A few of my favorite things about being an intern!

Posted by Karah

WOW! What a year this has been. Being an intern has been full of so much fun, laughter, hard work, challenges and lots of good times with Scout. There are SO many things I could tell you all about being an intern!!!! But here are a few of my favorite things:

1. Traveling! Traveling to different cities to see campers and staff has been such a treat. We were able to go to various universities to recruit new staffers and see previous staffers.  We also got to see campers and meet families. Just imagine hours and hours of jamming to music in the car with Becky Haltiwanger!!! Oh yes, we had a blast for sure.

2. Hiring staff!!!! As an intern, I have had the chance to walk our applicants through the hiring process. Interviewing our applicants has been SO much fun. There were many incredible girls with huge heart’s for Jesus that applied to camp this year. Being able to hear about their desire to spread the Gospel to our campers has been such an encouragement to me throughout this year.

3. THE COMMUNITY! Wow, this community is amazing. Living and working with the other intern, Becky, has been THE BEST!!!!! With her, there has been tons and tons of laughter, video making, traveling, quality conversation, friendship and unity through the Gospel. I am absolutely confident that Sharon and Ashley are the BEST bosses that anyone could ever have. They are endlessly gracious. They are confidently humble. They are selfless, hard working and inspire you to be your best. Working with the Ridgecrest staff has also been such an incredible and important part of this community. Being able to work with and learn from our brothers in Christ has been awesome. And last but not least, I got to hang out with SCOUT every day!!!!!

4. Cleaning the pool!!! I’m not going to lie, scrubbing the pool can be fun! It is so nice to be able to go outside and enjoy the beauty of camp while working on something that is so important to our campers!

5. Individual growth! At camp, we challenge our campers and staffers to grow in four areas: spiritually, mentally, socially, and physically. This year has been full of challenges and growth for me personally! I have grown socially as I have met new staffers and campers and embraced the community in Black Mountain. I have grown mentally as I have learn many new skills, organizational techniques and collaboration. I have grown physically as I have been working out with the Ridgecrest interns (lol). And I have grown spiritually in my walk with the Lord as I have come to understand more of his unconditional love and pursuit of me through my brokenness!

6. Lastly, my very favorite thing about working at camp is being able to facilitate an environment where the Gospel is shared!!!! Sharing the Good News of what Jesus has done for us is the MOST important part of life and camp! I am so grateful that the Lord has given me an opportunity to participate in his Kingdom Work through being an intern. We have hired an incredible staff and we are prayerfully approaching the summer. We pray that each of our campers will get to hear the Good News of Jesus and believe that his sacrifice is sufficient for us!

Being an intern has been such a blessing. I have been so thankful for this opportunity and all of the things that the Lord has allowed me to learn along with way. But, we aren’t finished yet!!!!!!! We are SO excited for this summer!!!!!! WILL YA’LL JUST GET HERE ALREADY!!!!!????

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Crestidge, cc4g, Internship, Scout | Leave a reply

Spring Cleaning Birthday Party Bash!

Posted by Karah

Spring cleaning at camp means YOU are right around the corner! A few of our staff came up for a weekend to help get camp ready and to celebrate Grace’s Birthday!!!

Here is our checklist and a few pics of the fun we had…

• Fertilize and seed the upper green-CHECK
• Clean  out the beehive basement-CHECK
• Fertilze the plants and flowers with holy tone, rose tone, plant tone and osmocote (ask Grace our new horticulture specialist if you want to know what that stuff is)- CHECK
• Clean out and organize the Village Director closet of fun-CHECK
• Prime new cabin signs-CHECK
• Prime two infirmary bathrooms-CHECK
• Clean pool- CHECK
• Celebrate Grace’s birthday on the blue ridge parkway with a picnic- CHECK AND CHECK

Before…

During…

After…

Whistle while you work…

Picnic on the Parkway…

You can make chores fun anywhere! What does your Spring Cleaning look like?! 

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged birthday party, cc4g, spring cleaning, work weekend | Leave a reply

INSIDE SCOOP on YOUR 2017 STAFFERS!!!

Posted by Karah

Batch 2 of 2017 Staffers is UP! 2017 Staff Bios

Hang on. Wait a minute. Keep reading!

We just wanted to let you in on a little something about this summer’s staff. We have a top secret, staff facebook group, and we are already talking about this summer! We are getting to know each other. And let us tell YOU! They are FUN. They are EXCITED. And GOD is getting them ready for an incredible summer with you! They are looking forward to being silly with you. They are looking forward to sitting and talking about life with you. They are looking forward to sharing God’s word and Jesus with you. But that isn’t the best part…

Do you know what all of that means? That means that GOD is looking forward to making all of this happen because He loves you. Not because you’ve done anything to make Him love you, but because He just loves you because He loves you. Before He planned out this summer and got all of these counselors and staff to get ready for you this summer, He sent HIS ONLY SON for YOU so that you could KNOW HIM NOW!

Moms, Dads, and Campers. Camp and all of the things here and even your amazing counselors do not compare to how great Jesus is and how much He loves you and has sacrificed (If you don’t know what this word means, ask someone! It’s a beautiful word!) to love you. He loves you more than you know. And we can’t wait to share more of that with you! Sometimes life is great fun, and sometimes it’s pretty rough, but one thing is always true. If you know Jesus as your savior, HE IS ALWAYS WITH YOU.

