Strength

I know it's been a while since i've posted a blog but i've been so busy and overwhelmed it's crazy!

This has been one of the hardest summers of my life. In the last week I have faced more struggles and challenges than I ever have before. I'm seeing a new picture of myself as well as the world around me. Life is so unfair.

I've been so blessed by my family and friends this week. I've been reminded how much I'm loved and prayed for, and trust me I couldn't have made it this far without all of the reminders.

This past Christmas the girls in my extended Luttrell family all got together and shared how we could pray for one another. We each chose one word that summed up how we wanted to grow through the next year, and how the rest of the family could pray for us. I shared the word "strength." As my grandmother told me today, "I didn't realize how true that would be for you."

To be completely honest, I'm at a place right now where I  feel like I have absolutely no strength left in me. As my wonderful mother reminded me I'm at a place where I now have to let God give His strength to replace what I've already used of my own. Leaning on God has taken on a whole new meaning. He is a solid rock.

I'm praying for the ability to see one good thing in everyday here. Today I saw a child, who usually gets into fights and hits me and other kids in the group, have one of the best days of the summer. He was so good all day and was so into everything we did. It was amazing.

Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts our way! We need them more than you know.

Camp Day 2

Day 2 of camp was better than the first day!

The kids and I got to know each other better and learning our routine really helped.

We also had AMAZING volunteers helping us in our groups,

as well as teaching at the different stations.

Here are a few pictures from our day. 

The pictures above are of my kids during reading.

I was really surprised they enjoy it as much as they do. 

This is me with V.

She live next door and hangs out with us a lot.

The kid being silly in the back is C.

He acts tough when the other kids are around,

but before they all get to camp he sits next to me and just hugs me for a long time. 

This is G.

She is awesome!

Se is one of the sweetest kids in my group. 

I call this picture camp love.

This was on the way to learning station one afternoon.

They were both trying to get her attention.

This is from left to right: D, D, and C.

(sorry for all of the abbreviations, but they are necessary for privacy.)

D. loved playing in the park for games.

This was right after he threw a frisbee.

He also lives right next to me so I get to see him a lot. 

From left to right this is D, B, and Y.

I was so proud of them for sitting with Y while we were at the park,

since he couldn't really do anything there.

These kids really enjoyed playing soccer.

Camp Day 1

It's been awhile since I've had time to sit down and write about my crazy adventures here. But I finally found some down time so here we go...

Day 1 of Camp:
Monday was our first day of Camp! It went pretty well for the most part. I am in charge of the orange group (obviously) and we currently have 12 kids in our group. I know I'm biased but I have a pretty fantastic group. We have a few things here and there that we have to work on, but mostly I just get to be the kids friend not disciplinarian, which i'm so thankful for! Below are pictures of my awesome kids on the first day of camp.

These are two of the kids in my group.

The kid on the left is here with the mission team for this week.

I'm really sad that he will be leaving after this week, he has been so helpful. 

This is V.

She lives next door to us so we get to see her all the time.

I was so excited when i found out that she was going to be in my group! 

This is the orange group at service.

They were learning about a organization called One Home Many Hopes.

It is an orphanage for girls in Africa.

I was so proud of them they all sat still and listened!

As part of my job here, I am in charge of planning all of the service activities,

so i was really excited they got so into writing letters to the the girls at this orphanage.

This is Y.

His family owns part of the church that we are using.

He is such a delight to have and he is so smart!

He surprises me all the time with the facts that he knows and he is really good at math.

The last thing we do during the day is games.

The kids have loved learning new games.

On the first day we played dodgeball.

By the end of the game the aggression they had towards each other was gone.

It was awesome!