Ralph Fletcher

Some golden lines from Ralph Fletcher (one of my favorite authors)

“The very last thing I want to do is to push the girls down in order to pull the boys up. But boy writers have unique strengths, quirks, and weaknesses that every thoughtful practitioner or parent will want to be aware of.” (page 7)
“To the extent that we really understand them we can become more skilled, more complete writing teachers” (page 8)
“’Boys have a lot of Hung Fin in them-they don’t, on average, learn as well as girl by sitting still, concentrating, multi-tasking, listen to words.’” (page 21)
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be the hell away from school.” (page 23)
“It’s sad that today many boys till have to ‘go underground,’ doing the bare minimum in school, waiting until they get home to do the writing they really want to do” (page 43)

A Day in the Life of a Busy Camp Director

A Day in the Life of a Busy Camp Director
Rush, rush, rush! A camp director’s morning starts in high-gear. I need to make sure that I have everything we need for the day.
Coffee. Check.
Donuts. Check.
Gas in the van. Check.
Candy for prizes. Check.
Crafts for the kids. Check.
Bible. Check.
Peanut butter. Check.
Jelly. Check.
Bread. Check.
Ok it looks like we are ready to go. Hopping in the van I yell to my brothers to hurry up. I feel like it takes them forever to scramble into the van. Then screech, we head to the office. I drive carefully. Well, carefully for someone who is running late and has a long list of things that need to be done before nine AM.
Arriving to the office I realize there is no one there. “Oh, man” I think, “Why is no one ever on time?” zooming down the road I pull up to a team members house. Trevor hops out just as Hannah rushes to the van. When we arrive back at the office I haphazardly parallel park, jump out, and jam my key into the office door. The teens work to situate themselves in the van as new people arrive. “Good morning!” I call over my shoulder but they’re too busy scrambling in and out of the back seat to answer. They toss supplies around for a quick exit from the vehicle once we arrive at camp.
Make copies. Done.
Grab lesson plans. Done.
Write instructions. Done.
Hop back into van. Done
Pull out into traffic. Done
Soon the team is setting up for the day. The morning zooms by. Every day at camp is exciting and this one is no exception. Between ecstatic children, injured leaders, performances, stories, and games, I’m kept busy.
When lunch time rolls around counselor Katie scours the kitchen. “Hey Janel,” she wonders “did you bring peanut butter?”
I show a hint of annoyance at the obvious, “Yeah, it’s in the bag with the rest of the sandwich stuff.”
She looks confused. “I don’t see it.”
“Really?” I’m confused now. “It’s got to be in there. I remember packing it.”
We search the kitchen, unfolding one bag, then another, and another. No luck.
“I guess we’ll do bread and jam.” I respond.
The rest of the afternoon flies by. I hardly have time to catch my breath.
Set up for end of week carnival. Need to do.
Meet with the pastor. Need to do.
Help homeless people find winter clothes. Need to do.
Mop up sticky lemonade. Need to do.
Call parents of vomiting child. Definitely need to do!
I bound from one responsibility to another all afternoon.
When the day ends the van ride back is quiet. Still wound up from the excitement of working with energetic children the team is exhausted. Pulling up to the office I notice a brown crust spread across where I parked, just that morning. “Good grief!” I exclaim “Can’t people be careful? What a mess!” I rush into the office, write a quick message to the treasurer, and place it on her desk. I swivel to Holly’s desk to write her a note as well. I lurch. There’s a noise at the door. It’s Christian. He has something in his hand. A smashed brown jar with something oozing out of it. “Oh gross! What is that?”
“I think it’s peanut butter.” deadpans Christian.
Something’s familiar. “Oh!” I exclaim, “That’s our peanut butter. That’s the peanut butter we were missing at lunch.”
Humbly I realize our bread and jam sandwiches were my fault.
I’d run the van over the peanut butter jar.
I’d made that mess.
Learn my lesson of the day. Check.


(This is one peek at my summer. Thiis could have been anyday, and every day. It is typical life...the summer life that I adore)

Post Again

So I think I might start posting again. Ready for book reviews, my thoughts on the christian life, and my random comments?

Founding Fathers

What do you think about on the 4th of July? I'm afraid that far too often my thoughts go something like: “What am I going to make for dinner for everyone?” and “What time should we plan on doing fire works?” and “are the animals ok?” Well this morning I took a few minutes and meditated on the sacrifices made by those who have gone before us. It was very challenging. Yesterday as I visited my grandparents they told stories about their parents growing up and the sacrifices that they made. It made me realize some of what our nation has been through and all that our ancestors went without. The founding fathers (and mothers) did without many comforts that we have today and yet did great things. Think about how few forms of communication they had and yet gathered armies and won a war against one of the strongest nations known. It took endurance and sacrifice to wait through the bitter cold winter. It took strength and diligence to make homes and protect them in the new world. It took leadership and wisdom to make decisions about what our nation would stand upon.

Thank you to those who have gone before us.

When God's People Pray

“How are you doing?” “I've been praying for you” “I've been concerned about you” “I got the email” These are things I have heard a lot lately. I am so thankful for the people who have been praying for me over the last few weeks. It has been amazing to know that they started praying for me and are dedicated to not stopping. God has laid it on several peoples hearts. Apparently there was even an email asking people to pray for me. I was pretty sick. I was humbled to explain that I just had a cold but that it was really, really, REALLY bad. Although I was so blessed by what one older Godly sister in Christ told me when I explained how God was teaching me and humbling me. I'll remember what she said for a long time. Her thoughts were “God kept you in bed praying where you need to be.” It stuck me how very true that was. God was humbling me and keeping me away from places I wanted to be but I was kept close to God. I was kept in a position of praying and dependent on God. God had me and others praying. It was amazing and God's healing was made sweeter knowing that He used it to get people started praying for me. Then had them continue in prayer by praying for entire summer ministries.

New Hobby

I havea new hobby. I like listening to sermons. I've started going through several series by Mark Driscoll. Although I don't agree with everything he says he preaches straight from the Bible. I've been listening to several sermons a day and have been loving it. I kind of started to wonder if there is something strange about a girl who likes listening to sermons so much...if there is, that's just too bad. If you are hungry to hear God's word preached more you can get your fix here. I highly suggest the current sermon series. You can also see pastor Mark's blog here.

Last Week of School

Have you ever wondered what to post when you just had a boring week? I have. I've had a quarter filled with the normal adventures of school. I've learned about special education, and how to teach children math. I've explored technology and psychological theories about teaching children . I've even learned a few things about teaching health to children. However I find the last two weeks of school the most tedious. I really don't learn much of anything. It seems that we really could just skip these last two weeks. The second to the last week is just reviewing what we learned through the previous weeks. The last week consists primarily of writing on our finals everything that we learned. I think that there must be a better way of showing what we learned. For example here is a website that I made that shows what I learned in my IT class. If you are in the same boat as I am and learning nothing new and exciting you might enjoy it too.

Ok, to keep this post from being totally boring I'd also like to tell you about some of the blogs that I really like (these will be mostly for girls). Girl Talk by Mrs. Mehaney and her girls is a site that I have been gaining insight from for several years now and find encouraging every time. Young Ladies Christian Fellowship is a place where conservative Christian young ladies can be encouraged and lifted up and get great ideas for life. Solo Femininity is a fun place to learn about some things going on in the world from a Christian and feminine perspective. Set Apart Girl is a place to remember what true beauty is and the beauty that we have as God's daughters.