Doin Big Stuf!

So i'm sittin at the info table in the back of session 3 at camp 54 BigStuff 2011 and Lanny just threw 52390723945723059732409587234598735 numbers at us for no particular reason. :) love that guy. anyway so far I have risked life and limb on our AMAZAHZING stage to film our band during worship, scarfed down leftovers during a lightning storm, met some metal campers, and realized that the only thing that really matters at the end of the day is loving people. (literally just quoted the speaker while he was talking haha #timecode)
Anywayyyy sorry im all over the place. I really cant wait til MtPisgah and OBBC get here week 2 and get their minds blown out of their ears. (I just helped Kayla do your room assignments today and got an adrenaline rush!) Journey, Hilary's future friend from college will be in next week and I am also really pumped to meet her group. I swear even if i wanted to spoil all the surprises of the week, words would not do it justice.

Just wait and see, campers.
Oh, and pray for the Daraja Choir.. We are having trouble getting their visas to go through and they really want to perform for you all!

Love you all so much!

First Update!

Wow,
It's been awhile, but i'll try to catch you up as much as possible!
camp Highland
- amazing, great group bonding
- first night we slept in sleeping bags, on a wood floor that had 3 walls. aka awful.second night we slept on the new turf field- awesome! 
-we did a balancing thing, a tall wall thing that we had to get everybody over, and a ropes course, jump off a telephone pole, got pulled up really high and swung . we also climbed a rock wall, played an intense game of ultimate frisbee, and had the best camp food ever. 

the interns
we are awesome
- we were told that we encourage each other more than any other group that came through camp highland
- the guys are hilarious and have some major bromance going on.
- the girls all get along and are so so funny
- zach and caitlin, our leaders, have a policy that we can't ask any questions about the future. it is like killing us. 

haiti-
- the flight there was great.
-we had a packed car ride from the airport and it was hot!
-at the airport people were begging us for money and food and water, it was awful. we aren't allowed to give anything, not that i had anything at the time
- the hotel was the ritz carlton of Haiti- we even had flushing toilets and air conditioning! 
-the food was amazing!
- we built 2 latrines which consisted of moving lots of concrete blocks and buckets of concrete
- we played with lots of adorable kids
- at the first place, the kids were at school and had nice uniforms
- the second place wasn't too close to a school and the kids that were with us were the ones that were too poor for school.
- a bunch of them wore a big shirt and no pants and something of the sort. 
-we went through port- au- prince and saw the capital. it is awful. it is such a beautiful building that now has to be completely re-built.
- we also went to the national cathedral that was hit by the earthquake. it was beautiful and there were huge blocks of concrete on the floor that had steel cables holding them up that just snapped. they were so big and heavy that i they didn't budge when I tried to push it. 
- at the church there was a man with a baby in his arms, and a woman with a baby too. they both begged for money or food for their babies. we are not allowed to give anything.
- the flight back was really long. security to leave haiti takes 3 pat downs and luggage screening.the flight from miami to atlanta was delayed like 3 hours. we went to bed at like 3:30 this morning. 
- zack our leader is from haiti, and he seriously runs the place. he just went straight through customs and was talking to all the security people. we had police escorts because of him.
- we also happened to have U.N. guards at the hotel because some important people were staying at the hotel also. 

rest of the week-
- we talked with Reggie Joiner today, look him up- he's a big deal.
- Jared Herd also talked to us for a bit- he's pretty cool too.
- we went to Northpoint church today- they started bigstuf
- and heading down to Panama city beach monday.
-camp starts on the 4th!


--- soooo  confession. Shannon wrote this. Emily is tired. But she loves you all!

Tonight!

I am so blessed to have a community like Switzerland County!
Tonight at 7p.m. at the Hoosier Theatre there will be an exhibition of heavenly proportions!!

Six choirs from around the area will be performing a few of their very favorite numbers individually, and then they will all join in at the end (my favorite part!)

So if you're a Gleek like me, or just a fan of home made chocolate chip cookies (they're fo free!) Come out tonight and watch the festivities!

