Our first group of campers come TONIGHT!!! Ahhhh! I cannot even believe it. I feel like I just got to Covecrest, and we're already about to start the first week of camp...time needs to slow down! I'm SO excited for these teens to come! This week I will be working with a parish called Incarnate Word, from Missouri. I will get to journey with each of these teens this week as they grow closer to Christ and one another...how lucky am I?!
Please keep all the teens coming to camp this week in your prayers, as well as all the Youth Ministers, musicians, and other Summer Staffers! I'll be sure to post another update after our first week of camp!
Anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first teens,
Marissa
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Covecrest!
Ok so I'm finishing up my second week here at Covecrest, and it has been SO amazing! I really don't even know where to begin. I live in a bunkhouse with 14 other girls, and the 11 boys live in a bunkhouse right next to us. Last week we had "work week" and we did lots of random jobs to get camp ready for campers. I stayed on the same project all week---we had to clear out a TON of dirt from behind a house to build a retaining wall. It was tough, but very rewarding. It was really great to be with the same group of people and have the chance to get to know them.
This week we have been having general training. The 26 of us Summer Staffers have had the opportunity to grow in our faith together and get to know one another veeerry well. This week we have been experiencing camp like the campers will. We did this crazy obstacle course through the woods in the dark one night. It was intense---I have quite a few battle wounds from that one :-) And my clothes will never be the same...there's this awesome part of the obstacle course where you have to army crawl through sludgy mud. It's pretty gross, but so much fun once you give in to the fact that you're going to be covered head to toe in mud. There are also 'snipers' throughout the course that throw flour bombs and buckets of ice water on you. It was a really fun way to bond with all my new sisters :-)
Every night (and sometimes during the day) we have sessions. For those of yall that have been on retreats, you know how intense these can be. Someone starts out with a talk (on being missionary, reconciliation, holiness, etc.) Then we have some time to journal and process everything before we gather back together and share our thoughts with everyone. I was so surprised at how quickly everyone was willing to bear their souls to us. It is hard for me to open up a lot, so this has been a really challenging experience. It has also been incredible though, because allowing myself to open up to all of these people has made us so close. Seriously, I have only known these people for 2 weeks and they are already my second family. It's pretty incredible!
Alright, well those are the basics for now...I'll try to post again soon! Maybe I'll work up the courage to post something from my journal, we'll see :-)
Loving my home away from home,
Marissa
This week we have been having general training. The 26 of us Summer Staffers have had the opportunity to grow in our faith together and get to know one another veeerry well. This week we have been experiencing camp like the campers will. We did this crazy obstacle course through the woods in the dark one night. It was intense---I have quite a few battle wounds from that one :-) And my clothes will never be the same...there's this awesome part of the obstacle course where you have to army crawl through sludgy mud. It's pretty gross, but so much fun once you give in to the fact that you're going to be covered head to toe in mud. There are also 'snipers' throughout the course that throw flour bombs and buckets of ice water on you. It was a really fun way to bond with all my new sisters :-)
Every night (and sometimes during the day) we have sessions. For those of yall that have been on retreats, you know how intense these can be. Someone starts out with a talk (on being missionary, reconciliation, holiness, etc.) Then we have some time to journal and process everything before we gather back together and share our thoughts with everyone. I was so surprised at how quickly everyone was willing to bear their souls to us. It is hard for me to open up a lot, so this has been a really challenging experience. It has also been incredible though, because allowing myself to open up to all of these people has made us so close. Seriously, I have only known these people for 2 weeks and they are already my second family. It's pretty incredible!
Alright, well those are the basics for now...I'll try to post again soon! Maybe I'll work up the courage to post something from my journal, we'll see :-)
Loving my home away from home,
Marissa
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Hello Goodbye
Summer is juuuust around the corner...Ok, it's pretty much here since school is over. But I still have a little more Res Life stuff left to do before it's officially summer. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I can take a break from school work for awhile, and I can't wait to spend some time bumming on the beach. BUT I hate this time of year at the same time. I hate leaving my SLU family, I hate packing, I hate having to move out, and I hate saying goodbye!
Tomorrow morning I'm going to the Pre-Commencements for a bunch of my friends...it is seriously crazy how fast this year went by! I can't believe everyone is graduating already! I'm so so so proud of all my friends for everything they have done in their time at SLU, but this is for sure a bittersweet time. Like I said before, I hate saying goodbye!
I'm sad to see everyone go, but I'm also really excited to see all the amazing things they are going to be doing in their post-grad lives :-) Goodbye will undoubtedly be difficult, and it will be hard to live so far apart...but on the bright side, it will be great to have friends all over the country (and world, right Katie?!)...I'm for sure going to have lots of new places to visit!
A HUGE congratulations to all of my simply amazing friends who will be graduating on Saturday!!! I'm so lucky to have you all in my life, and SLU will just not be the same without you!
Not ready to say goodbye,
Marissa
Tomorrow morning I'm going to the Pre-Commencements for a bunch of my friends...it is seriously crazy how fast this year went by! I can't believe everyone is graduating already! I'm so so so proud of all my friends for everything they have done in their time at SLU, but this is for sure a bittersweet time. Like I said before, I hate saying goodbye!
I'm sad to see everyone go, but I'm also really excited to see all the amazing things they are going to be doing in their post-grad lives :-) Goodbye will undoubtedly be difficult, and it will be hard to live so far apart...but on the bright side, it will be great to have friends all over the country (and world, right Katie?!)...I'm for sure going to have lots of new places to visit!
A HUGE congratulations to all of my simply amazing friends who will be graduating on Saturday!!! I'm so lucky to have you all in my life, and SLU will just not be the same without you!
Not ready to say goodbye,
Marissa
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Freshman Flashbacks
So we just had our last 2 Dub floor meeting...the end of the year is officially here, and everyone's getting ready to pack up and move out for summer! It got me thinking about when I was a freshman at SLU and how much I miss my first year of college. Seriously, there is nothing like freshman year! I remember all the crazy times we had in the 4G hallway, eating in Gries every night, sharing a bathroom with 30 other girls, watching an entire season of Grey's Anatomy in 3 days. When else is it ok so spend the entire day napping, have candy wars on lofted beds, celebrate your birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, and have astro turf for carpet in your room?! Those are just a few small things that defined my freshman year, and I literally spent the last hour laughing at my computer as I looked through pictures from 4 years ago! Here are some blasts from the past:
What a good looking bunch :-)
Oh my, Alyson...
Birthdays in a freshman dorm, gotta love it...
Still a kid at heart :-)
It's a wonder we ever got anything done.
Catchin some z's
Nail polish on faces = BAD idea. Trust me.
Love, Love, Love all you girls :-)
Missing our un4Gettable freshman year,
Marissa
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