Saturday, July 30, 2011

Term 6 HIGHLIGHTS!!!

Tonight I am back at home, and have spent the day resting. I forgot how exhausted I am after I serve out at Camp Barnabas! I think that's a good thing though, as it's GREAT to serve others to the point of self sacrifice and exhaustion. I learned so much the past two weeks that it may take me several days to get it all out in various posts. *grin*

Every year I go out to camp expecting to bless others and I ALWAYS find that the campers, staffers, and CIA'S, BLESS ME!

Term 6 was a lot of fun, as I was a part of a deaf cabin. Okay, well, some were deaf and some were hard-of-hearing. Some of the campers could speak and some couldn't, but it didn't matter because communication seemed to flow fairly well between all of us!

Before I get into the campers, I want to take a moment to mention one of my roommates LISA! Lisa is deaf and is SO MUCH FUN to be around! She can read lips, which helped when I would get stumped & forget how to sign something. (Or it was early in the morning and I wasn't awake yet!) We had so much fun being co-cabin Moms in the same cabin! I have thought about Lisa quite a bit since I have returned, and I thank God for her. She made the week more fun just by being herself. She's a blessing from the Lord!

My other roommate, Nicolina is a wonderful woman of the Lord, and I am so glad God put her in our room too! She added laughter to our room, and the three of us had a lot of fun! I will admit that sometimes I haven't "clicked" with my roommates, but these gals and I had so much fun! It was a lot of fun!

Okay, on to the campers. This was the first time I've been in a cabin where the girls knew each other REALLY well. Truthfully, the campers didn't really "need" us like they do during Term 7 because they were all self sufficient. That was weird and nice all at the same time. It made for an "easy" week, so that was a lot of fun!

Chantell taught me a lot about being honest and upfront with people. On several occasions I would compliment her and she would reply with "I know." While that may not be the most polite response, it made me smile. As the week progressed, we got to know each other, and I found out she lives in the KC area! She would simply say what she thought which sometimes bothered people, but I liked it. You never had to worry about Chantell because she just said what she thought.

Kortney was in my cabin AGAIN, and always made me smile. While we didn't talk as much as I did with some of the others, we picked on each other from time to time. I had told her that my favorite sign was the sign for "whatever" so she would walk by me and sign it from time to time. I would reply with her favorite sign, LOL. *grin* She's a neat young lady.

Joshel was a camper that I didn't really talk with much, but she always put a smile on my face. I noticed she always wore jerseys and hats. I wondered if she is a sports girl and if some of our non-sports activities bored her. She seemed to be a good sport though, which made me grin.

Taylor didn't talk to me a lot either, but she fit right in with the other campers, and everyone loved her! I hope she's in my cabin again so I can talk to her some more. *grin*

Sara had a birthday during the week so her CIA Savannah decorated her bed for her! It was PRECIOUS. Sara could hear, but enjoyed signing too. I hung around her quite a bit, and liked her. She fit right in with the other girls, so the "adults" weren't really her choice to sit and talk to. I guess I can't blame her. *grin*

Sara, the new one, was precious. Her initial paperwork said she was blind and deaf, but once she arrived we learned that she can see some, and could sign some too. We were all pleasantly surprised by that. Sara stole ALL of our hearts due to her situation outside of camp, but we loved on her and she loved on us. Truthfully, Sara was a favorite of mine Term 6.

Leigh was one of my other favorites too. Leigh could hear but didn't talk, so she signed. Leigh and I connected, and she would sign that I was CRAZY a lot. (Leave it alone Hader! *grin*) She is also the one that I would sign to and then say, "Why am I signing to you? You can hear me!" all week! Truthfully, Leigh had a soft spirit and loved everyone and I have more pics of me with Leigh than anyone else. I hope she's in my cabin in the future. She was truly a gift from God in my life that week!

Danna was completely deaf, and initially I didn't think she liked me a whole lot. But, I was SO mistaken on that thought. At an early point in the week, I fell, or almost fell, or something like that and Danna saw it. After that, Danna took it upon herself to make sure I was okay. She would take my arm as we were walking and make sure I was okay. At one point I was walking and she signed the word "careful" to me! Danna is a camper I will NEVER forget because she was the first one in my history of Camp Barnabas that took care of me, just because she wanted to do that. I told her that in a note at the end of the week. She had other gifts too, as she "scraped" plates for us one night too just because she wanted to do it. All week I kept signing, "You have the biggest heart!"

I'm wiped, and sleep needs to happen. Tomorrow I think I'll write the quotes that I wrote down from this week, as there were some good ones!

*grin*
Night all!
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!

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