Genna Powell

Sweet Summertime!

2010-06-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

I know I say this everytime but Hello again! Sorry it's been so long! Lately life has been a crazy awesome whirlwind between weddings, vacations, work and things of that nature. Soooo my best friend got married last weekend! WHATS UP! I am sooo happy for them it's almost creepy..no wait it is creepy. Everytime someone asks me about the wedding I can't help but gush like a Mother when her child takes their first steps.

Even though yesterday was completely uneventful it may have been my favorite day of the summer thus far my activities went as follows:

7:30 Shot up from the couch to answer the doorbell to give Kyle his forgotten stethoscope (nicknamed ChrisSTETHer)

8:00 Read and watch a Passion dvd (louie gig- you're awesome)

10:00 Watch my favorite girl HODA KOTB!

11:00 Clean my house, take a shower get ready

2:00 Went to see Clare and enjoyed her company!

4:30 Grocery store to see like 10 people I knew (gosh I love that!)

6:30 Made roasted potatoes, lemon pepper chicken and Kyle's favorite carrot cake

and just ended up enjoying each other for the rest of the evening ..gosh I hope to have more days like that!

Bethenny Getting Married debutes tonight at 10pm on Bravo in case any of you are into that kind of that not that I watch that smut....ok fine it's my guilty pleasure I love Bravo..too much. I only justify it to myself by saying that I feel sorry for them which is true but really I'm just addicted.

On a more serious note I am learning a lot about how taking risks is a really great thing for me and how God always is waiting in the wings for me I've been clinging to Exodus 14:14 "The Lord will fight for you..just be still" love that. Enjoy your day

Genna

good things come to those who wait!

2010-04-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! It has truly been too long and after reading over my past blogs over a long summer it's time to say it I'm sorry for being so whiny!
I came to the realization that I am indeed a grumbler when a girl at work told me that she always knew when I was leaving before she knew what time she was leaving..yikes! So for the past two days I've done something radical..I've tried to stop whining! What's helping me cope you ask? Oh just my dear Jesus with these verses:

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights to the world" Phillipians 2:14,15

In continuation with my anti-whine campaign I've been thinking a lot about a the opposite of the negativity of griping and what brings me true joy here are a few things I thought of:

1. Friends who are excited to see you. I mean really what makes you feel more loved than that?

2. Quality time with my Mom. Last week I got to spend an evening with her all to myself and it was so great to laugh and cry with someone who loves me so deeply.

3. Deep conversations like for example the one Kyle and I had today while we were leaving church about how God loves to trade something small for something big! (love that!)

4. And finally I just get a lot of joy out of silly things like hydrangias, aprons, nude colored heels, when Kyle tells me he missed me, and cooking.

So reallly what I'm saying is "Finally Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise - think about these things"Phillipians 4:8

-Genna

funny people

2009-10-29T08:02:00.001-07:00

You remember when the movie "Funny People" came out with Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler? Thought it was going to be funny? me too. It wasn't. I think that I should rewrite the screenplay on that one I mean come on please check out my friend Mike and his lion slippers or my ridiculous friend Nate with his beard which he has been growing since May but shaved it in honor of Jeff and Heathers wedding (Praise the Lord!) I was very blessed to have a great wedding and such a great weekend with some amazing friends! I am soo happy that not only Ashlen but now Caitlin is back on the east coast what what!?

So lets talk about Jeff and Heathers wedding..can we say beautiful? It was everything that every girl wants her wedding to be Heather looked BEAUTIFUL no seriously drop dead georgous and the way Jeff looked at her ahhh soo beautifully based on the love the Lord has provided. We sand "Come Thou Fount" while the couple shared communion and was prayed over by the Parents of both the bride and groom and yes the tears rolled. After the amazing ceremony we headed into a FUN reception with YUMMY food and GREAT company it was like all my favorite people from the west coast in one room..I mean Tyler and Becky Davis? Could it get any better? No way!

I am blessed.

Autumn

2009-10-09T08:23:00.001-07:00

Can I tell you that I am in love? ..with fall? Seriously nothing excites me more than a good cup of chai, the sound of rustling leaves, and football during 50-75 degree weather? All great things about fall. One thing I have noticed about fall is this is the time of the year when I expierence the deepest intimacy with the Lord I think its because summers are always so crazy and fall is my time to process and begin growing from all of my wild expierences from the past year, I guess fall is kind of like my new year? Interesting.

Lately the Lord has totally been breaking me of things which has been AWESOME. He continues to satify me and break down walls within my heart and personality. For example I am a go-to "funny friend" and I think a lot of times I hide behind that but this fall he has totally punched me in the stomach and said "No more of this surface-y stuff we're going to get deep." and my first instinct of course? Hit the road man! But no, one must deal. The Lord put me on this earth for more than slap stick jokes and eye-rolls.

Last night I went to a grief share group at chestnut ridge which was my first "grief" anything and it was interesting while I was the only person there who was under the age of 62 and couldn't really relate when people talked about the deep want for their sons to get married it was really good just to talk about things I've never really talked about before.

So yes, that is my life.

"The Lord is a GOOD strong refuge for those in trouble he KNOWS those who trust in him" Nahum 1:7

Things to pray for

That I would get a 4.0 this semester and it would come easy (is that so much to ask?)

Healing in a lot of relationships lately

Continuation of openness in my life.

Provision.

2009-09-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

It has been quite a while since I have blogged and noticed that everyone else is also in the blogging slump..but thats ok right? The less we do the more enriched it will be when we are up to bat.

I am very satified currently which I am really taking into account for the first time in my life I think. I feel like I just went through a rocky four months and now I am enjoying the peace I receive in the Lords presence. Last weekend my sister Lindsay came to Morgantown and spend the night with me which was awesome! I love my sister Lindsay dearly because I am her little sister and she has really taken the role of big sister by continually keeping tabs on me through high school and now making sure that I have enough groceries, gas, and 3$ old navy t-shirts in my collection. On saturday we spent the whole day shopping and then we came home and I made philly cheese steaks which were awesome and then we hung out with Kyle and almost fell asleep at his house and then perked up in the morning for the 9 o'clock service at chestnut ridge :)

Lately I have discovered a great and deep passion for cooking..no seriously I love to cook. I haven't realized whether its because it's my way of caring for others, the fact that I love to eat, or my inner female exploding after being covered in dust and asked to carry tables for three months (God Bless You Lost Canyon!) but yeah along with my sudden love for cooking I have also fallen in love with wearing dresses all the time everywhere. I feel very femine and love it.

Along with my love to cook and be a lady God has totally exposed a deep love and want to go to India..why he placed India on my heart I am not sure BUT listen to how cool he is. Soo my friend Lauren went to India for 3 weeks after interning and the entire time I prayed for her but felt a pull to "just go" and so I started to pray for an oppurtunity to arrise and so I emailed the guy who arranged Laurens trip and he just asked when I wanted to go basically which kind of scared me because this is real but I have no real group to go with. THEN last night I went to canvas group (chestnut ridge's college small group) and my friend Addison who has a great love for the mission field told me that he wants to go to India also and is going with a group and they are having a meeting this Sunday at sozo??? What more of a provider can you be Lord?

