Back on the East Coast

Yes, I'm still alive, and I made it safely back to the East Coast.  (I'm in Cary, North Carolina right now, but I'll be back to Virginia this week - probably tomorrow.)
  Stay tuned for a more comprehensive update later this week (maybe even next week, depending on how things go in Richmond when I get back).  In the meantime, here are some things you can pray for:

- Lone Tree staff: Sure, I've left for the summer, but there are still twenty-ish other people still rocking the Ranch (they've got two more weeks of camp).  Pray that they would have energy and could work together as a team, and that they would remember who they're serving (God).
- Lone Tree campers:  Pray for the kids who have already gone home, that they would not lose sight of the things they learned at Lone Tree and that they would still be excited about God.  Pray for the kids that are just getting to camp (this week and next week), that they would be open to learning things and respect the Lone Tree staff and facilities, and that they would have fun and be safe.

That's all for now.  Thanks for the support.  Stay tuned for more exciting camp anecdotes.  :O)

Internet is hard to come by these days. I'm still alive, and camp is
hard (but good-ish most days). Stay tuned for a more substantial
update, hopefully in the next day or two, after I have time to sort my
thoughts and consolidate the highlights.

In the meantime, some verses to muse on:
"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all
circumstances; this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Wellspring is gone!

It's been a long, hard week.  Here are some of the (positive) highlights:

 

- Hanging out with Jack Sparrow:  After months of anticipation, I finally got to experience the culmination of the Pirates of the Carribean triology on Saturday night (before a camper could ruin the end for me).

 

- Projectile elk:  Around midnight on Saturday night (after Pirates), a group of us decided to drive to Roswell (where we could spend the night at a Lone Tree staff member's house and go to church in the morning).  But God had other plans, and when we were only a few miles out of camp, an elk jumped into the windshield of Rachel's KIA Rio.  Everyone was fine, the elk went MIA, and Rachel's KIA is getting a new windshield.  (And we went to Roswell in the morning.)

 

- Ninja waitress:  One of the guys from Wellspring's band told me I was the best waitress in the world (after I'd been serving him meals all week).  Then he told me I was like a ninja waitress.  (After watching lots of Ninja Warrior in Albuquerque, I was flattered.)

 

 

Next week: we run our program.  (In other words, we work for 108 hours straight, in a rotating ensemble of costumes.)

 

Some prayer requests:

- Energy for the staff:  It's going to be a long week.  Pray that we have stamina and enthusiasm and focus.

- Staff health:  Some got strep throat, one has pnemonia, and one or two (including myself) may or may not have a sinus infection.  Pray that we stay safe and that no one else gets sick or injured (and that God would heal everyone who has).  This goes for overall community health, too.  Pray that we can encourage and support each other and that our staff can work as a unified team.

- Camper attitudes:  Pray that the campers get excited about our program and are open to hearing the serious parts.  Pray that both the campers and their leaders would respect our staff and our facilities.

 

That's all I've got for this week.  Internet access is difficult to come by, but I'm hoping to post another update next weekend.  Now, off to Walmart.  And I need a cup of coffee.   :O)

RYLA week at Lone Tree.

It's Saturday, and the RYLA kids are gone.  Here are some of the highlights from this week:

 

- Eating four ears of roasted corn at Sunday's Open House.  (Preston wins.  He had five.)  Then, eating corn again for dinner on Monday night, then watching Mexico Missions get corn on Wednesday.

 

- Watching as about a third of our staff fell victim to strep throat (and hearing about their shots).

 

- Belaying Hadley, a two-hundred and some pound RYLA boy, on the outdoor wall, him falling about four times only three feet from the ground, and me flying into the air.  (It's okay - I was anchored.)

 

- Watching Austin, the self-proclaimed nerd of Hadley's group, make it to the top of the outdoor wall in the final minutes of that activity's hour (after none of the other people in his group could do it).

 

 

All in all, it was an exhausting week.  Here are some prayer requests:

- Group unity and a sense of community among everyone.  That we can work together as a unified body.

- Focus, that we could pay attention to the things that matter.

- Health (physical, mental, and emotional).  That no one else gets strep throat or pnemonia or bronchitis or anything else that might be going around.  Also, that no one gets mauled by a mountain lion.

- Energy and stamina for the rest of the summer, that we can actually do our jobs.

- For the campers, that they would be open to hearing the Jesus-parts of camp and willing to open up to the staff.

