Camp Chi-Rho

This year Andy and I were super blessed to be a part of our church youth camp called Camp Chi-Rho. Back in the spring Andy was asked to be a part of the praise band. While it meant taking a week off of work (and when you're self employed that means no pay), he decided to trust God and commit to helping out. In June we decided that we wanted to make it a family trip so I signed up to be a small group leader. This was a trip that I will never forget! We left Saturday, July 21st and made our way to Dallas for a bridal shower for my sweet friend Whitney. Then we moved on to Harriet, Arkansas on Sunday. The camp was held at an awesome location called Shepherd of the Ozarks! This place had it all. Beautiful, fully stocked cabins, an awesome three-story meeting center, animals, a river and so much more! We were very blessed that Lyla was such a great traveler on the over 12 hours that we were in the car. No whining and no complaining! Praise Jesus.
After some major bus trouble the 200 students arrived Monday afternoon and we dove right in to small group meetings, awesome praise and worship and amazing lessons from our speaker Jason. I can't even put into words how awesome this week was. Satan tried so hard to destroy, but God prevailed. Watching 200 students (7th grade to recent high school graduates) worshiping their Savior was amazing. We learned about Godly community, serving others, and standing strong for our faith. I was blessed to get to work with the high school grads. They were 8 of someone of the most amazing students. All 8 came back to camp one last time to strengthen their faith before going off into the world as college students. I truly am forever changed by this week.

We had no cell service the entire camp and let me just tell you how awesome it was to disconnect from everything! I didn't even miss Facebook. Ha! It truly was a great time to just let go and let God!
On the way home Friday night Andy and I discussed how blessed we were to be able to do this as a family. Lyla had a couple other kids to play with and 2 amazing babysitters to keep them entertained. I am so thankful that Lyla was immersed in experiencing God and watching students grow in their faith. She spoke of God and Jesus often and sang Holy, Holy many times!

We drove through the night to make it to Andy's uncle's house in Fort Worth. Nothing like a free place to stay. We got a few hours of sleep, relaxed and visited with family before getting back on the road Saturday afternoon. Once again, a completely smooth ride home. And again Lyla was a great traveler!
We are already looking forward to attending Camp Chi-Rho next summer.