New Names!!

Today was the first day the campers came! It was very exciting to be able to use all the hard work we have done in training the past two weeks. It seems like a lot of the work has played out greatly. They are a small group so we are getting to get to know them personally. I remembered them from last year so it's cool to see how they have grown. They all remembered my nickname.. Buzz. At Waukaway we have to use nicknames all summer so the camper will not know our real name. I got the name buzz from getting bit by so many horse flies last year. ha! They all decided to give themselves nicknames this year. The talk of the day was names and who was who. They all wanted to know each staff members nickname and how they got that name. They try really hard to guess our real names as well :) Sometimes, like today, one of the staff will slip up and say our real name ha. But I even got a new nickname today.. Mama Buzz haha! (Not sure where the Mama come from, i guess i just look like a mom ha!) I hope that's a good thing...

I started thinking about names and how we make such a big deal out of them sometimes. It seems like it's the first thing people ask when they come up to you. I was talking to the Lord and thinking about all the names He has. He is Jehovah Rapha and Jehovah Nissi and Jehovah Shalom. They are beautiful names that define who He is. In the Old Testment, I love when it says.. "The Lord Almighty is His name". I love how He calls Himself the "I am". He is the name about all names. He uses names to define people. He even changed Abram to Abraham to declare He would be the father of many nations. Even when Abraham had no sons, God called things that were not, as though they were. Through his name, God was infusing faith into Abraham to see who he was in Jesus' eyes.

I found a verse about the new name He has given me. This verse has captivated me so much to know what the Lord says is my name. This is who He says I am... "You shall no longer be termed forsaken, nor shall your land be called desolate any more. But you shall be called Hephzibah [My delight is in her] and your land shall be called Beulah [Married], for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married [owned and protected by the Lord]." - Isaiah 62:4

I love that He sings new songs over us and gives us new names! We don't have to be labeled by our former ways. He changes our name and declares what He thinks about us. I am Hephzibah because He delights in me. As we declare these names, it becomes who we are! I love to know what He thinks.

 Im looking forward to a packed week, ready to be in a dry and thirsty place, and desperate for more of Jesus as He calls me deeper.

Two weeks down..

*The past two weeks of training have been at a fast pace but we finally got everything accomplished. I passed the CPR test and reviewed the lifeguarding material! I'm excited for the kids to start getting here on Tuesday of next week. We have an amazing staff this year who have really bonded and are all working towards the same goal. I feel like we are already a family. Each one has something to bring and give this summer which makes it unique the way God has put us all together. Im learning many things from the different people on staff and the way they love God. Since He is in all of us, it is really fun to learn more about Him in eachother's lives. We have been training on worship, skits, lifeguarding, trails, target sports, cleaning, cooking, and so much more. Our team is going to be ready for a great summer ahead. :)
Here are some pictures from CPR and lifeguard training, and the staff dinner night.

*The Lord has really been bringing me to this verse in Hosea 10:12 lately. It says:
¹²Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.
I know that this summer Jesus is breaking up uncultivated ground in my heart and expanding my territory to prepare me for the future. Though the stretching may hurt at times, i know it will be worth it in the end. I have the choice to seek harder than i ever have before in this wilderness season or just get by. But Jesus says "IT IS TIME" to seek me NOW. What a blessing it is to have this time to be taught by Him and open myself wide with an undivided heart. We can have as much of His presence as we want, it just comes down to how much do we crave it. How much do we yearn to KNOW Him? Some days get so tiring and dry that I think i cannot go on if it isn't for Jesus. He is bringing me to the end of myself so i may thirst for Him more than anything else. It is a sweet place of desperation where i cannot make it without His presence. Psalm 63 has been on my heart all week. Verse one defines this past week. It says "O God, You are my God. Earnestly will I seek You. My inner self thirst for You. My flesh longs and is even faint for You, in a dry and weary place where no water is." When we seek the Lord when we are desperately thirsty, a satisfaction and strength comes that is unlike any earthly satisfaction. His steadfast LOVE is always near, always fills, and always sustains...

Camp Bound

The day is finally here! I leave for Camp Waukaway in Vossburg, MS today. I'm excited to get the summer started but still recovering from exams last week. I'm looking forward to seeing friends from last summer and making new ones.
I've been asking the Lord what He has for this summer and what goals He wants me to focus on. Among the things He has shown me, my heart feels a need to be constantly focused on my first Love. As we know that should be our focus everyday, but I feel like He has sanctified this season for a deeper revelation of my identity as His Love. This song "First Love" by Alm:UK has not stopped wooing my spirit. It says:
"My highest call, my greatest cause
is loving you
Your perfect love has won my heart
now i am Yours
Your sacrifice demands my life
I will live to honor your holy Name
the price you paid, so i sing
You're my first love
You're my true love
You're my reason
You're are why I breathe
I will give you my devotion
All of me, All of me
You chose the cross
You chose me.."
The deep woods of MS is a great place to get away and spend with my first love. Though i know it will be busy at times, there is something about the still clear nights at Waukaway. I want a deeper revelation of how Jesus feels about me and who He sees me. This paradigm will change my focus and my motivations. When i know my idenitiy, everything seems to be at peace. He is an amazing Papa who loves to tell me who I am in Him. It changes everything!
Pray that I will rest in this revelation constantly this summer and have strength to abide in His love through the challenges! :)
Psalm 107:7-9
 He led them by a straight way
   to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
   and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
   and fills the hungry with good things.