After a long hiatus...

It's been such a long time since I've last blogged, but so much has been going on in our lives! Since camp ended on August 21st, we've gone on vacation to California and had an absolute blast, celebrated Mark's 23rd birthday while in California, started karate, (Soo Bahk Do), took surfing lessons for my birthday, spent the day in Philly on my birthday, saw Shane and Shane live, and went camping at Elk Neck State Park in MD with some of the Haluwasa summer staff! The camping trip was awesome. We took 13 of the summer staff in a HUGE van jam-packed with stuff, and then we also had three hillbillies ride down in a lifted Chevy truck singing country music all the way! We were a sight. We went with no real agenda, just the meals were planned, and we had an awesome time of rest, fellowship, and also some exercise and exploration. The park was right near the Chesapeake Bay, so we saw some of God's glorious creation as we hiked two different trails. Everyone had a fantastic time and cannot wait for the Fall Retreats and the next camping trip. Honestly we can't believe that it's been almost two months since camp ended. It was a challenging and blessed time for us both, and of course, we learned a lot about ourselves and about how we handle high-stress situations together, with the Lord. During the off season, Haluwasa also hosts a variety of guest groups on the weekends, which usually doesn't require much in the way of planning on our part, just set up and kitchen duties. I have been working more, but mostly on weekends. It hasn't been bad, it's just getting busier and busier as we near the holiday season at Trader Joe's! (Which also means more amazing and yummy food to be eaten!) On the subject of our two new hobbies...we are SO excited about surfing and karate! Our dear friends, Alyssa and Barry, got us into her parents' karate school and we are in love with the art. It's so great to be moving again, and with my ballet training and Mark's previous Tang Soo Do training we are both kicking butt, ha! The surfing lessons were also a God thing. In Ocean City everyone takes lessons at 7th Street Surf Shop. Group lessons are a good rate, but private lessons are about double the amount. Well since Mark booked the lessons for a Monday in September, we ended up being the only two students! We had a fantastic instructor, (whom we end up seeing on the beach and in the shop rather frequently) and we both learned well enough to take it up. We bought a board last weekend and plan on getting a second one for Mark. We're so thankful for the time and energy and resources the Lord blesses us with to do the things we love. Please keep us in your prayers as we serve here at Haluwasa. We love this place and the people, and the ministry. Camp reaches beyond the local churches, as we see tons of kids from foster homes and such, but we also need to get into more churches to let people know about our ministry here. If you haven't ever checked out our site, please do! We're always looking for dynamic youth willing to serve the Lord at camp, and also check it out for potential campers. We love what we're doing, and will be here as long as the Lord wants us here, and we're so thankful to be in full time ministry. Check out some of the photos from our fall adventures, and I'll be back to posting more regularly!





Camping Trip in Maryland





First visit to Mood's Farm in September for apples!





My birthday in Philadelphia!