So please if you think of me please pray for

-the meeting on Sunday that it would be the right fit

- Along with a want for a mission trip comes a need to pay for it so pray that the Lord provides financially

-Motivation in ministry whether it be Young Life, The Church or hanging out with friends that I would see the need in peoples lives for Christ

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, "How can I help?"

-Romans 15:1-2

back to reality

2009-09-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

Here I am. Into my third week of classes and I have to admit, I am still not in the groove yet. This has been the weirdest transitional period of my life I am pretty sure. It is so crazy going from sleeping in the same room with six other girls to having my own bathroom to get ready in and walking to class alone. I am actually enjoying the transition but it has been great to have my roommate Carrie understand the transition seeing as she just spent 2 months at Lake Saranac.
I really miss a lot of people from out west but I am truly greatful to be home here in Morgantown (weird this is home?) Lately I have been learning a lot about discipline and I am just troubled about it all I read this:
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.- Hebrews 12: 7-11
I know this sounds stupid but I can't help but think that I am being punished for going to Lost Canyon. I feel like the summer cheapened my relationships here and made it hard to get back in the groove of everyday life. For example at Lost Canyon it was really easy just not to talk about things because everyone was equally as tired and felt that where here when I am with my home family in Christ I am continually being asked hard questions which are spurring me on to love and good deeds but crap...they are hard things to deal with! Don't get my wrong I learned a lot about myself and community through the summer but I missed it all completely because I made it entirely wayyyy too much about me and not about him. The humor of it all is this; God is now using this time for refinement but I cannot wait to see the fruit of it all. No matter how much I try to put God into a box and think that I am doing everything wrong in the mist of all that he is satifying me. I praise God for my dear sisters in Christ like Shawna, Wendy, Kaitlyn, Carrie, and Lindsey who have helped me so much Lord, you are good. I know it.
Genna

There's a light at the end of this tunnel!

2009-08-13T06:25:00.001-07:00

4 more days!! Well, 3 work days! Holy crap I just said goodbye to my best friend Lauren and she is headed back to Northern California before she heads off to India for a few weeks to work with Young Life there. This morning part of me was super super jealous that she got to leave and then part of me got sentimentle...frick memory why can't you keep the bad times at the top of my head?? I am sooo excited to see everyone, hear about the amazing journeys that my dear friends have been on, and to not sleep on a plastic matress. I leave Lost Canyon at 7am on Monday and will land in Pittsburgh at 6:57 pm ugh talk about a long day of traveling! My flight takes out of Phoenix at noon so the flight is a non-stop 4 hour ride..I really hope I do not sit by anyone stupid. Like I have said before I have a great feeling about this fall whether something happens or not it will be filled with lots of times to spinning class and lots of good times with Shawna. I just got the facebook invite to our leader weekend and I am super jazzed about getting to hang out with everyone at Deep Creek to kick off a first great week of classes I pray that I can handle my schedule!

The last week at Lost Canyon has been suprisingly kind of fun tuesday night we went to a Arizona Diamondbacks game against the New York Mets as an intern community and got to see just how VIP our intern coordinator is when he said "Guests Of Ken Kendrickson (owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks)" and we were quickly (more importantly cost free) parked amongst the BMW's and lexus in the VIP parking. It was awesome. This week has been called the week of hell and I can see why but it is really all about your attitude when you sweep and restock (my 2 monontonous jobs) all the bathrooms throughout the entire camp. Part of me was genuinly excited for a change up the other part of me was just glad it wasn't physical labor and my mind could completely shut off for a few hours while I cleaned and recleaned.

I am super nervous for my next few days/weeks ahead of me. Please pray that I have a great fall, that I would love my schedule and the last few days here at Lost Canyon won't completely drag out.

See you sooo soon

Genna

and hell begins.

2009-08-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time again...the end of another session. Blah this is my least favorite part of the entire journey here at Lost Canyon. Of all the sessions to say goodbye to for me I think it was session two which was weird because it was only an 18 day long session but the people were great and I miss them now already! But don't worry you Orange County friends (Erica Corley) I will soon see you in October!!! I guess I won't know actually how hard it is to say goodbye to these people until tomorrow when I am cleaning and sleep deprived and are forced to clean up the mess that everyone leaves behind.

I cannot believe that I will be heading into my last say-to in less than an hour holy crap! Young Life camping is over but the summer is not thank the Lord. Tomorrow we have a church group called "Mariners" coming in and I hear they are a treat..yikes. Some say they try to be like Young Life but with out music sounds like a bunch of awkward people running around to me haha we shall see.

Please be praying really hard for me in the next week and a half as I spent my last times here at Lost Canyon I want to enjoy them oh so badly yet I long to be home with my mom and be looking at wedding magazines with my best friend Shawna. Also pray for the transition period as many say it is weird and very difficuly. Yikes. Finally I cannot find my camera and this put me into a great frazzle..Blah

I miss everyone and Love everyone.

Genna

August.

2009-08-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

Holy Frick it's August! I cannot believe that it is finally here. When I think of August I think of the last moments of soaking up summer, listening to Dashboard Confessionals- so long sweet summer, and new school supplies.This summer I am thinking wow I have been here for 3 whole months and wow I was just on summer staff one short year ago! Crazy how that works huh? Last night was one of the nights here at Lost Canyon I will think back to when I am reflecting on the summer. The mission started out at about midnight when the super six Jeremy who's on program and his wife Kayla, Mike the sound intern, Caitlyn the video intern, Lauren my retail friend, and myself made the impossible journey to sike out the head leaders why? Because we can. So we started out in the club room where we soon spotted down with a huge flashlight which makes the sun look like a small candle but then quickly snuck out the basement for a revenge scare then eventually ending the night with me hiding under a dump truck and a summer staffer waking up with a toilet seat around his sleeping neck...yes I am crazy.
Reflecting on the summer is such an odd thing for me and the one thing I have realized about spending anytime at a Young Life camp is this; emotions are always heightened on Young Life Properties. Think about it. In everyones camp head the guy they just met on the zip line is "the one", if the bacon gets burnt it is the end of the world, and seeing kids make out on water tower road may have just ruined your day. Either way it is crazy to expierence a myriad of emotions at such a deep and real level. It almost makes me think that this is the real world and everything else is out of the ordinary? Hmm.. I'll ponder that one.
Genna

Things to pray for:
Next 12 days that I'm here that I have tons of fun
That the Lord will fill me with energy as the next week and a half is looking pretty sleep deprived
A great transition from here to home and that the Lord would use my busy beeness here to his greater glory at home.

Last Week of Young Life Camping.

2009-07-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that caption right..I am about to enter my last week of being a bike wrangler here at Lost Canyon and after that I will enter what some former interns may call hell..I'm not sure what this "hell " will look like but it is the last 9 days that we are here where random groups come in and they tried to be young life and all the interns are put up to aweful tasks such as cleaning, making beds, and raking random fields. This scares me..I'm kind of over getting dirty. Don't tell anyone I said that.

I have a really great feeling about this fall I have all these butterfly feeling about it. I hope I will not be sorely dissapointed. I have power packed my schedule so I will use this "busy bee" feeling only for bettering myself. Seriously Pray that God would break me of being such a freaking lazy person..sometimes I really disgust myself on my lack of drive in life. I definitely would not date me haha...no but seriously.

