#HSGreen

Now that another amazing week of camp is over, instead of talking about the week day by day, I think I’ll talk about my team, person by person. Each person on my team is so special to me and so vital to our team in a different way. I want to talk about them all individually and praise God for them. And what better time to do that than right now, as we spend our weekend off together and get some much-needed rest to propel us into the next leg of summer tour.

I’ll start with TLC: Team Leader Colin. Colin is super organized and always on top of things. He is concerned for our team and always makes sure we know everything we need to know. He does a lot for our team as far as organization, but is also willing to delegate things that he knows he can’t do himself and that may be better suited for someone else. We tease him a lot for his organization and his concern for perfection; in our team video blog last week, there is a segment that shows Colin in deep concentration with Dave commenting on him being in the “TLC Zone.” But it is for this attention to detail that we love him and appreciate him.

Next comes Ashtyn. She is one of the most outgoing and fun people you will ever see on stage. A motto for our ministry on HeartSong is “Impress from a distance, impact up close.” And while Ashtyn is great at both of these things, her strongpoint is impressing from a distance, or stage presence. She always has just the right thing to say to get the junior high and high school kids pumped up, and she is in her element when she is leading a camp of kids in crazy camp songs. She is also awesome at running the big group games, like “Gorilla-Man-Gun” or the dice-stacking game. Campers look up to her as an awesome inspiration on stage.

On the other side of this motto is Abby. She is also great at both, but her strongpoint is impacting up close. When she is talking with one or two campers or people in a host home, she has a visible interest in people, always asking them questions and getting them talking about their lives. She is a natural at this! She is in her element when she is with a handful of people, doing a craft or eating a meal and sharing life with them. When people see her, they remember those conversations and are full of joy because they know her.

When I think of David, I can’t help but smile. He is always the person who makes me laugh on our team! His style of humor, though, is very uplifting and light. Instead of making fun of other people for a laugh, he will make fun of himself; he is one of the humblest people I know. When people think of David, they remember a playful and fun person who they love to talk with and watch onstage. As one junior high girl said, “I like the guy who jumps around with his shoes off!” Dave is a bit crazy, and he may not always “wear his shoes,” but people love him for it.

One of the greatest friends a person could have is Caleb. I didn’t get to know him very well during the year, but in watching him interact with campers and staff, I am beginning to see what an awesome friend he can be. When Caleb sees someone who needs a friend, or when a person tells him of a need, he is always right there. Whether it’s teaching a junior high camper about the drums or hanging out with the guys on support staff, when Caleb finds a person he can relate to, he will not hold back.

Our worship leader, Isaac, has the makings of a future pastor, because he is really, really observant. He is always watching people and asking questions, and because of this he always knows just what to say or do to encourage people. He is a very down-to-earth person who knows himself and is very conscientious about other people. Everyone who talks to me about Isaac notices this about him, and they know that when they talk with him there is nothing they can hide, but at the same time there is nothing they need to hide because he is so honest and encouraging.

And finally, there’s Dane. Dane is my brother, the one person on my team that I always feel like I am related to. He loves teasing me and is always up for a battle of wits. He also will ask me the tough questions, holding me accountable in my relationship with God. He knows me so well from spending two years touring with me, and he knows EXACTLY what to say to me when I am stressed to get me to calm down. I am so thankful that he is on my team again and that I share so many memories with him, and I will miss him so much when the summer is done and he moves on to life after college.

As for me, I just love working with juniors. But I am so proud of the way that my team interacts with the juniors, too! I have noticed this year that in junior chapel, they are all really engaged in the songs. They don’t see junior chapel as a burden, as an obligation to check off the list, but as another opportunity to have fun worshipping with kids. I am so, so, SO thankful that this team finds the same joy that I find in hearing the juniors sing.

Well, now it’s time for me to write my teammates encouragement cards; I’ll probably write most of these same things. I want them all to know how special they are to me and how thankful I am for them. May all my praise for them be praise to God and the glorious way He brought us together last August, and may all the glory we may get this summer be sent straight to Him.

