Wrapping Things Up...

Every year, at the last service of the summer, Billy Walker Junior does a thing called "The Summer Of." This is mine... with a bit of a twist.

The summer of... learning

• ...how to truly love; what Love truly is at in its purist form...
• ...that jealousy can consume.
• ...how to give it all to Him
• ...not to be such a control freak
• ...to stop talking, and start listening
• ...there's a difference between kindness and compassion. Kindness sends a card, compassion goes and cries with the hurting friend.
• ...to stop talking and start Listening.
  

The Summer of... Loving...
This one doesn't break down into bullet points, and it kind of goes along with the learning. I learned a lot about Love this year. I need to Love with the love of the Lord. I need to love those who are hard to love, those who don't love me back. It's easy for me to love people that I enjoy and get along with, but Love isn't easy.

The summer of... Laughter...

• Oh my gosh! It's giving birth!
• Hobble along, Kaylie...
• There's something different here...
• "Everyone has stuff. Our family, we have a lot of stuff."
• Must you move so swiftly?!
• Emily! Get your dooby off of me!
• "You're going to go home and teach..." "OH MY GOODNESS WHAT IS THAT?!!!"
• Kimmee falling off the tube in the lazy river.
• Hey Buddy!
• Unnaturally cubed meat and bi-colored milk
• AHH HA! The Double Poke!
• I ♥ Cliff
  
• Going to the Stoo with the Saff
• Orca!
• It's called a yarmulke!
• Where was your hand eye?!
• force mouse abortion
• legless campers
• Hair with a capital H
• Nobody's Perfect
• Sycamore and the Pillar of Salt
• the nurse giving Kaylie too much ibuprofen
• "Dave. I heard what you did. That is disgusting... and you call yourself a Christian!" *starts to walk away, then turns back* "And I looked up to you..."
• Look at all those children...
• Well, well, well... think you're Mister Funny Man, do you?
  

There are so many more inside jokes, so much more laughter... I could go on for pages and pages.

The Summer of... Memories

• singing and prayer on the footbridge with Kaylie, Christy, and Jessica
• being real friends with Christy now
• "Jared Talks"
• waterpark afternoons
• deeper friendships
• sunsets
• Tuesday nights- decisions, bonfires, etc
• Counselor talks (with my actual counselor and also with Dawn and Kimmee)
• shooting stars and finding the Little Dipper
• "Killing the Lizard"
• Second chances
• secrets shared
• Learning His voice
• laughter nearly to the point of being ill
• Cabin 7
• much confusion (NOT the way Jared uses that word
  
• Kimmee hugs every day
• kayak talks with God
• the Beauty of the Lord
  

This summer was the best one yet, and I'm glad that I don't let it end until after the rally :-)

This pretty much sums it all up...

As I climb into the attic of my memory
I brush the cobwebs, wipe the dust away
I see a picture of a friendship that’s lasted
through the years
And the memory is in my heart to stay
It’s so easy to see why God brought us together
For you gave to me in such a special way
And the part of you, you freely gave, became a
part of me
And you’re the reason I’m who I am today

So, I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me
There were times in our life we almost seemed like
family
But time must go on, and we go our separate ways
Still you’re always in my heart to stay
And I’m thankful that we’ve had the time to
share these special days

Many times it seems I take my friends for granted
Content to know you’re just a call away
But I know deep inside my heart how much you
mean to me
Though seldom I take the time to say
But today will quickly fade into tomorrow
And I refuse to let a day go by again
Without thanking you for all the many
blessings in my life
And the greatest is to know you as my friend

So, I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me
There were times in our life we almost seemed like
family
But time must go on, and we go our separate ways
Still you’re always in my heart to stay
And I’m thankful that we’ve had the time to share
these special days

So, when we come to the end, if our paths never cross
again, you will always be my friend.

One Wonderful Day

Today was pretty much amazing.
It started with last night.
After the service, Kaylie and Hunter and I went to Guthrie's cabin.
Then Brianna came a little bit later.
We had bagel bites and watched Monk and played Apples to Apples.
Then Hunter and Kaylie went home and Brianna and Guthrie and I
sat on the boat and talked until literally 2:30 in the morning.
Then this morning, I got up and went to say goodbye to Hunter,
which was very sad.
Then after she left [45 minutes late],
Kaylie and I drove Brianna back to Bakers' Birches.
In the car, with the music at full blast.
We listened to:
I'm Movin' On
Rock What Ya Got
Crawl
and some other random stuff on my cd from Zack.
Then we got back to my cabin and my mom told us that we forgot Bo.
So we went BACK and got Bo.
On the way back with him, there was this giant truck of wood, and it blocked the road for a while.
So we just put the music on FULL BLAST.
After that, we went to my cabin and played Life: Twists and Turns
and watched Adam's dinner theater DVD.
After THAT we had lunch, then we got on the computer for a bit.
Following the computer, Kaylie and I went kayaking.
Sort of.
Then we did a footbridge photoshoot, then went to the camp and sat at Spirit Park and mocked people's annoying laughs.
THEN we went to dinner, and now I am here.
And I need to go take a shower, because service is in like 20 minutes.
I'm staying at Kaylie's tonight, and we are FOR SURE playing Apples to Apples again.
"I just don't rememmer how mamy"
=]]