Ps I read a really great devotional thing on being a woman and it really spoke some truth into my life? Care for me to share? Gladly. It was speaking about how women should never settle for intimate friendships and hope for more that men will change their minds..I feel like I've been there and done that to people and that is not of the Lord..and its ugly and messy and blah. One of the key scriptures in the devotional was 1 Peter 3:4-5

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God.

I don't know about you but I absolutely do not have a gentle and quiet spirit..yikes. I pray for that. Those are my thoughts

Genna

Things to pray for:

Energy and Motivation now, at school, and in life.

Finish Up Strong

A great and wonderful fall!

Seasons.

2009-07-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

"When you go through deep waters I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom; I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you" Isaiah 43:2-4

So I feel like my life is pretty seasonal and that is crazy and great and good and I never know whats coming. Thank God I'm young because I have sooo much to learn. Seriously. Reading that scripture was breathtaking to me sometimes in my life I really feel like I am going to drown or be kicked to the side of the track and die and then I realize I'm 20 years old my life is not that bad and the Lord is with me, I am precious to him and honored by him and most importantly; I am loved by my Savior. Being here at Lost Canyon is sometimes surreal seriously how blessed am I to get to work out and hang out with high school kids and to top it all off my job is a ministry??? Whhhhhat? My life is so weird. And to top it all off I think I want to go somewhere awesome like South Africa (no I'm not being crazy...ok a little) but seriously I have had a burning in my heart for sometime to do an out of country missions trip and I have never been ok with it until now. I just need to be out of my comfort zone and I know the Lord has sooo much to show me. Frick. I love America I don't want the Lord to call me to live in a hut. I know he won't....right? Haha. I am crazy.
As of lately I have really been enjoying my job and more importantly..the journey. Thank God for great people who see the needs in my life that I cannot see. Like two weeks ago I was stuck in a deep rut of being miserable and treating work as well...a job. And thats not the way it has to be. Last week Shea had all the girls over for dinner and GIRL TIME. Don't get me wrong I love you boys but seriously there is a deep thirst in every womans heart just to be with girls and talk and snack..seriously. I am so thankful for great people I love you all and miss a lot of people.
Genna

Prayer:
3 weeks from yesterday I will be home I want to soak up every last moment here good or bad
I have a ton of school ends to tie up before I get home
I bless people along the way.

a few great things.

2009-07-25T17:07:00.001-07:00

"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:5

FINALLY! John and Shawna are engaged! yay! I am sooo soo happy to be a part of their life I know that sounds cheesy but whatever. My favorite engaged couple of all time! And best of all I get to be Maid of Honor!!! WHEEEE! I have so many thoughts running through my head for showers, BACHLORETTE PARTIES and the like. Picture it a summer evening at Berry Hills..doesn't it just sound awesome?

Along with that great engagement another favorite couple of mine has been chosen to be PARENTS. My awesome friends who I look up to Jimmy and Clare Shreves were chosen by a birth-mother to be her babies parents...how beautiful are you Lord?

Seriously in times like these all I can say is wow you are a good Lord!

I feel like I am at a really weird time in the summer/life like right now I just feel like the Lord is preparing me for something and its a cool/weird/exciting time. All summer I have been reading 1 Samuel and just have really been learning a lot about faithfulness which has been cool like I want to be like Samuels mother who just dedicates her life to the Lord fully I feel like in my world we throw around dedicating your life to the Lord ...but do we mean it? I know I do not act like it..frick. Thats my babel about that. I do not know why but for the first time in my life I am PUMPED to start classes and more than ever my heart aches for church. I just miss being in the fourth row left side of chestnut ridge belting out Hosanna with my best friends and brothers and sisters...seriously.

During this weird/exciting time in the summer I am feeling almost bulletproof because when I have a bad day now I can see the Light at the end of the tunnel where as when I had 8 weeks left I felt like I was trapped here forever with my hardened heart. Lord I thank you for taking my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh and spirit for Lost Canyon.

That's my heart.

Genna

Prayer:

Jimmy and Clare- that the birth/bringing the baby would go soooo smoothly

John and Shawna- new and exciting time in life WHOO!

Me- I am present here while time winds down and that I am joyful in all situations.

Summer/fall

2009-07-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

Things I am PUMPED FOR/ MISSED WHILE AT CAMP:
-Not feeling guilty about sitting down
-Mommy, Shawna, My crazy sisters, Wendy, Janny and summer days with Lola
-WVU football
-The Real Housewives of (Orange County, New York, Atlanta)
- Taking a shower and my cleanliness lasting beyond breakfast
-Not over eating
- Grocery Shopping
-Any shopping (clothes mostly that have nothing to do with working out)
-CHESTNUT RIDGE CHURCH
- Realistic summer crushes
-Staying up past 11pm
-Wearing 2 pieces ow ow
Ok the honeymoon phase is over lets face it with grace. I am soo very thankful for this summer I really am I have met some awesome people who will for sure be at my funeral and gone through some crazy stuff that will mold who I am in the future as a woman, a christian, and maybe even a wife and mother. Of the things I miss the most I really think the 4 I miss the most are my Mom, Wendy, Shawna, and Chestnut Ridge Church. I miss my Mom a lot because breaks since I have been to school have been so good for us just to get coffee and have more of an awesome mentorship relationship than a "Do what your told" relationship. I miss Wendy a lot because no matter what day or time it is during the summer she is always down for a good heart to heart and can always make me feel like I am doing ok in life. I just got off the phone with Shawna and we miss each other bad it feels good to let someone know who you are fully good and bad. And finally I miss Chestnut Ridge because yes we do have all camp worship once a week which is really great but its really not the same as how awesome CRC is and I am much more greatful for the things that Chestnur Ridge has done for my faith.
Things I am soo blessed to have this summer: A sweet property pal named Shae Tinder, quality time with my best summer staff friend Lauren, and the privledge to serve Christ in such an evident way. Shae is my property pal you see in this picture she is 26 although she does not look it and is married to an awesome Godly man named Brian, she works in the office and is always down to chew the fat when I have a few minutes between rides and has been my saving grace a lot of times this summer. Lauren is my awesome Californian hippie friend who has a deep hunger for seeing the world and serving God through that...she is awesome. Finally at the end of each week as I sluggishly get up from my nap to head to say-so I am always glad that I serve here at lost canyon. That is my 2 cents. Love ya'll
Genna
Things to pray for:
1. pretty content with my job right now pray it doesn't suck again
2. YoungLives is here this week with all the teen Moms and already 40 moms/babies have been isolated due to illness
3. Connections between the interns as we wind down in the summer because it is easy just to do my own thing now that I know what is going on.

