend, (any weekend when God's work is done and people are touched is a great weekend!) and we are looking forward to next weekend when we can do it all again!
Thursday, January 21
CCCA Conference
On Tuesday the interns (minus Ryan because he is on a mission trip to Ethiopia with his church) and Matt went to Tuscarora Inn in PA for the CCCA Mid-Atlantic Sectional Conference. On the way up in the van we took turns playing a favorite song by taking turns plugging our ipods into the speakers. That made for a very diverse van ride! The next few days were filled with sessions lead by Gordan MacDonald, workshops lead by peers and experts in the campground ministry, fellowship around tables of good food, bonding on the volleyball court, practicing Winter Meltdown skits in our spare time and soaking up as much information as our brains could possibly hold. We made new friends, gained new perspectives, tried new things and grew in new ways. On Wednesday Zig came up and Matt went home. (they tag teamed the conference so that they could each have time to work on Winter Meltdown stuff) When Thursday came it was bitter-sweet saying good-bye to the people we had connected with over the past few days! But it was good to be headed back to the ranch! We are all ready to be in Winter Meltdown gear! On the way home we had great conversations with Zig! We also had a flat tire, that was an adventure that caused some laughs, but we made it back safe and sound!
People that touched our hearts:
People that touched our hearts:
- Joe; He shared a meal with LaDessa and then came to watch us practice our skits. He was a funny older guy who made us giggle. He was so moved by Beth's performance of a poem that he opened up and shared with us about his past and the struggles that he has overcome! What an amazing story! Joe became a special friend for the rest of the week! We inspired each other!
- Theresa; What an amazing woman of God! She has such a passion for youth and such an open and giving spirit! We couldn't get enough of her. I personally think I could sit and talk with her for days on end and still feel like she had more to offer me.
- Erin and Theresa V.; People in the same generation as us! What fun girls! What an inspiration to see people our age being used by God in camp leadership positions!
- Mr. Francis; Now there is a man who knows what it is all about! Serving the Lord!
- The Game show.... you had to be there, but trust me, it was hilarious! (we all got up on stage and played... even Zig!)
- The little peddle bikes.
- The speakers. (camp people have great senses of humor!)
- Uff' da! (it means " Awe Nuts" in Norwegian, and the Inn has a Norwegian background, so we picked up the phrase and then naturally we all bought T-shirts!)
- And much, much more.......
Friday, January 8
Contemplation in the midst of Snow
We woke up today to find a light snow fall had covered the ranch in a seamless white blanket. We all made the familiar morning walk to the classroom where we would be to begin the day. As I walked along I watched as the sunlight rose over the trees and reflected off the snow and through the newly formed icicles on the buildings of the ranch. It made me think about all that we've done here at the ranch and how far we've come in our journey. Going back to the very beginning of the internship I'm reminded of when Matt took us to a spring right outside his house to being our day. Throughout the rest of the day, we hiked some trails at Pretty Boy Reservoir. Once we arrived at the Dam we stopped to talk and have a small devotion there. He told us that the spring that was by his house eventually created the river that flowed into this reservoir. It was an analogy for the internship where we were much like the spring when we first got here, full of potential, but still not ready to be the driving force of a ministry. As I pondered this and took some pictures for the internship I thought about how we've been through 5 months of the internship and there is a definitive change in the interns. We have become much more confident in our abilities and are taking ownership in the programs here at the ranch. We have become much like the creek that runs through the ranch. Continuing on towards our destination with focus, determination and a purpose; not yet a river, but beginning to pick up speed with the knowledge that we are well on our way to a whole new stage of life.
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