Last week in Houston

Here are a few more pictures from my last week here...also I am going to post a few videos from camp...be sure to scroll to the bottom and pause the music so you can hear!:)

Cars 2 Lunchbox for my gift!!!!

Water Party for my going away!

Rachel, Abby, and myself raided Walmart really late one night...and took some crazy pics!

 

Ok, here is a video of Cabins jack and Jill at PT with Bob (this is a camp tradition..) Pay close attention to the video at the end. What you will see is each of the boys proposing to the girls...and the girls answering with their number (roll call)...Me and the Jack counselor bring up the rear...listen to what he says!!

Camp Bandina 2011!

I can't believe this summer has come to a close so quickly!!! It seems like just yesterday Ellen and I came blazing in to get ready for WCS graduation! We just returned home this past weekend from Camp Bandina in Bandera, TX. Oh my goodness, this week was absolutely AMAZING! Let it be said that on the way to Bandera, we blew two tires!!..I know you are wondering, 'what in the world is the deal with their tires?' Luckily, this was not tires on the bus, it was on our trailer....making it alot easier to change! What should have been our 4 1/2 hr. trip quickly became a NINE HOUR trip!!! But all matters is we got there safely!
I have attended this camp for the past three years...but this year most definitely tops them all! Our theme this year was Intentional Decisions. All week we were encouraged our kids to look at their lives and evaluate the decisions they make and how they affect their eternity. We shared so many laughs all week long! But most importantly we shared so many victories with 16 NEW BROTHERS and SISTERS IN CHRIST!! How awesome is that?!!!
We returned  home Saturday afternoon...VERY EXHAUSTED! Sunday night after church we had a family night...this acted as my going away party!..It is still so crazy to me that this summer is almost over! What an amazing summer it has been! It has been pretty difficult coming to terms with the reality that this season of my life, with these amazing kids, is coming to a close. They have changed me in ways that I never thought possible. I will forever be grateful to Westbury Church of Christ for allowing me this opportunity to play such a big role in the lives of their teens. They have been so hospitable to me, and have met every need I have had! I am so thankful that God saw fit to place me here, and bless me with such amazing friendships.
Please continue to pray for me as I journey into my Senior year of college....my life is about to hit a big wave of changes all at the same time! I know there are many exciting things on my horizon!
"For i know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, Plans to prosper you, not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I will leave you with several pictures from Camp and the past week. I will try and post some video footage I have from camp...just for a few laughs!
Love you all!
Hollyann

Cabin Clean Up!!

One of my most influential mentors...Bob Owens.

Cabin Jill....BEST CABIN EVER!!!

Some of my girls ready for my Girl's class.

Cabin Jill cheering on Cabin Jack in the football game!

Jack and Jill Family....BEST FAMILY EVER!!

Staff whooped Camper booty in volleyball!

This kid was ME for Hollywood night!! ...I was Taylor Swift!

Here Comes The Sun.....