A Kick in the Pants

2009-07-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

"In the past I made the starting points of my relationships what I wanted and not what God wanted I looked for my needs and fit others into my agenda. Did I find fulfillment? No. I only found compromise and heartache. I only hurt others, hurt myself, and most seriously..sinned against God. But when I reversed my attitude and made my main priority in relationships pleasing God and blessing others I found true peace and joy. Smart love unlocks God's best for our lives. When I stopped viewing girls as potential girlfriends and started treating them as sisters in Christ I discovered the richness of friendship. When I stopped worrying about who I was going to marry and began trusting God's timing I uncovered the incredible potential as serving God as a single I realized that God has so much better for me than my plans"

- Joshua Harris

Ok yes, Josh Harris is an intense and really one sided writer but this quote changed my life ..honestly. And being in the camp air has really jaded my sense of this because I get really caught up in the "camp crush" atmosphere and yes most of it is just for teasing sake but I found that quote in my bible today and it was quite a kick in the pants because I DO worry about who I'm going to marry and I don't always see men only as brothers in Christ. I am glad to be here and be single not that I would be distracted so much as I think it is such a blessing to be single and God really reminded me of that today. So yeah hold me accountable to enjoy this awesome journey that Christ is leading me on. Just thought I would share that! Love ya'll

Genna

Things I love:

2009-07-10T06:51:00.000-07:00

I love Young Life. I really do. I reallly really hate my job here at Lost Canyon sometimes but I'm really glad that God has not stripped me of all my love for the ministry itself. For example that is a picture of my friend Erica; Erica is on staff with Caperneum and she lived in Orange County, after knowing Erica for 5 minutes I knew we were going to be GREAT friends this morning I woke up with her at 3 am to take one of her work crew girls to catch her shuttle and we got lost for about 30 minutes did I care to spend that extra time with her? of course not. Lately I have really been learning about "Life to the full" or "abundant life" whatever your translation says I am learning about it. I have realized that it looks differently in everyones life and that is awesome for me I am learning that one aspect of life to the full for me is going out on that limb and taking the risk of failing miserably or being rejected but if he is for me who can be against me? No but seriously hahah. Today in the car ride I just realized that life to the full can be getting lost with a best friend of 3 weeks and just enjoying life and a carbo-loaded breakfast together.

The summer staff, work crew, and A-team are packing up their bags as we speak and this is a weird feeling I feel like I actually allowed myself to go there with people this session (yes I was close with first session) but in the past year I have realized that I am a little guarded and that is not of the Lord back to life to the full part of that is letting people see that you are broken and you do need help and carnival night really does not matter in the grand sceme of things.

Yesterday was my day off and I spent it sitting by the pool for a good hour and just talking to people one of those people being Wendy- can I just say that I love you dearly! No Seriously Wendy has been one woman in my life whom I look up to like no other she has carried my cross wayyyy farther than any friend or young life leader has ever had to and has done in all while loving me through all of my storms. What a woman. I want to be like her when I am older she is the lady that anyone would feel comfortable enough to have coffee with and just share life together . What a beautiful example of a Christ centered lady in my life. Miss ya Wendy.

Well I must get to work. Please pray that my summer staff rock my world and are really good at their jobs because I cannot handle a bad last session and pray that the transition is smooooth.

Love yall

Genna

Another Session Ends.

2009-07-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Well here comes my favorite time of the month...NOT. I hate it when people leave and I absolutley hate hate hate training new summer staff. This session was definitely a different dynamic, the session was only 18 days long so I may not have learned everyones name but the people I did know I got to know deeply and loved them well.
I was very blessed to have a really great set of summer staff this session. I really pray that next session we have that same family feel that session 2 had in the bike shed. Please please be praying for me in the next few days just as people leave, people come, mid summer evaluations come and the summer winds down.
Can I just tell yall that I MISS SHAWNA! No seriously I miss the crap out of that girl. I really feel like meeting her was a divine appointment from the Lord. I love the community here but seriously nothing compares to late night chats after a nice episode of Samantha Who. I am kind of nervous for the fall to come back still even though I really miss my friends. I am nervous to only live with one person and I am nervous for a lot of things that have broken and been put back together. We shall see what this summer does for my life. Maybe nothing? We'll see.
Please Pray for me
Genna

Happy Birthday America!

2009-07-05T09:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent America's birthday in a place called Prescott Arizona (home of the worlds oldest Rodeo) with my friends Lauren and Marisa. We spent the day shopping, eating at In & Out Burger, and walking around a random festival..it was really fun.

Lately life has been really off I don't know how to describe it other than that. Last week for carnival I got "talked to" and came to the realization that I am not excited about my job and that means that I do not always reflect Christ to campers. I know that comparison is the theif of joy but it is really hard not to compare jobs with other interns when I am the only one who has to be up at 5:30 am everyday. I think I am just at a point with Lost Canyon where the honeymoon stage is definitely over when it comes to the aspect of biking. Don't get me wrong I adore my fellow interns and I love this amazing community my job is just hard.

Being here I am realizing a lot of things about myself: I am realizing that girls and boys are very different and I CANNOT do everything a boy can do and I praise God for that. The next thing I am realizing is that I tend to settle with things which is not OK I have noticed that I don't stick to my word and that always ends up in settling...before I thought that I was just trying to make everyone happy and being "sacrificial" but that is not the case..the point of the matter is that I am just lazy whether it be a work, in relationships or just in life. Please pray that God would rid me of my laziness. I'm sorry this is a super whiny post I just need to be more real. I love you guys!

Next session is approaching very fast and I am SO sad! This session has been a lot different from session 1 for a multitude of reasons some of them being; first session I knew every single person on a surface level and loved them unlike this session I don't know everyone but everyone I do know I am real and deep with and I love that. The assignment team is so good but yet I am excited to spend some time with the camp manager next session and his family his name is Craig Davis and he was a head leader when I was on summer staff and he is GOOD NEWS! Craig has a lot of beef with men who do not pursue and I adore him for that next session will be good encourage me in thinking that. Miss and Love you all

Genna

Pray for:

My attitude; that I would be excited to be here and enjoy every moment

That I realize that I am representing Christ everyday on the bike trail even when it does not feel like it.

That I stop missing all of you turds!

I am blessed.

2009-06-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

My life is really great and I need to realize this. Seriously how many people do you know that get to work out for a living and get to laugh at funny program characters every meal. I really really love this session and it is soo depressing that they are going to be gone in like 9 days this is tough for a myriad of reasons but they aren't blog worthy.
Today I get the honor of installing training wheels for my dear friend Henry Curran. Henry is 4 and he is one of the most funny kids I have ever met for example today he made me pick him up and then he proceeded to slide down my body saying "I'm going down the fire pole wheeee" I seriously cracked up. I really hope marriage and kids are in Gods plan for me. Seeing all these really great staff marriages and families makes me want to start my own (NOT NOW!) ok fine you can bring me a hot guy to marry but kids...ick.
I am really not excited for next session for a few reasons it is Young Life and Young Lives and this month has been Capernaum and Wyldlife which have been so much fun and have made my job sooo much easier.
I cannot believe this internship is more than halfway over! Insanity this has been the hardest and coolest thing I have ever done and I would even consider doing again (I say that today) I wonder what I will be doing next summer. Abroad? WHo knows. God I want to know your plans!
Awesome stuff I have been learning:
-God does not care what you do with your life as long as your following him
- Being conservative does not make you a better Christian
- I need to chill out God has me
Things to pray for:
-That I enjoy this session while it lasts :(
- Energy, endurance, and boldness on the bike trail
- Love for my summer staff and I.
Thats all I got. No pictures. I hate that.
Genna

Intern Adventures

2009-06-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'll start with last night...Leaving Williams at 7 we go to the movies and realize that we have missed the first part of The Proposal...but did that stop up? No way! We watched the second half ot the proposal then snuck into another theatre to see the second half...you think thats crazy keep reading. After we had finished watching The Proposal friends of ours were seeing the new Transformers movie at 10:30 we wanted to go with them but then did not want to spend the extra dollar for another feature or wait in line so what did we do? We snuck into Transformers. Was it easy? No. They were checking ticket stubs outside of the theatre so we were all like uhh I'm not doing that so our intern coordinator Mark Booth (a 45 year old piece of work) went up to the counter and somehow menuvered his way into getting us free stubs to Transformers ..I'm not saying he did it honestly but he did make it happen.

