day 060. [praise]

Day 002 of Kid's Camp rolled along just as Day 001 did.

If I were to pick just one day of the week as my favorite, I don't think I really enjoyed Kid's Camp for what it is. That's why I don't really have a favorite day. They were all my favorite in some kind of way that made them stand out.

One thing that stood out the most during this entire day was the evening chapel's worship. It was powerful and it spoke to the campers. It especially spoke to one of the campers that I had the opportunity to be a leader to.

Anyways, during worship one of my boys is at the altar, just as I am, worshiping and he knows I'm there, but at some point between songs Nick comes up to me and asks me if he could share something during cabin time. Unfortunately, we did not have cabin time that night, which was a bummer. I later asked him what he wanted to share with the cabin. What he said to me blew my mind, only because of the experience he just had.

What Nick said to me was:

When I was worshiping I couldn't hear the other people worshiping, but what I could see was angels above everyone and they were all holding our hearts keeping us safe.

When he said that to me, I wanted to cry out of excitement and joy. Those are some powerful words to say, and that's something that he obviously genuinely experienced. I pray that he remembers that night because it's a night that has changed the course of his life in his journey with God.

He eventually did get to share what he had to say with the other cabin members. Some took it to heart while others didn't, but either way Little Nick was preaching it to boys his own age!

Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do" Joshua 1:8

day 035. [scientific photographer]

"To the left, to the left" are the two necklaces my dad bought me. Well, they were two separate necklaces, but the charms are now on the same chain. As for where we got these, we got them from this indie website. It's just fitting that they had both a microscope (biology major) and a camera (photographer). It's truly the best of both worlds! Seriously though, getting these necklaces in the mail today was the best part of the day. Even if I did have a worship session with a few friends and then hung out for a bit with others. I have been waiting for these necklaces this past week!

As for today, it started out with me leaving Oak Harbor at 4:30 AM to drive down to Redmond to coach my old club team at 7:00 AM. Now, I thought the high school team, especially the Junior & Senior team, had practice in the afternoon during the summer because we always have the earlier practices during the year. This was the text conversation between my coach and me last night:

Me: Coach, hey, so I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be at practice tomorrow ready to coach!
Coach: Rick! That's awesome to hear that you still don't mind having to leave Oak Harbor at 4:30 AM to get here for their 7 AM practice. I'm proud of you.
Me: What!? I thought they had the later practices during the summer. I mean we always had the later practices over the summer when I was playing ...
Coach: Not on Friday's, they as a team decided to just have an early practice on Friday's and Saturday's so they have the rest of the day to do stuff.
Me: Alright ... I'll see you at 7 coach ...

Oh man, was it fun ...

Once I got home though, that was a different story. Had lunch, took a quick shower, and then headed over to the bookstore where I was able to pick up the copy of Crime and Punishment. That was awesome because today felt like Christmas. Getting the necklaces and then getting the book that I've been eyeing for awhile.

Speaking of books, I was originally going to return The Adolescent once I got my hands on Crime and Punishment, but you know what? I'm not going to do that anymore because The Adolescent has surprisingly been a good read. Quite an easy read, so I figured I might as well finish the book :)

After picking up the book I headed over to West Beach to join my friend Laura Nagel for a worship session. I also made a new friend! Katherine Limpin :) I really enjoy worship for what it is. I mean, a great message at church is awesome, that's the heart of the service, but there's something about worship, especially when you yourself do it right, that is so powerful! To me, worship really gets your heart in the right place to really hear what God has to say through the message. The way I think about worship, it's more than singing because if you do it right, you're talking to God. It's amazing. And it was a lot of fun just getting to do worship with a few people today, even if it was last minute. but hey! It's summer, so it's alright to be spontaneous!

PS. Five weeks to this blog and I'm still going! :)

day 003. [confidence]

First off, Happy Memorial Day! I'm so glad I got today off from classes. I don't think I'd have gotten out of bed even if we had classes today. Partially because I was up late talking to various people about what I've been up to, this blog, and talking to Tarra as she finished up our blog that we wrote together :) (ch-ch-check it out). As for today though it's honestly been a lazy day. It was a day that started promptly at 12:30 PM. Probably the latest I've woken up all summer, haha. But how my day started was me going down to the chapel in Corrado to practice some worship music for Hall Mass on Wednesday. I gave up trying to learn the hymns so I ended up just practicing and learning some worship songs that I've known or heard.

While playing some worship music though I realized two things:

The first of the two was my BibTrad passage, Philippians 2:1-11. It's an awesome passage filled with how Christ followers should be. If you aren't familiar with the passage, it's talking about how we need to "self-empty" ourselves and put others before us. In other words be humble, look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4). It's definitely a reminder not to myself, but for others. We get so caught up in our lives that we forget about others around us. Sometimes those other people are people we care about. Just think about it the next time you find yourself getting caught up in your own ambitions ;)

As for the second thing I realized, I realized just how at home I feel in front of the piano (more like behind the piano, haha). This may come to be a shocker for some, but I used to be a shy little kid and I still am a little shy here and there. There's something about being behind the piano and singing worship songs that makes me feel at home and comfortable. I seem to be able to shed off every and any kind of insecurity that is bothering me and just feel powerful and confident. I definitely feel like a different person, but in a good way. Just sitting at the piano and singing is probably one way where I don't feel shy at all. Weird, I know, but it's how I work, haha.

After I did some worship and got my mind focused on the task ahead of me, I decided to really dive into my BibTrad work. I kind of failed and just decided to do some devos, haha. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Eventually I had dinner with Melanie. We made quesadillas!! They were delicious. As for now, we're getting ready for tomorrow [studying and doing homework]. For a much needed homework break we've decided that we're going to play some Guitar Hero and make some playlist for our much needed road trip this weekend!

There's nothing else to say other than tomorrow is June 1st! Crazy how time is flying by.

For you Oak Harbor folks. Be ready for a surprise this Saturday :)
If you know what I'm talking about, keep your mouth shut!

PS. I'm surprised I got a photo of today because at first I had no idea what I was going to do today since I woke up late, but it all worked out in the end. Thanks God! (literally, haha)