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

See you so so so soon! Only 94 more days till Session 1!!

Posted in Devotions, Girls, News | Tagged Camp, cc4g, count down, Crestridge, Staff Bios, Summer | Leave a reply

Evolving Traditions for Belles and Trekkers

Posted by Karah

The Belle test and Ranks of Trekkers and Belles have been a long standing tradition at Camp Crestridge for years and years. We love the experience this provides for our campers. The lessons that come from the challenge, the test, and the outcome of it don’t stop at the lifting of the silence ban. Many times those lessons are just beginning. We love how God uses this experience in each of our lives (whether we are in the test or not) in very different ways. For some it is a once in a lifetime unique experience that challenges them in fun ways that can only be experienced at camp, for others it is a pivotal point in their walks with the Lord, for others it is a time they discover things about who God has made them to be, for some it is an experience of discipline and dedication and dependence. Whatever the impact, we love that there always IS an impact. It is an opportunity for us all to see challenges, tests and experiences as coming from the Lord and being FOR the Lord.

This year we want to share how an element of the Belle and Trekker Tradition will be evolving. In the past we have had girls who have, or will be receiving the rank of Trekker or Belle sit in the spotlight on the stage during our Council of Progress Ceremony. This year we will have the Trekkers and Belles sit in the audience with their fellow cabin mates out of the spotlight. We will still have them walk across the stage to receive their honor bands and ranks, but we hope that this will allow them to simply enjoy the ceremony and message as we all do, without having the eyes of camp on them. Our desire is to provide a setting for all of our girls to both celebrate like crazy with those who have had a unique experience AND to easily focus on Christ and the growth He is working in us through the encouraging illustrations and His word spoken through our camp leadership.

Chippewa, Chickasaw, Creek, Cheyenne, Catawba, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chehoapek, WE CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO GET HERE!

So many things to look forward to!

 

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Belle, Belles n Trekkers, cc4g, Council of Progress, CP, Evolving Traditions, Girls, Trekker | Leave a reply

Disney Round 2!!

Posted by Karah

Disney ROUND 2!!!! Come hang with us!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Jan. 14th…we’re going to Disney World again! We’ll be starting off the day at Animal Kingdom at 9am. For anyone who wants to join, you can meet us at the Tree of Life between 9:00-9:15am. We’ll spend the morning at Animal Kingdom. We will then go to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. We’ll meet up with anyone who would like to join us there between 2:30-2:45 at the Walt Disney and Mickey Statue in front of the Castle. We (Grace, Amanda, Katie, and Sharon) can’t wait to see you and enjoy the 2nd most amazing place with you for the day (unfortunately Scout can’t make it on this trip due to prior commitments, but he will send his love)!  If you have questions or need to get in touch with us on the day we are in the park, please email sharon.aylestock@lifeway.com.

Very Important, PLEASE READ:
We want to be clear in what our plans are for the day. We will not be supervising campers. We would love to see campers, spend time with them and go on rides with them, but we cannot be responsible for them and keeping track of them throughout the day.  If a camper is dropped off at the park, we cannot be held responsible for any injured or missing campers.  This is not an officially sponsored Camp Crestridge event. Those who come will be responsible for transportation to and from home, covering the cost of their own ticket along with meals while they are in the park. We are so excited to enjoy the park and we hope to see you there!

Posted in Girls, Uncategorized | Tagged Camp family, cc4g, Disney, Florida Trip, Recruiting | Leave a reply

Biggest Fear or New Found Wonder of the World?

Posted by Karah

Hi Everyone!

So, if someone were to ask me what my biggest fear was, although there are most definitely things that are far greater fears to me than this, I’d probably say SPIDERS!

They give me the heebie geebies. I can hardly thinking about or look at them without cringing. They are small, can hide, and are just straight up creepy. They have 8 creepy little legs that, when they get on you, make your skin crawl! I could go further but if you aren’t afraid of them, I don’t want to foster that fear.

Why bring this up? Well, because our friend Hayley Martin (2016, 2017 Videographer) just shared a video with me of this “greatest fear” of mine. And, as opposed to closing it right away, I couldn’t stop watching! And, I HAD to share it!

This “creepy” little fellow is amazing!

#1 He’s a climber.

#2 He knows exactly what he’s doing.

#3 Look how precise he is. He doesn’t even have a ruler or level!

#4 His body is literally making his climbing rope, his home, his safety net, his food catcher, and I’m sure more!

#5 Think about how creative, smart, and loving his Creator is to make him be able to do all of this! There’s no way that little guy could have just “happened”!

Check out this video…

God says He tells us about Himself thought His creation!

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Romans 1:20

So, challenge for the day, what does this little guy tell you about your amazing Creator!? What are YOUR #1-#5!? Same or different than mine??

Share your thoughts in a comment if you’d like, I promise I’ll talk back! Scout might too 😉

Whether or not you have a ton of thoughts, I hope you’ll enjoy this amazing like critter and think about his amazing Creator.

Much love,

KTG

Posted in Girls | Tagged amazing, cc4g, creator, Crestridge, devo, fear, spiders, thought for the day | Leave a reply