Today I slept in and then we headed out on our suprise intern adventure where we ended up at Humphry's Mountain and hung out there for a while and has yummy sushi and did some outdoorsy stuff. After we left Humphrys we were very blessed to partake in a suprise engagement party for Jeff Walker and Heather Cox. Jeff is one of the guest services coordinators and a great guy who asks me a lot of hard questions and keeps me laughing through it all I love him and am beyond blessed to be doing life with him this summer. That was my day. Leave comments it's been awhile. Love y'all.

Genna

Things to pray for:

Praise God that I got the last week pretty much off with Capernaum but pray that I have tons of energy with the next 2 weeks of Wyld Life and then Young Life

Pray that I treat my time here as a ministry and not as just a job

Pray for the A-team /Program team that they have a smooth transition from an easy week to craziness with Wyld Life.

Capernaum

2009-06-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is Phu, he is my friend with Cerebral Palsy he is a camper here this week at Lost Canyon and I completely fell in love. Seeing as I haven't done mountain biking this week with the Capernaum kids I have had another- way cooler job. In that picture I am sitting in a fork lift getting ready to lift Phu up to the top of the water slides. Phu was my first person to go on the slide and I was reallly nervous that I was going to drop him or screw something up but the Lord totally provided once we got to the top his leader carried him to the slide out of his wheelchair and pushed his feeble body down the slide when Phu reached the bottom he sank like a rock but once he was retreive he came up with a look of pure joy...joy I wish that I could bottle! Phu and the other slide riders have really rocked my world this week with their ability to be completely joyful through trials and I admire that greatly!
Yesterday we took all the campers to the Grand Canyon (yes you read that right 7 buses filled with alll of camp) it was crazy and hectic and tourist stole our lunches but it was soo cool to see all of their reactions and to see their leaders demonstrate complete patience and love with each and every camper. While yesterday was fun it was also very stressful I had to ride up with my boss which was fine I guess and get to watch her deal with her everyday activities of being in the guest services department while I think I would intern again if I could ever find a free summer again I don't know if I could do property staff. While yes the summer is great and exciting the winters are kind of dull and I don't know if I could be a single woman who lived in a tiny town and still onto hopes for one day having a family.
I really miss everyone at home (especially if you take your time to read this!) I come home in 45 days which means this internship is half way over which is kind of a bittersweet feeling. Yes, I do love my job and I do love Young Life I also do really really love Morgantown, Chestnut Ridge, and eating at black bear once a week. But I love you all sorry I am so long winded!
Things to pray for
-energy to get back to mountain biking
- making my time here at Lost Canyon a ministry and not just a job
- that I enjoy the ride and I am not looking onto the next thing
Love y'all
Genna

Nothing bad comes out of Santa Barbara

2009-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Session three just got here yesterday and I am already excited! It has been a really great transition period for me I feel like I got close enough with the Summer Staff and A-team to where I actually miss them but still am 2 feet into my lovely intern community.

Reasons why I am soo excited that session two is here one huge reason being a man named Rob Crawford...seriously he is awesome. Rob was my summer staff coordinator last summer and he is a legit Godly man. Rob is from Santa Barbara along with great friends of mine such as Cecilia and Lauren. Rob Crawford is soo great because he is one of the few big men in Young Life who are only about the Lord and not about Young Life at all. Coming here this summer it seemed that all of the interns were a little scared that they were letting their area directors down or upsetting someone at home for not being there...not Lauren Rob was behind her coming to Lost Canyon 100% he is all about caring for people and their walk with the Lord which is such a blessing to be around!

Starting off session two this week we have a all Caperneum week..how crazy and great the global director Nick Palermo gave us a great speech about how he never felt good enough to be on Young Life Staff (was rejected 3 times) and how that is how all the Caperneum kids feel in everyday life. Nick also shared about how hard it is to lead Caperneum with kids screaming your name in the middle of the night because they need to be turned and how the Lord is continually reminding him "Hey Nick, it was me that turned them" which he continually refered to Matthew 25:

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,you were doing it to me!’

Capernuem is great! Really seeing the Lord work through it. Be praying that this session would really be focused souly on Christ.

Love y'all.

Genna

Workin for the weekend.

2009-06-14T20:01:00.001-07:00

Hello to my audience of 3! haha

Reporting to you after yet another great day off. Yesterday Lauren Marisa Maggie and Erica all went to Flagstaff and went to the mall and Pita Jungle yet again which was great. For once I actually felt like a girl I felt like I robbed the Gap seeing as I walked out of there with 2 pairs of shorts, a Kelly green rain jacket, and a dress for under $65 ..bargain!! I was off again today for the full day and not just the half day like yesterday so I also took advantage of that today I woke up, went to safeway to buy decorations for my boss's desk to celebrate her 28th birthday, decorated, and went to Flagstaff to enjoy some Pita Jungle (again!) and hit up the great Barnes and Noble with the property managers wife Amy.

This mornings camp worship was SO powerful like crazy powerful. We sang a song by Jeremy Camp called Wonderful Maker and it brought me to tears here's the part that got me

What a wonderful maker

What a wonderful Savior

How majestic Your whispers And how humble Your love

With a strength like no other

And the heart of a father

How majestic Your whispers

What a wonderful God

.....I guess I just never realize how GOOD our God is. I feel like a lot of times I am going through life pleading with God and thinking that is a good thing because I am relying on him but I never take time to step back and said "Wow Lord! THANKS!" He is really good to me. I am so blessed to have the privileged to be serving under him this summer and in my life. After camp worship I just had one of those like "I must be with the Lord this second!" moments so I hiked up the zip line hill and read a while this verse really stuck out to me and blessed me so much

"Your eyes saw my unformed body all my days are ordained for me, everyone of them written in your book even before one came to be" Psalm 139:16

How great is it to know that he already knows my plans and stupidity before it has happened and he will be with me all of my days! I love Jesus.

Things to pray for:

Last week with this session that we would finish up hard

My new summer staff that we would be even more of a family and even more focused on Christ

I am starting to get homesick and jealous when I see peoples beach trip pictures and I'm here all dirty so a prayer of contentment in where I am.

Thank you all!

Genna

As of lately.

2009-06-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

Interns + dance studio= FUN!

playing over the mountain with the summer staff

hanging out with Maggie at my bosses house after she made all the interns dinner :)

Hello friends seems like it has been some time now am I wrong?

The past week has been a blast, seriously. The interns have been spending a lot more time with the summer staff and we as a huge community have finally all found our individual niches, which is great. My last two days off were so great- seriously I live for my days off. We spent time just really getting to know each other and included the summer staff in on the mix. This week was super crazy we had camp at max capacity but yet I was not stressed out as much as I thought I would be. This week I did not feel well at all but everyone was so great about all of it for example seeing as I can't just get up and leave camp a lot Shea the wonderful office lady brought me cough drops and syrup which blessed me beyond belief as well as today Josh Smiley, the property manager did my morning rides for me so I did not have a ride until 8:30 ..can you believe it? Me not waking up til 8 like a normal person?? How lovely! To continue on with my bragging of the property staff a lot of times after a long day in the bike shed I feel like a total man usually because I am covered in dirt, my hair is crazy, and I am wearing gym shorts by then covered in dust and a t-shirt so yesterday when I was leaving the bike shed I was looking completely disheveled carrying a bag of trash from the bike shed and a gallon of bleach in the other my boss Katie came up to me and asked me to play frisbee golf with her in the sweetest tone..what a great woman. Today is my last day of rides for the week and I am thankful I am completely tired but the Lord is with me.