 

This week: a church group (I forget their name).  Maybe another post next week, pending on internet availability.  :O)

Staff orientation is over.

So we all survived the first week at Lone Tree Ranch.  Here are some of the highlights:

 

- Learning to tie a figure eight knot (and belay people without dropping them to their death), make guacamole from scratch, and operate the mechanical bull.

 

- Waking up at 5 AM yesterday to go on a two-mile hike with the Lone Tree staff, up a nearby mountain.  (Steve said we'd be walking just down the road and across a meadow, but apparently "a meadow" is a dry riverbed with a steep incline, loose rocks, and prickly grass stuff that likes to poke through the gaps of Chaco sandals.)

 

- Cleaning out the Longbranch cabin, which involved a colony of daddy longlegs, one dead mouse, and a minor flood.

 

 

This week at Lone Tree: an Open House for the Capitan community tomorrow afternoon, followed by a week of RYLA (the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards group from western Texas).

 

Prayer requests:

- That the staff could have unity and endurance (and that we could build each other up and encourage each other).

- That everyone at Lone Tree would be safe and have a great time.

- That our Open House would attract people from the community and draw more campers for next summer. 

- That the RYLA kids would be open to hearing the "God part" of camp, and that they wouldn't leave unchanged.

 

Thanks so much.  Stay tuned for more next week!  :O)

The last days of freedom.

I leave for camp in the morning. (And I'm already tired. Super.) Here are some quick highlights of memorable things that have happened since I left Virginia:

- Waiting three hours for Mike the tow truck man to respond to our "priority" need for towing (as reported to him by AAA) after Tina (Preston's 1987 Honda Accord) ran out of transmission fluid at 4:30 AM. (Special bonus memory: an Iowa state trooper confronting us while Mike was en-route, in response to a call the police received about a possible domestic dispute along the side of the road.)

- Waking up at 8:00 AM on a Saturday morning to help drive and sort cattle, followed by a five-mile cattle drive (which lasted about three hours), followed by the branding of seven calves. (At my family's reunions, we eat and sit and go shopping. At Preston's family's reunions, they do manual labor.)

- Finding a huge 80s prom dress (with poofy sleeves and lots of tulle) at Savers (a thrift store in Albuquerque) for $10.

- Taking a daytrip to Santa Fe, where I got to see Jack Kerouac's original manuscript of On the Road (a 120 foot scroll of papers he taped together and ran through his typewriter) juxtaposed exquisitely with a room of his haiku and a room with a d.i.y. haiku exhibit.

- Taking a First Aid/CPR class through Red Cross and meeting Lynn, a professional wildlife photographer who shattered the front of her skull when the horse she was riding bucked and their heads met. Bonus highlight: at said First Aid/CPR class, learning that New Mexico houses the National Poison Control Center, because it has the highest concentration of poisonous wildlife than anywhere else in the world.


This week at Lone Tree: staff training!

Some prayer requests for the upcoming week (and the following weeks at Lone Tree Ranch):
- Unity among the staff.
- Safety for the staff and campers (since New Mexico is highly poisonous, and possibly radioactive).
- Energy for the staff always. Energy for the campers at appropriate times.
- That God will show Himself to the people at Lone Tree.
- That God will work through the people at Lone Tree (both staff and campers) to do amazing and unexpected things for His own glory.


Thanks for all of the support. Stay tuned for another post, (hopefully) next weekend.

Welcome to Lauren's Crazy New Mexico Summer.

In case you haven't heard, I've accepted a summer staff position at Lone Tree Ranch in southeastern New Mexico, a high-adventure Christian camp for middle and high school students.

I figured that, with a busy schedule and the rising price of postage, an online blog would be the easiest and most cost-effective way to keep friends and family updated on the latest happenings at Lone Tree, as well as any prayer requests. I'm going to try to update this blog on the weekends, when I have computer access, so look for new postings on Saturday or Sunday nights.

If you want to write me at camp, my address is:

Lone Tree Ranch
Attn: (my first and last name)
PO Box 523
Capitan, NM 88316

You can also e-mail me directly at camp by e-mailing the camp ( nmranch@lonetree.org ) with my first and last name in the subject line. Also, feel free to make comments on my posts (which you should be able to do) if you feel compelled to do so.

Thanks to everyone who is offering prayer and financial support. It means a lot to me, and it means a lot to the kids who get to attend Lone Tree.

One thing's for sure; it's going to be a crazy summer.