Soli Deo Gloria!

~Deanna

Waves of Mercy, Waves of Grace

As Week 2 of our Lake Ann Summer is in full swing, it’s about time for me to talk about Week 1.

Last Monday, campers finally arrived at Lake Ann! We were all so excited for the chance to finally reach out to these awesome students of many different ages. I spent the morning greeting campers as they got out of buses and vans and cars and the afternoon moseying around to different camp activities, like the Handicraft barn (and the local post office to mail “official HeartSong stuff” to my boss). In the evening, we were all so excited for our first three chapels! And junior chapel went so well, just as I had remembered it. As you’ll see, leading campers of this age in music is one of my favorite things about my job.

Tuesday was our first day of six chapels. Junior chapel was amazing, once again, because I decided to change the motions for one of the junior songs back to the “Lake Ann Style” motions, and lots of the counselors got really excited to help teach them! The campers really loved the song, too, and we all had a blast hearing them sing. I also got to work in the Snack Shack again! Of course, I missed Anjela and Elisha, but I’m excited to work with Joe and Eric and also spend time with Amanda, my roommate for the summer, who works at the coffee shop in the Red Canoe.

Wednesday and Thursday I spent a lot of time outside, and somehow missed entire sections of my skin while applying sunscreen, so ended up with an awkward sunburn. But that’s okay, because Wednesday I got to help with the ZORBS again!! The program director runs it differently than last year’s; he jumps in with two feet and does a lot of the work to get the Zorb back up the hill so the counselors have less work to do. Ashtyn, Abby, and I helped with the pushing and filling up the Zorb with air and filling/dumping buckets of water. I was excited that Abby and Ashtyn both got to experience what I had essentially done every Wednesday last summer, and they both loved it as much as I did. Thursday, I went to the Lavinrac (Carnival spelled backwards) that the junior high puts on for the juniors. The unofficial rules says that you cannot be at the Lavinrac without getting wet… I should have worn my bathing suit. But it was still a ton of fun, and chapel that night was amazing as always (especially junior chapel).

So here comes the Story of the Week. Friday night we discovered there was a huge schedule conflict that put the Junior Chapel and huge combined chapel at the same time. The program director told me that they would work something else out for the juniors and that we shouldn’t worry about it. HECK NO!! I could NOT sit back and let this happen; all those juniors were so excited to sing all their favorite songs that night (which is how I had organized the song schedule) and I knew that they would be so sad if we weren’t there. I spent the next half-hour before combined chapel trying to work it out for someone to start early or late or rearrange the order of chapel… I talked to so many people about how we could work this out. Finally, the program director for the juniors found a way to rearrange their chapel service so the speaker would speak first and then we would come in late and play the music. By then, there was so much confusion that I decided it would be better if just I went, in case the timing wasn’t quite right and I couldn’t make it back in time for the final song of combined chapel. So I found Cole, Dexter’s brother who is on support staff at Lake Ann, and gave him the binder of songs for the juniors and told him to grab a guitar. Our full band played combined chapel, then during the message Cole and I ran over to play for junior chapel, then ran back just in time for the final song of combined chapel! What a crazy way God worked out that timing! And those juniors… they sang their hearts out like you wouldn’t believe. All the counselors came up front to help us lead motions, and they had so much energy and joy. The campers’ faces lit up as each song was announced, and they sang louder than they had all week. “Waves of mercy, waves of grace…O, my God, this love, how can it be?” As the juniors sang, I prayed and thanked God for His love and His waves of mercy and grace. And as the rest of camp sang “Give Me Faith” at the close of combined chapel, they sang just as loud. Oh, what a pleasing sound it is in our Lord’s ears to hear His children sing out praise to Him! No matter what the age or the song; it is a sweet, sweet sound in His ear. Thank You God for hearing our praise and being glorified in it!

Saturday, after our morning staff meeting, we went to our weekend church. We set up and had dinner with the pastor, then came back to camp since there was a host-home mix-up. Which was another wonderful testimony to God’s timing, because this just so happened to be the weekend that Josh proposed to Stephanie!! I got to be there when they got back to camp and see the ring and give Stephanie a huge hug!