There will be a love offering passed around for my internship this summer, but I am having a portion of the proceeds tonight also donated to the disasters in Tuscaloosa. Alabama. I lost 3 sorority sisters in the devastation at the University of Alabama. God has been so gracious to me through my whole process, and it is time for me to start helping those that need it even more than me!
Bytheway... I leave on Tuesday, so come out and say your last "goodbyes" to me before the summer starts!!

More of HIM and less of,
Emily

Intern Intros

It's almost here!! The summer I have been waiting approximately 5 years for. Interning at BigStuf Camps has always been a dream of  mine, but it's kinda like, winning the lottery or being on a game show.. you never actually think it'll happen until BAM its here. Ready or not. There you go. 

I hate to brag, but I have arguably the best intern team BigStuf has ever seen. We have already bonded so much via facebook and I can already give you all a little preview of how great their personalities mesh with my own. They're sort of the cast for my summer so, if you ever get confused as to who i'm refering to, just flip back to this post and refresh your memory (mom).

Adam, Super random, amazing singer hailing from UGA.
Daniella, Great Personality, always seems to be up late when I need to talk.

Sarah, seems to be very organized. This will be her 2nd trip to BigStuf.

Cody, Long, super awesome hair. He goes to the BIGGEST campus in the world (Berry College)

Aly, probably going to be my wedding movie buddy. You know how i am about those #Bridesmaids!

Josh, two words: Oak Bridge.

Shannon, She has a very talented dog :) annnd she can make practically anything out of duct tape!

Danger, aka, John Leonard. Growing a mullet? He plays basketball. nuff said.

Hannah, My fellow Hoosier!! I'll know her the most, first! (riding to atl with me)

Dylan, I can already tell he will be an awesome friend! Totally understands my randomness.

Alexa, Also amazing singer. and uses abbreviations, like me!

Langer, Her name is Emily Langer, mine is Emily Lanman, 3 letters different, this could get interesting.

Kelsey, Goes to school in california, world traveler. Supes Cool!

Jonathan, Apparently the MOST excited? Yeah right. thats totally me.

Courtney, she's from Minnesota, how much cooler can you get?!
and Megan rides her bike at school, she obvi doesn't go to Western, Right?!

Well thats the interns! Next tuesday it all begins! Keep praying for us!

Forty-Nine.

Sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. I've recently started listing the break-down of my day on 3x5 note cards in order to keep myself on task and challenge myself to stretch those extra minutes into productivity. Needless to say, I've started walking faster, staying up later and sadly, realizing just how short a day is. I can fit 24 hours on one piece of paper?! Life should amount to more than that! It makes me think of the song from RENT, Seasons of Love. 525,600 minutes… That’s all I get for one year?? How are you spending yours? More importantly, how am I spending mine!?

This summer I have been chosen to take my relationship with Christ to a whole new level. I will be interning at BigStuf Camps, a  Christian youth camp that drives out the stereotypes and influences young minds to see things from a higher perspective. I found out that I would have this opportunity on March 15^th. This gave me two months and three days, (a mere 93,600 minutes after daylight savings), to get a passport, donations for my trip, and meet all the other interns that would soon become my support system, no, my family. Yes, it’s exciting. And yes, it’s a major boost to the ego to think how tan I’ll be after living in Florida all summer (!), but all I’ve been doing is worrying about everything! When is my passport coming in? Can I move my finals up to spend more time at home? How is it going to count for my internship? Will it interfere with Phi Mu? I think the real question I should be asking myself is, why on earth would I ever question the God that has given me this blessing? Turns out my passport will be here in 3 weeks, (30,240 minutes) and in one weekend I raised 1/3 of my needed funding for my trip! It is incredible to watch what happens when you let HIM take care of things.

So I’m coming to terms with the next 93,600 minutes. I’m throwing out the note cards that made my days fly by. I’m only getting older, and there’s a better way to age than stress; it’s called “with friends”. They don’t leave wrinkles ;).

Oh--  and changing my song selection:

I can reminisce about the already 

I can worry and fret about the not yet 

But when it all comes down I know it really 

Really all comes down to the right now 

So right now 

I'm living the next 5 minutes 

Like these are my last 5 minutes 

'cause I know the next 5 minutes 

May be all I have 

And after the next 5 minutes 

Turn into the last 5 minutes 

I'm taking the next 5 minutes 

And starting all over again 

Starting all over again