Disclaimer: this is gong to be a long post...so hang on!!
I can't believe it has already been a week since we summitted Mt. Shavano!Last week was such an incredible week for all of our kids. We started our two day travel on Friday, July 8th. We traveled all night, and stopped in Amarillo to swap drivers Saturday morning. As we were exiting New Mexico we blew a tire!! If you have kept up with this blog at all...you know that this seems to be a recurring theme with any trip we go on!...so we were stranded in a podunk town for about two hours!...We finally got the tire fixed and back on the road....until we needed to stop to get fuel...which presented another issue! Apparently when the tire blew, it blew the fuel line off as well!! So we were stranded once again in Pueblo, CO for another several hours!...BUT we did eventually make it to Twin Lakes, CO!! We spent Saturday afternoon getting our gear and packing our backpacks. When we woke up Sunday morning we had worship on the point overlooking Twin Lakes (AMAZING view!)..then we loaded up and headed off to our rappel site...bear in mind that rain/tstorms is in the  forecast for everyday we are there! Rappel day went awesome! We did have a little bit of rain while we were all trying to get down the mountain...and I will be honest to tell you that I was a little uncertain of walking down the side of a cliff that is slippery from rain!!...But our kids did amazing! It was so precious to watch them encourage each other as they took that leap of faith right on over the edge of the cliff! We finished rappeling and got back to the barn to load up our gear and start our trek to low camp. We had to drive to the trail head of Shavano, so our low camp wasn't too far from the bus the first night. We finished up dinner and devo just in time for the storm of the century to blow in!! Oh my goodness..I was terrified! Of course, I'm sure the storm seemed magnified by the time the thunder vibrated off the surrounding mountains, but it was still very scary!
Monday morning we got up and packed all of our gear up to start the hike to high camp. This day is the day I always dread the most! For several reasons: 1. It is a hard hike, 2. You aren't acclimated yet, 3. It is a very physically strenuous day! Our kids stayed positive and did an excellent job on this hike! And just about the time we all started to get tired, and whiny...we stopped for what the guides called a 'quick break'....then as we got up to put our packs on, they announced bathroom areas and said the beloved.." WELCOME TO HIGH CAMP!!" We got set up and settled in to our new camp sites...this is where we stayed the remainder of the trip. We were awaken Tuesday morning to the glorious scent of pancakes and spam!! Oh my goodness, if you are like me, this sounds disgusting...but let me just tell you that is the best meal ever!! Then we were released for our solo time..this is a perfect 3 hours of alone time with you and the Lord...this alone time never ceases to be the most amazing time for our entire group! The Lord always shows his faithfulness in this time that we have..our devo on solo night was full of incredible stories, alot of laughter, and even tears. We spent the remainder of solo day playing mindless games and telling silly stories before we went to bed early anticipating the summit hike. We all went to bed with a knot in our stomachs...we knew if we woke up in the morning and it was raining that we wouldn't be able to summit...this would have been a very harsh reality to have to swallow after hiking so far. It was kind of funny, because I could hear the girls in the tent next to me chanting prayers to God, begging him to hold the rain!...and as always, he was so faithful! Not only did he hold the rain off, but he gave us the most beautiful day!! We got up at 2 am to start our summit hike. Thankfully, it wasn't too terribly cold and the wind was not howling bad at all! Our summit hike was absolutely amazing..we would stop periodically to look at the stars..and then to watch the sun rise...sheer beauty. Let me tell you, this was my fourth mountain to summit...but I have never felt more accomplished than to summit Mt. Shavano, 14,229 ft! One of the things that TEAM Ascend does that I LOVE...is they have each hiker find a rock along the way. This rock represents a sin, burden, problem, or whatever the student needs it to represent...and then when we reach summit, they have some time to pray over their rock and then toss it over the edge of the mountain, never to be seen again. So in our final devotional, they give everyone the opportunity to share what their rock represented. At the end of this night, there was not a dry eye in the room! I sat in my seat humbled to sit and listen to these students that I have come to love so much...get it. I listened as they finally started to grasp the concept of redemption and community. They were loving on each other as they struggled, they reassured each others insecurities. It was just beautiful to experience. I am so thankful that the Lord saw favor on me and allowed me to experience this with this group of students!
Sorry this was so long! I will leave you with some pictures!

solo time

here comes the sun!

my girls at summit

getting ready to hike off!

Summit of Mt. Shavano -14,229ft!

Rappel site!

Prayer Request...

Well, the time has finally come for us to head off to Colorado and climb Mt. Shavano! We are loading the bus this afternoon, and we will drive all night to arrive in Twin Lakes, CO tomorrow late afternoon. I am asking for you to be in prayer during this week. I have several things on my heart that I am asking you to bathe in prayer!
1. Safe travel (it's a long drive!...also for no more blow outs!)
2. Weather ( as of right now, the forecast is showing storms pretty much everyday that we are on the mountain!
    If it is raining on Wed., our summit day, then we will not be able to summit...and it is also very miserable to      be  cold AND wet! So please pray for good weather!)
3. Our hearts (We are taking 6 boys and 7 girls. I am asking you to be in prayer that God reveals himself to each of us in a way that we have never experienced before! It is my prayer for each of our hearts to be broken very early on this journey, so that he has plenty of time to show us his majesty!)