Things to pray for:

God would give me wisdom as bikes start to break

Patience and love with my summer staff

that I choose Joy.

Love y'all

Genna

Week 3 Begins!!!

2009-06-07T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am exhausted. Seriously. I don't know if I am exhausted because I am thinking about how exhausted I am going to be or if I am genuinely worn out. The next week of camping we have twice as many campers as we usually do that meaning that there are going to be twice as many bike rides! Not that I don't love to bike but phew biking is exercise! On top of there being twice as many campers a group from Williams is coming to camp and the leaders are none other than my bosses which makes me feel like the pressure is on to do a really really great job this week! Yowza! I just spent at least 20 minutes preparing the rides schedule and I think that's why all the pressure is fresh in my head. On a lighter note I do love my job, I do enjoy my summer staff, and I am having a good time despite all my grumbling.
Lately I feel like I have just been poured into like crazy for example my intern coordinator Mark Booth and I had lunch together and he just simply wanted to know about me it blessed me beyond belief he just listened and asked questions none of which pertained to him and was genuinely interested in me. Between The Booths, The Offners, and The Smileys (all property families) I am continually being shown great examples of Godly marriages, parenting, and work relationships.
Today was my day off and I got to go to the grocery store and feel like a normal person it was soo weird seeing as camp food kind of gets old after a week or two I decided to treat myself to some red raspberries, bing cherries and some new shampoo...it just feels nice to get off camp and be alone every once and a while.
Weird things I have been learning:
One verse/vision has been coming in my head lately and will not leave and it is James 2:17
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" I feel like I am being super faithful in Gods word and just by being here but I think I need to figure out what life is going to be like after the summer. Do I want to continue to be a young life leader? Do I want to move (yikes!)? and How do I obey the Lord in all those things. Crazy huh?
p.s. I am thinking about washing my summer staff's feet any bad or good expierences on that one??? is that weird? let me know.
Love.
Genna

Will.I.AMS.

2009-06-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Williams aka Will I Ams. I promise you that the Will Smith Wild Wild West song was written about this town reasons being that the pictures above are from a mock town which is in the center of Williams sorounding a restuarant, the Grand Canyon Railway runs through the town, Oh and I can't forget that there is an Old West shoot out reanactment EVERY NIGHT at 7pm starring our very own maitenence head Jim Jensen. This town is crazy yet oh so cozy at the same time.

Today is my sisters birthday and yesterday was Shawnas birthday! Happy Birthday to two people who helped 20 be my best birthday yet! Tonight is again the night that never ends and it is not even 5 o'clock and I am exhausted and feeling congested..blah Pray that God provides energy like crazy! This week has been crazy we have a group of Urban kids and a group of Caperneum kids mixed in with a regular Young Life week..Can I just say I am IN LOVE with the Urban kids seriously crazy things are happening in their lives as we speak. Hilarious moment with urban girls : I had a group of Urban Phoenix girls at 2 and I complemented one of the girls for having great hair, she replied with a laugh and then "White Gurl Ju know this thang aint nutting but a weeve righ?" I seriously had to fight back tears of laughter...I love my job which doesn't really make much sense because I feel like my heart is kind of growing apart from being a young life leader and leaning more towards a college ministry..maybe I'm crazy? maybe I'm going through a phase? either way being a Young Life leader is definately an energy sucker. We shall see where he leads..Love from the West!

Genna

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight Proverbs 3:5-6

2009-06-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that I LOVE Northern Arizona! There are soo many beautiful things here and random outdoorsy things that you just would not expect Place I want to go/places you should google and be in awe of:

Antelope Canyon

The Lava Tubes (CHECK!)

The Grand Canyon (CHECK!)

The Adorable downtown of Flagstaff (CHECK)

Sedonna

Bill Williams Mountain

Seriously this place is whacky here in Williams there will be 2 feet of snow on the ground where 2 hours away in Phoenix it will be 75 and sunny in March. I really feel like I am expierencing the culture of Arizona and I hate to admit it but I kind of love it. I feel like everyone is just so relaxed in their flannel, mountain hardware, and birkenstocks not that I would wear any of that I still think it is soo precious.

Today was a tough day in the bike shed one of my bike summer staffers is sick and so the two of us left had to go on every ride..but I feel like I am getting in shape and there is no better feeling than the feeling of realizing that you deserve to have dinner after a hard days work and you deserve a good nights sleep, I guess those are just two feelings I have never felt in my life before seeing as I have never worked a day in my life.

Cool stuff I am learning: I was jamming the other day at 5:45 am in the bike shed and the song Everything by Lifehouse came on and one of the lines sings: "But how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?" seriously that line shook me to the core..how can I be traveling on this crazy road with Christ and not have my heart or mind moved by him continually. So lately I have just really been reflecting on what God has been doing in my life and it is crazy I think that he is molding me into a independent woman which is crazy because I thought I was super independent before but seeing everyone else here that is anything but the truth. Another thing God is teaching me is that he does know everything about everything I mean of course I knew that but seriously he is proving it to me everyday, every week, every minute. Lastly, the Lord is teaching me that community is important an that we should all strive to be blessings and not burdens for example: on day 1 with campers it was truly miserable and I went to sleep and was woken up to a lovely 4 back of sugar free redbull..God is good I really really feel loved here and at home..I am loved. I am blessed.

Genna

Merry Christmas to all...

2009-05-30T17:40:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Christmas at Lost Canyon! Instead of dress-up night like on the east coast we do a Christmas night which is sooooo fun! Christmas dinner includes pictures with Santa, lots of sparkling champagne, and fake snow :). To say the least it was wonderful. Above are pictures of Nate the ropees intern, the boys from the bike shed and then me and some lady interns in front of the tree. Today is my day off and we are going to flagstaff to a place called Pita Jungle and then to do some shopping whoooooo.. Pray that the next week goes by just as smoothly! I am off now love you all miss you all xoxox Genna

Session 1 Week 1 Day 6

2009-05-29T17:39:00.000-07:00

Ok soo...I love to sing in the car. I love to praise God and I love to do both with great friends at the top of my lungs (Cheesy much?) But seriously TOMMOROW IS MY DAY OFF what what I have no idea what I am going to do mani? pedi? both? Shop? Gosh I want to be a girl! I really feel like a man at the end of the day when my hands are covered in grease and I realize that I have bossed more boys around than any woman ever should. Ideas for the interns tommorow? Shoot some out here are some being tossed up now.

Mani/Pedis

Dinner and a movie (dresses included)

Grand Canyon

Sky Diving

Laying here and not waking up?

Thoughts feelings? I CANT WAIT TO STAY UP LATE!!!! Seriously I go to bed at 10 everynight and I am always sooo soo exhausted but I also wake up at 545 am every day..so tonight I pray I see midnight so I can party with my intern friends and not wake up til GASP say 8???? Gosh my heart is beating really fast I am so excited. Seriously this is the hardest I have ever worked in my life..its crazy how God provides energy...he's soo money.

