Week 1

  Week 1 of Kidder Creek Camp for me was different than week 0 in that I had no campers. Because of my hurt foot I was put on rotation which means that I got some longer breaks and different work and amazingly I ended up having a cabin all to myself. Instead of caring for campers I helped with trail rides, taught kids how to rope, pulled weeds, helped to prepare and serve breakfast, and made the campfire each evening.

   Overall it was another good week. There were a few bumps for the campers and counselors along the way but God helped us pull through it. My biggest problem was that I kept getting headaches from the heat and feeling tired. But I kept reminding myself that I when I felt weak, God was there to help me be strong. I also taught a message to the campers for the first time. By God's grace it went well but my legs shook as I was speaking. I have to say that the best part of the week though was just getting to know some of my fellow staff better.
  As far my foot goes well, The bruising on my foot went down a ton. The swelling is still there though so I am trying to keep icing and resting it whenever I can.

This week of June 21st even though it is week 2 at Kidder Creek I get the whole week off because at Ranch camp they are doing a 3 day mother- daughter camp in the middle of this week. Counselors are not needed for Mother-Daughter camp so I am at home right now resting and enjoying seeing aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents that are visiting this week. It was definitely God who worked this out! We  call it "cousins camp" because there are 12 cousins in all ranging from a baby to me who is age 19. That is a hue mix of ages and we get together every year in the summertime and always have tons of fun together. I will post pictures of my "week 3" of "camp"here at home this weekend.

My camp cabin. They have the names of breeds of horses on each of them.

All cleaned up and ready for campers.

Shiloh and Big mama. They are a gypsy banner mare and foal that the camp is housing right now. They are both so pretty!

Another gorgeous day at camp.

And this is the great big beautiful horse that stepped on me. Her name is Galaxy. She is a 2200 pound Perchron.

Galaxy loves her wrangler.

My shadow. Cowgirl up!

I have been learning how to line dance and it is so much fun! I also learned how to do the Virgina reel. On Friday night the wranglers and photographers stayed up late after we sent the campers to bed with their counselors and we danced to country music under the stars behind the barn with strings of lights on. It was awesome! It was my first time ever doing dances with friends like that.

That's all the photos I have to share for now. I will post more later on of our "cousins camp" :) ~Anna

Week 0

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At Kidder Creek camp the first week is for some strange reason that I have still have yet to discover is known as "week 0" hence the name of this blog post. :)
I was a little nervous about getting campers for the first time but God blessed me abundantly with five amazing girls ages 13-15 to be a counselor to and my week with them went so well! I had so much fun with them and pray that they will continue to grow closer to Christ at home with their families. We learned about horse science and vaulting, played card games together, did fake tattoos, (yes I did one too), ate ice cream, line danced, played with glow sticks, and most importantly learned more about God and his love for us. My campers also did trail rides and learned more about how to work with their horses in the arena.

I wish I could say that I did trail riding with them but I had an accident that prevented me from doing so. On Tuesday of last week while spotting for a camper during vaulting a 2200 pound horse accidentally stepped on my foot. It hurt like crazy and swelled and bruised very fast. I was taken to the ER for an x-ray because I was worried that it might be fractured or broken but praise God he had kept my foot safe and it was not at all broken. Just sprained and bruised. I was released from the ER right away with a bandaged foot and crutches. The dr. wanted to know if I had any questions. Yep, just one I replied. "Can I go back to camp?"

My campers were happy to have me back the next morning when they woke up and I was really happy that I didn't have to leave them and could finish out the week. My amazing campers did everything they could to ensure my comfort. They got me ice, waited in line to get me food so that I didn't have to walk there, and carried my backpack for me. I wouldn't have been able to be at camp without them. I was on crutches for about three days but at the end of the three days but upper body hurt more from my crutches than my foot did from the injury so I threw the crutches under my bed. My campers told one of the wranglers that a horse had broken them. It was just a joke though. ;)

 On Saturday I said goodbye to my campers. I was tired out but happy. Apart from the foot injury it had been a really great week filled with a lot of good times and good memories. Also, my sister Kyra has recently started working at camp as an assistant in the kitchen. She helps to prepare delicious food and makes these cute signs to let us all know what we are eating for lunch. I enjoy getting to see her for a few minutes during the week and she is liking her job and the people she is working with. I am really enjoying getting to know  all of the other counselors, wranglers, and staff members as well. Christ's love and kindness flows freely from them and they are so willing to serve, love, listen, forgive, and accept you as part of the Kidder family and as family in Christ. I am loving being there and am filled with joy that God let me have the opportunity to work there this summer.

God uses even the bad things that happen to us to make good things happen. Because the horse stepped on my foot I got a break from having campers this week but was sent down overnight to Mount Hermon in Santa Cruz to help escort kids on a bus with another counselor named Caleb that I am friends with back up to Kidder Creek. It was a long exhausting drive but I wouldn't have traded it for anything else because I got to see one of my best friends who I had not gotten to see for six years now! My friend Lisa Hallahan came down from Montanna to be a girls counselor at Mount Hermon Santa Cruz so we had a happy reunion complete with coffee, prayers, laughter, and a good long talk. We are both loving our jobs at our camps and are excited to see what God has in the future for us. I was sad to have to say goodbye to Lisa the next morning but hope that it will work out to see her soon again.

Our theme verse at Kidder Creek camp this summer that we will be studying with our campers comes from Ephesians 2:8-10
^" God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

My prayer for myself and for all the other staff as well is that we will be able to remind these kids just how much they are loved by Christ and that they are truly God's masterpieces. I do not have any kids this week though because my bosses at camp want me to make sure that my foot gets healed so this week I will be doing odd jobs instead. I'll try and take some pictures of my week for you all and do another blog post this weekend of "week 1" lol.
Hope that you all are having a fun summer so far! ~Anna

My First Week-Staff Training

My first week of camp was an incredible and very fun experience. It was staff training week and so everyone from all over the camp all stayed in the same area and was trained together. Everyone was really nice and kind and made me feel at ease at once. I have started to get to know and make some friends with a few of the girls and guys and have enjoyed meeting so many awesome people who are young adults like myself and have a big heart for serving and loving God and ministering to others.

 I played lots of fun games with them, worshiped and prayed with them, learned and trained on how to minister to our campers with them, and have gotten to do some really cool things with them like horse back riding and ropes courses. There is over 50 staff members that make up Kidder Creek camp this summer. They are an enthusiastic, excited, crew and I am blessed that I will get to work with them and be a team with them. I took a couple pictures on my camera from the week and I have an opportunity to post them as I am home resting today and getting ready to meet my first campers tomorrow afternoon. They will be highschoolers so I am both excited and nervous to see how that will go.
Thank you all so much for all the prayers and encouragement that you have given me!!! :)

My mom and I in front of the camp entrance. She worked at Kidder Creek as a 19 year old counselor as well so it is really special to me that I am getting to follow in her footsteps.

Evening at Kidder creek. So peaceful and pretty.

At dinner with my friends. :)

The Kidder Creek Team with the camps founder Mr. Dick Jones. We were honored to hear him speak about God's hand in making the camp come about almost 40 years ago.

Girls night out! Card games and homemade ice cream at our directors house

All the awesome gals I get to serve Jesus with this summer.

Archery practice!

Ropes course teamwork. Couldn't have done it without my friends.

The Kidder Creek Summer Staff 2015!!! My sister Kyra is also working at Kidder this summer as a kitchen assistant so that is pretty cool! :D