July 21-23

When my mom went to the hospital, I thought it was a sure thing that we would no longer be going on the church retreat the following weekend. But my mom and sister both assured me that it would be no trouble, and that that's why Karla was here anyway. So I went and I stayed with my friend Jenny. It worked out 'cause my mom honestly didn't want to go in the first place.

I had a really good time. We had a guest pastor who gave some incredibly edifying sermons - I'm a fan of his preaching. I got to pray with the youth group which helped me feel much more at ease. We all spent a lot of time together and got to share the stories we'd been holding back for a while. We laughed a lot. We ate Buffalo Wild Wings. We stayed up til 3 in the morning. It was actually an incredibly relaxing weekend. The camp is always so pretty and everyone feels at home there. And some things were pretty strict compared to previous years, but others were not. No mandatory morning devotional! No curfew! We had so much more time to do what we wanted with our friends in a place where w all felt safe. It's hard to describe. I'm just really glad I went. And since my mom wasn't there, I had lots of people looking after me. I'm always grateful for their care. Plus, what better place to celebrate my 11th anniversary of my baptism but in the very place it happened?

Video to come soon, hopefully!