Sunday was INCREDIBLE as well! We played the main service and youth service (so almost all our songs), and afterwards had a huge picnic with the church. We all spread out and talked to people of all sorts of ages and backgrounds. The pastor kept telling us what a blessing we had been to those people, but we kept saying that we were the ones who were blessed! The best churches are the places where we can build each other up, where fellowship is a blessing to both sides and God is glorified in every person. We went back to camp after that, set up, and then went back to Traverse City for dinner and fun hanging out on the beach. It was great to spend some time as a team since Ashtyn will be gone next weekend for her sister’s wedding. We took a team picture, mimicking the team picture we had taken at Freeze Out in the snow.

The title “Waves of Mercy, Waves of Grace” is much more than the lyrics of a junior song. God has given me so much mercy, getting rid of the bad in me that I don’t deserve to have taken away, and He has given me so much grace, giving me blessing after blessing after blessing that I don’t deserve. I am so in awe of how much He loves me. How can it be? God’s grace is so unexplainable and unorthodox; it is sometimes hard to believe that it is true. The only right response is worship. I praise God for every good thing He gave me last week that I didn’t deserve, for His waves of mercy and waves of grace.

Until next time, Soli Deo Gloria!!

~Deanna

Sweet Jesus Christ, My Sanity!

At this morning’s church, Pastor Joe picked that line out of our song “Mystery” when he gave the benediction after our full program. He reminded us all that in this crazy world, Jesus is the only One who can give us sanity. What a great thought to have as I begin writing this blog post about the most INSANE week I’ve had in over a month!

Last Sunday night, we finally arrived at Lake Ann Camp!! We moved our stuff into cabins with the other counselors and then set up our equipment… until we realized that in the chaos of trying to find the trusses to take with us, we forgot that we also needed to bring the projectors, and screen, and all the extra pieces we needed to set up the trussing system!! Jim called Colin with a plan, and the next morning Caleb and Dane left to meet Jim halfway-ish to get everything from him. But we got all our other stuff set up just in time for the counselors to get out of their meeting; my good friends Trisha and Kelsey came running into the chapel and gave me huge hugs! Soon after I saw my future roommate Stephanie, along with all the other familiar faces from last year. We joined the staff for their night hike and got to see the starry night sky. Let me tell you, stars anywhere else cannot compare to stars at Lake Ann. We also got to see Saturn through Brandon’s telescope!

On Monday and Tuesday, our team alternated between rehearsing music and joining the counselors for Facilitator Training for the Initiatives Course. It was great to reconnect with old counselors and meet new counselors through that whole process; we hung out with them during free time and participated in the Initiatives Course with them. It was also awesome to rehearse music and write some new intros; we borrowed a few musical ideas from other artists and combined them with our favorite songs to create an entirely different flavor. We played a new game I like to call “How Many Genres Can We Use In ‘Romans 16:19’ At One Time?” and also combined the theme from Coldplay’s song “Charlie Brown” with our song “Set Free,” and when we recorded it we labeled it “Set Charlie Brown Free!” (unfortunately we can’t share that recording with anyone for copyright reasons).

There was a time back in the fall when Dane and I were in the van talking about all the things we wanted to do this summer, and one of them was seeing the Horse Whisperer Demonstration that all the high school campers get to see. We always missed it last summer because of our chapel schedule, and we missed it training week because Tommy wanted to rehearse (he actually just hates horses). I remember Dane screaming, “Colin! We have to see the Horse Whisperer!” and the strange look we got in the rearview mirror from our TL. Over time we explained to him what it was, and when we found out that they would be doing it again this summer, we made a point to see it during training week this year. So on Wednesday afternoon we joined the counselors on the bus to Casa del Sol Ranch and met horse trainers Mark and Kae. Their unique way of training horses focuses on a horse’s natural behaviors and building trust in the human rider as opposed to actual vigorous training. They brought out 4 horses and showed us the different ways that they behave and respond to Mark’s voice and actions. Afterwards we debriefed in groups, drawing out the spiritual implications and talking about how the relationship between Mark and the horses is like the relationship God has with us. It was so powerful, and I was so happy I finally got to see it.

