undone.

my husband and his best man, aaron rice, wrote this song for me and it was played as a surprise during the ceremony of our wedding... he wrote me a song! don't girls dream of this?! the words are so beautiful and so fitting for our story. i am still trying to grasp the beauty of the words and the fact that it was written for me.. i don't deserve a love like this, but i am reminded by Stephen, who does? enter Jesus Christ- the reason we are able to love and be loved. i am blown away by the Lord's love and by Stephen's love for me. may this song be the prayer of our life. it is perfect. it is the cry of our hearts. it is ours. it is us. it is our story.

"Undone"

one man, one woman at the altar

one God, who taught us how to love

two lives destined for each other

our story, authored from above.

Lord, bind our hearts to thee

as a light for all to see

and as you make our hearts as one

through the power of your son

with a love that can't be undone.

though one may be overpowered

and two may make it through the night

a cord of three cannot easily be broken

so, God hear our prayer.

-aaron rice and my husband, sjw.

in the no.

i heard a sermon this sunday that moved me. i have to admit i have been in a spiritual low lately... you know the kind where things just feel heavy?? it's been like that a while.. hard to pray, less sensitive to the Spirit's leading, and just not "feeling" much.. i am not sure exactly what brings times on like these.. maybe it is just me and my human fault, but maybe it is just part of life.. but, this Sunday i was challenged to evaluate my yes' and no's.. how am i living my life in the margins? the time on the outside? i realize i thrive on my life with people and those relationships.. that means i tend to say yes to everything and everyone. but, a quote my pastor said really caught my attention.. "the quantity of my no's determines the quality of my yes'." mmm, that is the truth. i have already started saying no to not just time with people, but to "things" as well that grab my attention in life. saying no helps me to grow in my spiritual life by weeding out distractions and taking time for relationship...Lord, i pray that you will help me to evaluate my yes's and no's in life and help me to prioritize my life in a way that honors you. thank you that no is not always a negative answer. thank you for not leaving me and teaching me in those valleys. amen.

shine.on.

beth.

new.

i am going to try to write more.. i forgot how much i enjoyed it and i haven't really had the time to do anything.. not even think.. ok i know it's an excuse, but things have been hectic.. anyways.. i'm starting new... in a lot of things.. i am starting a new job on monday. i will be the volunteer coordinator at Sandy Cove. yes, i am going back to the place where i fell in love with camp ministry.. i am floored that i am blessed to start a new journey at a familiar place.. am i nervous? well, yeah.. and there is a battle i fight of self-doubt, but God is bigger than all that! i am sad to say I am leaving NorthBay, but a new opportunity for me to move forward is something i can't turn away. i have loved working with the kids and staff, but it is time for me to move on.. i start a new life with my best friend in just 5 weeks.. i can't believe it. Stephen and I will be married on January 16, 2011. our journey has been a beautiful one told by the Lord himself.. if you ever want to hear the story just ask! i can't fathom that i am so priveledged to marry this wonderful man of God. i can't help but to ask, why me? i know it is because the Lord loves me so much, but isn't that hard to swallow sometimes when i know how filthy i am?? the Lord knows all of this and still loves me through my sin. i pray to honor God with Stephen and i pray we will never lose our love for each other, our love for people, and our love for our Heavenly Father. a lot of things are new in my life, but man i wouldn't have it any other way and God knows that. He knows my love for adventure and new journey's.. so here is to my new life of being a coordinator and wife.. Lord, may i serve you well and with all I am.

back at it..

im back!

summer camp is over.. my time at rvr has ended and my new life in cecil county maryland has begun! so much has happened in my life since i have last written.. a whole summer of camp! camp was great and so challenging.. i am happy to be "home." i have learned that home isn't where you are from, but where the ones you love are. during the summer i was in pursuit of a job and at times worried that i wouldn't have anywhere to live or any income at all.. well, God always provides and i now live with an amazing family and i now have a job at a wonderful organization called NorthBay. i am part of the outdoor education program as a member on the night operations team. my goal is to one day be an educator, but as for now i am just blessed to have a job at a place that offers that! i can learn and gain experience at an organization i can possibly work my way up in. i love it already. so God is good all the time..not just because i have a place to live or a job to work, but because He always takes care of his children.. He made a way for me to come "home" to the people i love.

blessed,
beth.

graduation, vacation, and the start of summer sensation!

ok summer sensation means summer camp... i just wanted to keep the theme going :) yeah so it's been a few weeks and i hate to say i think it is going to become a summer trend. i get internet access around once a week now that camp has begun. the first week of actual campers doesn't start till sunday, but after that i won't be blogging much because i will be crazy busy working and serving the Lord at RVR!

i graduated from the internship about 2 weeks ago. it was a special evening! we were allowed to invite guests and of course i invited my camp family from sandy cove. my cove family and the ranch family together.. it was lovely. watched a slide show, ate some good food, gave some speeches, and gave some gifts! i am going to miss being a group of 6 with those guys. some of my greatest friendships are coming out of this program.

after graduation stephen and i headed on a road trip throughout virginia! our first stop was lynchburg, va where i went to college and played ball! visited my softball coach and then met up with my pastor and his wife, one of my best friends! dinner with Donna and Darren was so needed and so refreshing.. i was reminded of how much i truly miss them and valued their friendship and example in my life. on our way to Powhatan after dinner we stopped to visit my grandmother who lived right on the way. it was a lovely visiting and we had some much needed quality time.