The night that never ends.

2009-05-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, for those of you who don't know there is a special night during young life camping called "The Night That Never Ends" and they are serious about this title throughout the day the speaker gives the sin talk during the morning club then the rest of the day we wear the crap out of them by doing constant activities until midnight this was the schedule for yesterday:

11 am- club

12pm -cabin time

1pm- outdoor lunch

2-5pm free time / ropes ride/ bike rides

6pm Real Life

7pm Tableau (awesome activity where the funny people (program) enter a western town where everything is frozen (work crew summer staff interns ect) and then everything is picked back up again with a gun shot and then frozen again in whatever position you were in while preforming your western activity such as boxing, playing cards, a jail break, someone getting their leg sawn off, and you name it...it really is awesome!

7:30 Dinner

8pm Opera

9pm Carnival

10pm Hoe Down

11pm Night Zip/ Dance Party

11-1am Interns get to put everything away...yipeee!

But seriously it is the night that never ends and it is awesome and stressful yet soo great! Today is going to be a crazy day I have 8 RIDES yikes I am going to be sooo exhausted! I wanted to show everyone our awesome dining hall and a few pictures from Western Night..Check em out. Our dining hall is the largest structure in North America held by wooden beams alone what what oh yeah and we have the longest water entry zip line wOOt.

On a more serious note my life is INSANE right now last night I was running across a field with scissors for the carnival and my mind kind of stepped back and asked myself "What are you doing?" I have a lot of those moments here, not in a bad way I just cant believe my life a lot of the times. God you are a crazy and awesome man!

I have rides...pray for energy for myself and my bike team!

Love & Respect

Genna.

Communial Living.

2009-05-26T17:30:00.000-07:00

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved Acts 2:42-47
Well this is my life currently..no Joke.
Everyday meeting at meal time and praying and having things in common with my fellow interns is such a blessing in my life! The past few days were miserable if you couldnt tell by reading but seriously I have been poured into by soo many people it is not funny. I am ok. I posted a lot of videos on facebook check em out. I just had a great day of bike riding and I thank the Lord for that. Tonight we are going to get Thai food YUM! I thank the Lord for a great day and how he provided time for me to take a nap and then have tons of energy on the trails..I miss everyone soooooooo much! Send me stuff...just kidding..kind of. Love you!
Genna

Week Only.

2009-05-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well today is the official kick off of Lost Canyons Camping Season. Today we had all camp worship which was great! Camp worship was followed by Eric Scofield (the camp speaker) who gave us all a little pep talk on how we should be "Building Ramps" in all of the campers lives and the weeks to follow Eric was the camp speaker when I was on summer staff last year and he is a great pumper up! Eric covered on how when times get monontonous throughout our various jobs we should be thinking Phillipians 4:8 (Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.) which really struck home for me because this scripture was the one I really leaned into when my Dad passed away. Today as I meditate on what is pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise all I can think about is laying in bed with my Mom and watching Jay Leno or hanging out with Shawna at Ogawa over a huge plate of sushi...I just miss home today I guess...blah. I dunno I just have a crap attitude today and I feel like I am constantly getting in trouble..crap.

On a happier note I will be home in 13 weeks.

Miss you all!

Genna

Summer begins...eek!

2009-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is my girl Lauren...we are opposites yet somehow we still really really love each other! For example yesterday after sleeping about 3 hours the night before we were summonds to make beds with just the two of us all afternoon ...hospital corners included ugh! Praise God for her...now onto how much my life sucks...just kidding...kind of.

Our summer staff, work crew, and assignment team arrived today and I feel like our small, sweet and tight knit family is not dwindling. Tommorow I have to train two boys in a spiritual, physical, and relational way...lets just say illequipped is the only thing popping in my head is Exodus 4:

10But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." 11Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12Now therefore go, and( I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."

so yeah the bold and italic is how I feel..yikes. I just pray that God will provide with the latter of that scripture..Pray for me love you all!

Genna

2009-05-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously my life is unbelievable! This morning all the intern ladies went to the Grand Canyon at 3:50 AM and yes we had to work all day! The canyon was sooooo sooo beautiful! And to top off the beauty we stopped at Mcdonalds for breakfast YUM! Today was a really really long day though Lauren and I spent 4 hours making beds in a cabin and it seemed like eternity!

On another note the summer staff comes tommorow and I am SO SCARED pray that I can lead them well and love them well I pray that they love me also! My biggest fear is that they will not like me and think that I am a doofus...seriously I am a dumb girl I know. Just pray for me..its intern time YAY! Miss and Love You!

Genna

Girl Time!

2009-05-20T20:53:00.000-07:00

Sooo tonight was sooo fun! We had a MUCH needed ladies night with the ladies who work at Lost Canyon and it was really great. We had a yummy dinner at Lost Canyon of homemade gyros which was a great and then headed over to the Novaks for some drinks, snacks, and just great girl time.

Seeing as my body has been through repelling, spelunking, bike riding and building, raking the lake for algea and many other Mike Rowe worthy jobs I am soo appreciative of tonight! Praise God for great women!

Big News: The Program for session 1 got here tonight, more sound people are coming tommorow then work crew, summer staff are coming friday followed by campers on Saturday. Phew I am terrified already! Pray for a great summer filled with awesome discipleship and leadership on the trails. Continue to pray for my body that it is filled with strength because my sleep schedule is going to be OFF seeing as we are going to the Grand Canyon to see the sunrise tommorow woop woop I will post pictures tommorow love you all!

Genna

Bookshelf.

2009-05-19T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sooo here is a picture of my bookshelf, my life, and my summer basically haha. Here you see my new journal which was given as a gift from the property staff when we got here and I have been super good about writing in it since (whoo go me!) Next you will see my cheesy 8th grade "devo bible" then the book we are reading as interns called "The Life You Always Wanted" which has been super great to read followed by 90 Days with Jesus by Beth Moore which has been a total roller coaster I feel like for the first time in my life I am actually getting to know the person of

Jesus Christ and not just the bedtime stories Ive been comforting myself with for a while, my final book on my shelf is "Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintanence" which is what my work will consist of this summer and let me tell you it is the scariest and most overwhelming book I have ever skimmed through! Ahh!

Anywhoo after my random thoughts of my bookshelf the past couple days have been crazy we went to Flagstaff two days ago and ventured down into a cave for about a mile I'm just glad I can check spelunking off of my summer to-do list now haha. Yesterday we cleaned cabins and then my boss Katie and I cleared the beginner bike trail together which was a really great time of bonding which I had been praying hard for. Continuing on with my crazy life I woke up today had a great staff meeting, breakfast, cleared the advanced trail, power washed the pool deck, and then finished up my day with some spackling...to say the least I am tired! Please pray for some energy!

I love you all!