Now you’re probably thinking that the week is winding down at this point… NOPE! We left Thursday morning for the Mighty Pine River for the counselor Fresh Start Trip. For them, it is 3 days of rafting and hardcore camping, a time to bond with each other and practice for when they will take their own campers on this trip. We went along with them, but only for 2 of the days so we could get some rest in for this weekend. I am definitely NOT the type of person who likes camping; I like my running water and flushing toilet. But for only 2 days, it was actually a pretty fun trip. We were separated into different rafts and got to know our groups really well as we asked each other questions and got stuck on and under tree branches and rocks. It was a cool time for me to get to know a couple of the girls that I didn’t know before, one of which was Kayla who goes to the same school my sister goes to. We got into a really long conversation about how following Christ looks much different in a Christian environment as opposed to a non-Christian environment. The other great thing about the trip was the food! Who knew how delicious and filling Good Ole Raisins and Peanuts (Gorp) could be?

On Friday night we got in the van to leave after dinner, and then realized it was already 9:30! After over 24 hours without our cell phones and watches, we were totally psychologically thrown off as far as time goes. It was SO REFRESHING to be free from being a slave to the clock and to my phone, to enter into a new culture, so to speak, and focus on one step at a time without a concept of time. The best part about the trip was the Solo Time after we got off the river on Friday. I think they said it was a couple hours long. We spread out all around the campground and chapel area and got to just read our Bibles and journal and think and pray, with absolutely no distraction except the beauty around us. I loved being able to journal about things that were going on with me spiritually and then study a part of Philippians (that by God’s design applied EXACTLY to what I had just been writing about) and finally pray for my team, the LA staff, the other HeartSong teams, my friends and family back home, and myself. After that we had dinner, and then our team left. When we got back to Lake Ann, it was dark enough for a Team Bonfire. By this time Abby, Ashtyn, and I had moved into our Koas for the summer, which surround a cute little fire pit that’s perfect for team times. This was the first time all week we had been able to focus on our “team health,” so to speak, discussing what has been going on and where we can go from here as far as our ministry goes. We went over the first chapter of our team devotional study and prayed for each other. By the time we were done, it was so late that we didn’t really get much sleep before we had to get up to pack our trailer and leave for our weekend church.

We arrived at First Baptist Church of Okemos, MI on Saturday afternoon, and I immediately recognized it from last summer! It was neat to see a lot of familiar faces (and try to remember names). We ate dinner, hung out, and played for the youth group on Saturday night; we also had a few prospective students from the area come to visit and see us play! And even though it was a small group, they were super responsive; we even had one kid attempt to crowd surf during “Go!”

This morning was another great time of worship with the church congregation. They loved singing along with us, especially during “We Will Glorify”; during that song I pulled out my earbud to listen to the congregation sing along. We met a lot of really cool people who loved our music. Plus, our friend Heidi, who was on Red Team last year, came to visit and see us play! It was so cool to see her again and catch up a little bit. While we were tearing down, the pastor’s kids (3 young children adopted from China) all wanted to help us with EVERYTHING! They made tearing down slow but fun. Afterwards, we all went out to a Chinese buffet for lunch (I had a déjà vu moment from last year) before hopping on the van to go back to LA.

And so here I am again, in the van on a Sunday afternoon, reflecting back on all the crazy things that happened in only a week! For most of these things I could go into a lot more detail, but then this post would be too long for you to want to read. It’s like what John said at the end of his book: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). God has already worked in my life in ways that are too incredible and intricate for me to talk about in just one blog post, not to mention the ways He’s worked in the lives of my teammates and everyone we’ve met. Here’s to tomorrow, to the start of the first week for campers and the start of a whole new week of indescribable works of our Lord!

Until the next inadequate post, Soli Deo Gloria!

~Deanna