got to powhatan and spent the next day and a half with mommy. got to see my best friend since 1st grade! kristin was our waitress for lunch so it was a great way to get to see her even though she had to work. after lunch we had some down time and reading time. waited for mommy to get home and then we made our way to my other grandparents side. had great time with them and then ate some dinner with mommy at a bbq place.

the next morning mommy and i made some breakfast before stephen and i made our way to dad's bay house. for our last day and a half we spent time with daddy and some other friends as well as my sister. we rode jet skis, laid out, got some sun, went swimming, through a softball, did some reading, walked around, ate some ice cream, ate some good meals, and enjoyed some time of my dad's story telling.. i missed those days!

what a great vacation to start off a great summer... it is now orientation week at the Ranch.. last week was leadership week.. things are going great.. there is still a lot that needs to be done, but i have released it to the Lord.. i am struggling between freaking out and trusting Him completely, but i can do it! my counselors are solid and i cant wait to see how the Lord uses them.. i am just praying i can be a help to that and encourage them as well. please be in prayer for me throughout the summer that the Lord would work through me and give me wisdom and strength to run the program well!

Lord, you are in control.. control me.. be my focus and take my stress and anxiety away.. give me wisdom and direction to lead this program well. i love you! amen.

back from Italy! :)

what an adventure these past few weeks have been..

before i left for italy, i spent some lovely time with a lovely gentleman. it has been a pleasure learning and growing by his side.

my trip began with a very bumpy flight over to london.. thankfully i was traveling with my friend val who i could grab if i got scared.. i love flying, but every time i have to get used to going through some rough terbulance. i got over it :) we made it to pisa safe and sound, but there was one problem.. we were traveling separate from the other part of our group and their flights got delayed. while we were supposed to meet them at the air port we ended up meeting them 4 hours later at our B&B in the town of Lucca. needless to say, val and i found our way around and made it to the B&B.. we are quite the travelers :)

we stayed in Lucca for a night and toured the city and had our first of many great meals. from Lucca we went and stayed in another B&B in Levanto, which is a city outside of the Cinque Terra. did some sight seeing and hiking the next few days. italy is full of beautiful architecture and beautiful landscapes. a highlight of my time in Levanto was a morning at breakfast when i was reading my Bible and was interrupted to my friend Kat giving me a gift Stephen had given her to give to me on our 6th month anniversary. i know, he is a special man! another highlight was hiking the via del amore (the lover's lane). it is a cute little hike full of graffti all about love. there is a seat where couples can sit and there are many many locks locked all over the fencing and wires to symbolize their love locking together forever :)

we stayed in Vernazza one night and did some shopping and had a beautiful meal on the cliffs of the city. next, we traveled to Venice for 3 nights.. it is a beautiful city, but full of tourists. i guess i can't be mad because i was a tourist myself. haha stayed in a beautiful B&B that was 1,500 years old.. they don't make em like that in america! haha experienced the beauty and romance of the city. it was a wonderful trip. i loveeeeeeeeeeee the italian way of eating and sitting for hours at meals. had my first dish of wine and cheese.. of course if you know me i fell in love.

british airways in fact went on strike causing val and i to be possibly be stranded in italy, but thankfully Lori's hubby Mark came to our rescue and had our flights switched.. we were on a better airline and arrived 4 hours earlier back to the states, which allowed me to have dinner with my love and get back to the ranch at a decent hour to catch up on my sleep. man, it is so awesome to look back and see where the Lord's hands were at work... it could have been a disaster, but he turned a not so good situation into a wonderful one.

Lord, thank you for providing for me and my trip and having you hand at work every part of the way. Amen.

beth.

what an adventure..

it is the first day back to work after our intern camping trip.. i don't even know where to begin with this trip. it was exciting and adventurous and full of many different surprises in many different shapes and forms. the first day we got to Assateague we were supposed to canoe out to our campsite but the wind was too strong for us to paddle through the water so we decided to hike 5 miles to our site. we packed up gear that would be good for one night and food as well and started our hike on the beach (sand) to our campsite called pine tree. we were back country camping so you could not drive to your site. like i said our site was 5 miles away. well we got lost. real lost and we couldnt find our site anywhere. well we went off the beach towards the bay and hiked through marsh, creeks, horse poop, and everything else you can imagine for an extra 2 miles.. we didnt find pine tree. we ended up having to set up camp in a random place that is prohibited for people to be on.. we made jokes that not even chuck norris would camp there.. haha it was cold and windy, but after close to 7 hours of hiking we set up camp and had a good meal, a short devo, and hit the sheets.. we were completely exhausted. the next morning the boys left us girls at camp to clean and pack while they searched for our camp site.. turns out that our site was a mile down from where we were.. they came back got us and we picked up our gear and headed to pine tree to drop our gear off. we set up camp and turned around and hiked back to our canoes, but we did not have to walk the last mile or so because a nice couple gave us a ride!! woohoo shout out to bill and inga! got the rest of our gear and food and loaded up the canoes and canoed 5 miles to our site.. we were so tired that the next day we did nothing but sleep, eat, and read the whole day..haha the next day we packed up camp and canoed another 5 miles back.. we drove down to great falls va and ate some outback for dinner!! :) the next morning we went climbing and site seeing at the falls.. the day started off a little rocky when we found out we had to pay more than what they advertised, but it turned into a wonderful day. it was a great trip full of fun and growing as well as tiring mentally, physically, and emotionally. i am so happy that i was with the group i was with.. everyone kept good attitudes and stayed calm. we went through a lot and made it out alive together. i am going to miss this group... a whole lot.

grateful,

beth.