I am so excited about what is to come this week! I know that God is sovereign and he will bless our week, rain or not. I know that he has a purpose and plan for each of us going on this journey. Who knows, he may need us wet and cold to be able to break us down completely! I can't wait to see all that the Lord teaches us while we are on this mountain. We will start climbing Sunday, summit Wednesday, and come off the mountain on Thursday, so please keep us in your prayers as you go through your week!
Just a quick update on life here in Houston! I was given the privilege of going to OK for the weekend with Steve and his family! Oh how much fun it was! We visited the Oklahoma City Memorial (where Timothy Mcveigh bombed the federal building), a Cowboy Museum, I had PORK BBQ!! and homestyle fried food!! It was a great weekend full of lots of fun and laughter!
We came home Monday just in time to make it to Hermann Park for the fireworks with the Houston Symphony...A-MA-ZING! The rest of the week we have been training and stuff to get ready for trek, we cleaned out the bus and got it all clean....and I FINALLY got to have a girls night!!! The schedule this summer has been pretty crazy, so I haven't been able to have a night with just my girls because our schedules weren't working out! We had so much fun watching The Little Mermaid!! I love that these girls never get too old to watch Disney Classics!!
Anyways, I love you all and I thank you for your prayers! The next time you hear from me will be after I have summitted Mt. Shavano!!

Cowboy Museum Dressup!!

Jake and I ready to take pictures of the fireworks!

My girls at movie night!

It is HOT!

Wow, what an incredible week this has been! Westbury just had their VBS this past Saturday. We all worked so hard, and it went so great! We all had so much fun with the kids!!
A couple of posts back, I asked you to pray for my Daddy's health. So here is a quick update on him! Last Friday he went in the hospital for a heart cath and everything went very well! The put in two stints for two blockages: one was 70% blocked and the other 75%.  He is now at home and recovering very well! Thank you all for your prayers! I know he felt each and everyone of them! we serve a Faithful God that hears his childrens' prayers and gives us the desires of our hearts!
This week we have gone into full training mode for Trek! We leave in less than 2 weeks. This time next week we will be getting rest for summit the next morning! I am very excited about Trek this year! Thankfully I do not have as much anxiety as I did last year! So we are running/walking everyday in order to get our bodies in somewhat good shape to be able to beast up Mt Shavano (14,229ft)!!
This week has been a bit slower, we are all trying to take a BIG breather...because the month of July is going to be CRAZY!!! I am leaving Friday to go to Oklahoma with Steve and his family! I am super excited to finally meet my other meant-to-be- sister Kristin!:) I know this will be a fun and refreshing trip for all of us before this month takes hold of us!
Thank you all for your constant prayer and encouragement! I love hearing from you all! I will leave you with some pictures!

Teens at Discovery Green Park

I climbed a tree and got stuck!

VBS!

The best Bible Story crew EVER!

Spongebob!!