Genna

2009-05-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

Today I am writing you after 1.5 days of big work and one crazy night in the woods (NO TENT)

So after we were told we were going on an adventure we were driving in a few cars one being the town runner van (a white 95 town and country mini van) and proceeded to skid back to the second largest canyon in Arizona and camp there for the day. We must have been doing great things for the Lord because there was a thick smog of spiritual warfare around to begin, on the way there we SHREDDED a tire so we stop, repare and continue on after that we get to our camp site and proceed to hike down the mountain when I hear OH MY GOSH GET IT OUT OF MEEE and my friend Ryan the kitchen intern has a baby log the size of my thumb sticking out right below his knee..pretty sweet right? You think I'm done? No. Finally getting to the camp site and calming down we decide to start repelling down this canyon everyone is doing fine until Maggie another kitchen intern goes down and creams all of her knuckles on her right hand. WOW. Big day huh?

After all of our chaos we then just worshipped by the fire and Mirian and Jon Offner shared their great testimonies and we were sent out for 20 minutes to be still with God and write what our expectations were on the summer...it was a great eye opener for me.

Leaving camp we came back to our first big day of work which was yesterday I can sum up my feelings in one word...illequipped. We are creating a new bike shed and we are now hanging the bikes from the ceiling for more room but in hanging you have to lift heavy mountain bikes over your head....times 25. So my boss Katie is just throwing them over her head like she knows how and im like shaking like a dog pooping razor blades trying to get them up there..All in all I got them up but it took much prayer. I was very tired at the end of yesterday and honestly went to bed at 10.

This morning I woke up and went to breakfast and then was told to grab my sandals and get to the lake where we spent about 3 hours cleaning out algea from the lake bed using our bodies as rakes (and yes, it is as disgusting as it sounds)..so here I am up until there please pray that:

1. God would equip my body for a long summer of biking

2. God would give me strenght and understanding for bike maintance.

3. Relationships focused completely on him whether it be with the property staff or my summer staff which will be here in 6 days..

Thats all I have...love you all

ps. I added pictures of the busted tire, my living quarters, and a view of camp..enjoy :)

Christian Real World.

2009-05-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

After my first night at Lost Canyon I am feeling great. Driving up to the LC I was feeling unsure of myself. illequipped and kind of wondering why in the hell they hired me? So we come in and meet everyone and I am still a ball of nerves and then we proceed to dinner still a ball of nerves and I am debating on going back to my bed getting on priceline and then booking the first flight out of here....and then the after dinner activities begin.

I am such a baby. Our intern coordinator Mark Booth opened us with Matthew 25: 34--

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

He related this scripture to how most people who we will come in contact with this summer to be ministered to be will be the people identified in this scripture. We wrapped up that little meeting with the property staff just praying for us and loving on us. After that we proceeded to Stone House Coffee and got deep (YESSS!) We were asked 3 questions

Name and where your from?

Highlight of your semester?

Where are you now with God?

It set a great tone for how God is going to work with these GREAT people who are truly in love with the Lord this summer.

After a great meeting we find out we are going on an adventure today and will be spending the night and we told to bring camping gear (eek) see pictures.

All in all I am really comforted right now knowing this is where I am supposed to be this summer after realizing how madly in love with Christ the people I am sourounded by are. So throw all that go home crap to the side the Lord and I are ready for a big summer. Pray for me!

Santa Barbara!

2009-05-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

After a really really long day of traveling I am here and Santa Barbara and now I am not done traveling I still have quite the trek ahead of me to Lost Canyon today!

Getting here last night was such a blessing seeing as I landed to a trailer with a gift shop aka the Santa Barbara airport. My first flight to Phoenix was really fun/awkward I was seated next to a marine who had been on 6 planes in the past two days on his journey home from Iraq and was ready to get home to see his family. Along with my Marine friend I was sat next to an elderly woman who was dressed to the nines in her lady bug sweater and unmatching earrings what a treat! After landing in Phoenix I was placed on a MUCH smaller plane to Santa Barbara and felt like I was on more of a mini van with wings than a trusty plane. As I was hunting for my seat I sat down to an EMPTY SEAT ....for about 5 minutes until a 500lb man (no joke) found his seat next to me, I really tried to be accomadating but there was literally no room for the two of us. Seeing two fellow tourist in distress the man behind us who was also sitting alone offered to switch the man seats and sit with me what an answer to prayers...so I thought. This man was to say the least creepy and I felt uneasy about telling him where I was going after the plan landed. All in all that part of traveling was humorous

....And then I get to Santa Barbara where I am picked up by my girl Lauren and taken directly to In and Out Burger (HECK YES!) at In and Out we had a mini summer staff reunion and then headed to THE CUTEST STUDIO APARTMENT EVER..(see pictures!)

But I will continue to write love you all!

-Genna

Today is the day!

2009-05-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Well it is 8:46 am and I have yet to put anything into my suitcase. Today I fly out to Santa Barbara to see some AWESOME people that I did summer staff with and then drive down to Lost Canyon tommorow with my girl Lauren.

I honestly am not nervous at all right now which is really weird seeing as I have been nervous for 2 weeks straight now, I think my head is just in the "Oh we're going on vacation" mode which I am thankful for. Another thing I am thankful for is as some of you know I've been battling a nasty ear infection but woke up this morning with no pain (pray that it lasts!) but still feel like I'm listening to people through a tunnel.

I really feel like this summer is going to be huge for me in some way, shape, or form which is slightly terrifying to think. I was cruising through facebook profiles yesterday and stumbled upon this quote which really punched me in the stomach: "The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want." that is my main prayer for this summer that God would really set my heart on fire towards a specific career. I could literally sit here for hours and tell you what I do not want but how far is that going to get me? I just really need the Lord to intervene on this one and I know he will.

But really, I should pack! Here is my address which some of you have asked for..leave a comment with yours a goal of mine is to be good with writing people personal cards and I want to send YOU one! :)

Genna Powell

Young Life's Lost Canyon Camp

1450 Perkinsville Rd.

Williams, AZ 86046

Maid of Honor.

2009-05-10T17:30:00.000-07:00

Like I said before I am about to embark on a great summer long journey to Arizona for the summer and will not be able to make it home for 3 months for the first time in my life! I don't know if that is pathetic or endearing take it the way you want it.
But as I have been going through the whole application process and had to wait and wait and pray and pray and pray one special person has been holding my hand through the whole thing. Yes, here comes the cheese..it's my girl and M.O.H. Shawna Bear Tyree..(while neither of us are currently engaged we both have already signed blood oaths stating which we will be each others maid of honor.) But yeah..This is someting cool that reminded me of the two of us.
As I was having my quiet time yesterday I was reading about when Mary first got word that she was pregnant with Jesus and how she travels up to 70 miles to visit her relative Elizabeth to tell her that she will also be pregnant as an old lady! While Elizabeth is filled with the holy spirit over the news of her new pregnancy she is more in awe of the fact that the Mother of her Lord came to visit her.
While neither Shawna nor I are anything like Mary or Elizabeth I just kept picturing us in this scene jumping up and down like crazy people over Jesus and then it hit me..wait we are two crazy women who are in love with Christ. Through break ups, big life decisions, and many cups of starbucks Shawna and I have continually spurred each other closer to the Kingdom by each of our own personal excitment about what the Lord is doing in our life and that to me is genuine fellowship.

So yeah..I blog..ick

2009-05-10T16:31:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends!
So I am a hypocrit here I am with a blog and I am the single person in the world who thought these types of things were reserved for people with small children or people who love to hear (see?) themselves talk. But here I am trying to keep the gang updated as I make my journey to Young Life's Lost Canyon for a summer filled with Mountain Biking..hope you all enjoy!