surprise!

well, I quit my job in the mountains, Utah to work full time here in Colorado at the homeless center, Feed My Sheep. It was bittersweet, because I loved wilderness therapy. I loved spending every other week on a mountain away from society. ha! such a simple life. and I LOVED my "wiggy", my -20 degree sleeping bag. It could be freezing but when you get in that wiggy it's like magic! It just gets warm in there. Even when I woke up to ice on the outside of it, haha.

I am SO blessed to be here at FMS. It was kind of like the Lord said, "Surprise Camille! You're right where I want you, and I want you here full time!" Ha! He snuck up on me and changed my plans. But it doesn't take very long at all for it to feel like home here at the homeless center. It's comfy with couches and and a living room feel. And the people here are so great. I wish you could meet Norm! We sit and read the funnies together and drink coffee with our creamer. He is a hoot! And Susan!! She is one of the most wonderful women I have ever met, she has a beautiful heart of a servant and is so encouraging! She has become one of my best friends.

In the mean time, the Lord is doing an incredible work in my heart. He is calling me back to a place of full surrender. "Offer me your whole heart...", he beckons.

Missing my fam during this Thanksgiving season. But I made some homemade banana pudding today that my mom makes every year. It was a taste of home :)

thanks for reading!

apparently i'm a "southern bell"...

hmmmm, where to start??
I worked a double on my last shift so was on the mountain for 2 1/2 weeks. you really learn a lot when you are stranded on a mountain with a group of juvenile delinquents. but it's totally worth it when a student tells you that you've really helped them through the week or you get to see change in them. so here are some memorable moments...

getting all 7 of my bow drill fires. ya know, starting fires with sticks and stuff..
learning about a place called Hoonah Island! 600 natives and 3,000 grizzley bears!!!
slept under the stars. it was INCREDIBLE! saw 9 shooting stars before I fell asleep...
saw an antelope!
met a girl that changed my life, Kenzie. She is a down to earth gal with a zest fore life :) She's the one who told me about Hoonah! She and her husband lived there for a month...until they were almost bear bait!
almost cut my finger off while carving a wooden spoon. then a fellow staff thought i was about to pass out so he stuffed skittles into my mouth...classic.
had a kid get away from camp without a staff. it was pretty scary...but he came back after being chased by a herd of cows. bahaha
had a student graduate from the program. she was inspirational! I am so proud.
was told that i earned the nickname "bell". Apparently I am a southern bell with a sweet twang. Yeaaaa...they give me a hard time.

my most life changing experience was reading the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. Here's a quote from it: "What is a personal calling? It is God's blessing, it is the path that God chose for you here on Earth. Whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm, we are following our legend."

Ya know how you know you are changing but can't seem to put a finger on it? Well, that's sort of what I am experiencing. I mean, every new experience, new person that you meet, new place that you see...they all make a difference in your life. I am inspired. My whole heart is in this journey. I want to follow my "personal legend" that The Alchemist speaks of. I want to learn and grow and change...and live.

Feed My Sheep Ministries

Hello! Here are some of my sweet new friends from Feed My Sheep homeless center, downtown Glenwood Springs. The shelter began with a woman, who after being saved, was reading her bible and asking God what He wanted from her. After reading John 21, she knew the Lord wanted her to "feed his sheep"! So she bagan this ministry. She has passed on, but Feed My Sheep is still going strong. And it's a beautiful place that ministers to many, turning no one down.
They are amazing, beautiful people! They have welcomed me into their family! I love spending time with them and hearing their stories.

Rainy

Mrs. Susan. She is a beautiful soul, full of joy!

Carol and Mr. Charlie. He is a character! We love to walk him everyday :)

This is a view of the valley I'm staying in, from the top of Doc Holliday Mountain. Yep, I climbed a mountain! It's so beautiful!! It's been in the 90s lately. ALMOST reminds me of good ol' Louisiana. Ohhhh, i miss that place...

The dandilions here are massive and beautiful!!

Oh, and there was a graveyard at the top of Doc Holliday Mountain, including a memorial for Doc Holliday...if anyone knows who he is, please fill me in.