Praise You in This Storm

The title of this blog was the theme for Model City Missions 2011 in Anniston, AL! What an amazing week this was! Our kids were able to serve God by serving the people in the Anniston community and those affected by the tornadoes in the Webster's Chapel community. I'm pretty sure we have more stories about the travel for this trip than for the entire week! We left last Sunday morning to make our journey to Bama. We were making such good timing until we rolled into Alabama and blew a tire! But as always, our God was so faithful to protect us! 1.Noone was hurt when the tire blew! 2. It blew right by a tire store! We were able to take the bus to this tire shop and take a supper break while they fixed the tire! Over the course of this amazing week our kids were able to work with younger children at a kid's camp, visit elderly people in a nursing home, participate in a prayer walk, and help with Tornado Relief in Webster's Chapel.
For the most part we helped two different families in Webster's Chapel. The first house we worked at was owned by an elderly couple. Both the man and woman were killed in the tornado. Their house was picked up off of the foundation and thrown across the street in the woods (we were only able to find half of the house). The children of this couple have been too traumatized with losing their parents that they have not been able to go back to clean up the site nor look for any salvageable valuables. So we did it for them. We found so many things such as shoes, old pictures, and homemade quilts!It made it so surreal to find so many things that I know would mean so much to me to maintain my parents' memory. The other family that we helped lost everything. We helped a lady named Paige. Her parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and brothers ALL lost everything they had in this storm! So we went and helped clear off the lot so they can start rebuilding her home here in the coming weeks. This site became a BIG blessing for our kids, because Paige actually stopped by to meet us! The teens were able to see her raw helplessness. It was a amazing to watch the teens surround Paige and love on her and pray over her. Once she left it was as if a whole new group of kids had shown up to help work. You could tell that by meeting Paige, it gave meaning and a purpose to what they were doing.
I have to tell you it was HOT this week! So it made any and everything we did that much harder to stay motivated when we were so exhausted by the heat! It was such a blessing to see God work in so many ways.
The time came for us to head back home yesterday. I will have you know that if we didn't get an hour down the road and blow yet ANOTHER tire..then I am not sitting here! Unfortunately this stop turned into about a 2 1/2 hr stop because we left so early that noone was open to help us! So after hitting every traffic jam for Alabama to Texas, we finally made it home at about 10:00 PM last night!
This week was full of worship, service, laughter and tears. But more importantly God was glorified by the selflessness of these kids! It was such an honor working alongside them! I will leave you with several pictures of the week! Love you all!

Memorial for the older couple that died.

Site where their home used to stand.

The boys moving this big ole log!

Prayer Walk

Cleaning up Paige's property.

Westbury crew at Oxford Lake.

Following His Directions....Getting Blessed!

This week, the Lord has led me to Psalms 119..what a journey this scripture has taken me on! I'll leave you with the part that spoke to me the most...I encourage you to read the passage in its entirety. The passage considered to mark the very center of scripture holds some of the most encouraging lines!
  "You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
   You're blessed when you follow his directions,
      doing your best to find him.
   That's right—you don't go off on your own;
      you walk straight along the road he set.
   You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
      now you expect us to live it.
   Oh, that my steps might be steady,
      keeping to the course you set;
   Then I'd never have any regrets
      in comparing my life with your counsel.
   I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
      I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
   I'm going to do what you tell me to do; " Psalms 119: 1-8

Now, here is a quick synopsis of my past two weeks in Houston! I have been to countless numbers of graduations and graduation parties!! Oh my goodness, I have no desire to attend another graduation ceremony until my own next spring! Speaking of my graduation...I took the PRAXIS this past week. (This test is a standardized test I have to take in order to be certified as a teacher)...I PASSED!!! I am so excited to have this past me!
I have enjoyed water balloon fights, slip-n-slides, movie nights, VBS workdays, SYS area wide,an Astros game, and some nice R&R by the pool! I have spent most of my time in the office with Steve working on stuff for Camp Bandina in July. I have also spent a good bit of time working on building a mural to advertise for our VBS.
This Sunday we are heading off to Alabama!!! That's right, I'm headed back home for Model City Missions 2011! I am so excited about this week! I know the Lord has a lot in store for all of those involved in this amazing week of service! It is so comforting to me to know that the Lord has ordained for every student that will come from all over to participate in this work camp to be changed. He knows everyone of them by name, and He has a purpose and a plan for everyone of them. I love that He saw favor on me  to allow me to be apart of watching them fulfill His purpose in their own lives.
Please be in prayer for our safe travel! Pray that God rocks our world in Anniston, AL.
***Also, a quick prayer request! Most of you know the problems my Daddy has with his heart, well we have some more blockages...so he will be undergoing a Heart Cath on June 24th. Please pray for Dr. Salame and his team as they operate on him. It is difficult being so far away when this is going on, but I know the Lord has a purpose for everything!
I will leave you all with some pictures from the past two weeks!

Joshelyn's Graduation

 

Some of the teens at SYS area wide!

VBS Mural

VBS workday!

Slip-n Slide!

Water party!!

Love you all!