These flowers remind me of my lovely mama! :)

So, I am enjoying my time here in CO. I go to work in Utah for my first shift this Wednesday. I'll be in the wilderness, no cell phone, no showers, for 8 days. I am excited, a little nervous! I am in here until the Lord leads me elsewhere...I'm not real sure what He is up to. But I do know that He has provided for me so faithfully and has me here for some purpose, surely.

roadtrip of a lifetime

This journey all started months ago while sitting at work googling different options of things to do post-graduation. I found this wilderness therapy program, Ashley Valley Wilderness in Vernal, Utah. http://www.ashleyvalleywilderness.com/

so I applied online and had a skype interview and came to training that started on June 13th, my birfday! Training was in tents! (literally) You get in a company vehicle and ride for 2+ hours through the mountains on windy dirt roads, and then they drop ya off with equipment! you set up camp...and there you are. Left to survive...and I survived!

i learned how to cut limbs from trees and carve them with sharp rocks to make this thing that can start a fire ember that you can put in a nest of tree bark and start a fire...

and i learned the hard way that zipping your sleeping bag at night will prevent you from freezing..

i learned how to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner over the camp fire.

My first shift will start on June 29th! I'll work a week and be off a week...wednesday to wednesday. I can't wait to be out there with the students...they are 12-25 year olds struggling with drug abuse, alcoholism, depression and what have you.

and now, here I am, sitting in a coffee shop in glenwood springs, COLORADO!!
on my off shilft i'll be staying here with a dear friend's aunt and uncle and volunteering at their homeleass shelter. they are such a blessing!!

it's in a valley in between mountains and mountains...so beautiful it seems like it should be in another country or something. there is still snow on some of the mountain tops!

I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite books, "Somewhere", as told by Garret the Parrot.

"We are looking for joy,

we are looking for laughter,

for Once-upon-a-time

and happily-ever-after.

This is Adventure

so follow your heart,

and try not to be

a worry wart!"

gone crabbin'!

supplies:
raw meat
string
nets
ice chest

tie your meat to the string and throw it out. then when ya feel a crab a nibblin, ya pull it in and sneak up on the crab with your net. then ya cook em!!

ok, now peeling them is a whole 'nother story. You'll have to get mawmaw ivy to teach ya that one.

today we also went down a nature trail and saw some gators. that was pretty exciting. they swam right underneath the bridge we were standing on and we poked them with sticks.

lovely little vaca down here in south louisiana :D

a few recent adventures..

Headed to the Arkansas/Oklahoma border last weekend for a road trip to my favorite place on the planet. Pig Camp. Creek baths, runs off of a generator, worship on the mountain...love it.

Kelli's birfday!!

camping, cooking over the fire, collecting our own wood, smores

setting up camp/tents...we did it all! it was awesome!

Even with sweet prego Ashley :)

and last but never leaste, Nashville! oh, nashville.

beans!

i would like to take this moment to write a little update... at this moment it is 2am. my roommates are up studying for their community nutrition test. we have 2 pretty big pots of beans cooking on the stove for internationals tomorrow. i am listening to miranda lambert, my fave. and looking at senior pictures. oh yea, i'm a senior. graduating in, well i don't know how many days, but soon!! then colorado bound.....

i am up to 5 followers. whoo!! 1 of them is myself, so i guess that makes 4. i LOVE to click on "next blog" and read the random thoughts of people all around the world that i do know. i love it! things that consume wayyyy too much of my time is class, work at the lambright, and interning at Life Choices. which is so great! i love that place. You would never know the great ways God is working by looking in from the outside of that little building. but it's incredible. learning to be alone and not be lonely...

dross

I learned a new word tonight... dross: scum. worthless matter. Malachi 3:3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. So this is where I am at in my life...I am at this place of refinement. Getting rid of the dross. The worthless matters in my life. The scum that is contaminating my soul. And this has been such a hard time for me. Getting rid of things in my life that are hindering my walk with Christ is changing my whole entire life...so crazy. so unfamiliar. and so painful. But I am tired of settling. I do NOT want to be a "nice Christian girl". I don't. barf. I desire to be like Elisabeth Elliot, who brought the gospel to the very people who martyrd her husband. Corrie TenBoom, my hero, who listened so intently to the voice of the Holy Spirit as she traveled the world sharing the Good News. Amy Carmichael, Betty Stamm, Catherine Booth... So I'm trying to yield to refinement and get rid of the dross in my life. That I "may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord." "The fire only leaves behind whatever is of worth." -jj heller