life in the country

I consider Halifax, PA to be rural Pennsylvania. I realize there places FAR more rural, even in PA. With that disclaimer in, Saturday mornin' I went in search of the Driver's License Photo Center in Elizabethville. I wasn't sure how it would go and I had memories of a crowded, hour long wait amongst the eclectic mix of folk from the Reading [i.e. urban] area. E-ville proved to be an altogether different experience and one I was pleased with. Wanting to 'beat the crowd' I peeled myself out of bed, put on a nice shirt, necklace too (hey, I heard of some now famous actress being noticed for her passport pic so I certainly didn't mean to do myself disservice by looking the part of a cruddy, typical rural American in my license photo) and the hair didn't need too much work. I took off on my 20+ minute drive to the plaza which my directions told me were 4 miles east of such & such a road. Ok.......... I missed the plaza the first time driving past because of the massive Walmart that moved in next door, thus distracting me from my humble destination. Upon spotting the place on the return trip I was happy to see only 1 other car parked outside the building. It was an old couple but they beat me inside the door. So I patiently had a seat and waited for Betty to show her pearly whites and uncertainly, answer the questions on the computer screen. I think the answer pad on the counter through her for a loop but the attendant was a good encourager and direction giver. I was up next (one other person came in the door in my whole 6.34 minutes). The lady looked at my address, asked if I was at Camp Hebron, said she loved the place and even told me I was a beautiful as I looked at the smiley face below the camera. I signed my photo, had the new & improved license of a more mature Kendra, told the lady in my sweetest voice to stop by Hebron and say hello and was outta there. Its true my friends that having to wait in lines is a great time to practice patience, to pray, to have conversations with people... but its also nice to not have a line every once in a while.

smile!

Here's a tribute to family camp by way of a photo montage. There's Janelle's grandma a.k.a. "9 and a half" (that referring to the number of fingers she has) making paper at the ladies craft. This unbelievable lady also tie-dyed a rather large pair of undies one day, then tied them onto a baseball cap, making it look like two ponytails on the side tied up with ribbons. She's sneaky. Then we've got the ever popular shaving cream battle. Arliss also participated in the shaving cream battle. She had Janelle (her granddaughter) set a chair on the edge of the plastic and there she sat, threatening anyone who dared come close enough to get in her firing range. It was a sight to see!! If I find any photos of her mohawk, I'll add it later.


Hmm... so I didn't have as many exciting photos as I thought concerning family camp. Ok, more shalom. Galen on harmonica with his Burger King crown and Jen learning something obvious from Nevin. :)












I just had to add this Pizza Hut sign care of the Hong Kong YES team's tribute to Chinglish. Let's Pizza... together...
If anyone approached me with that kind of question, I'd find it hard to resist!





Only 3 more weeks of camp... where does the time fly? Before we know it fall foliage will be upon us. Then its soccer coaching, quieter living space and a very much anticipated backpacking trip to Olympus Nat'l Park with my favorite hiking partner H-e-i-d-i!!! But who's looking ahead? Seriously, I'm only looking that far ahead because I was looking at tickets. But it is a challenge to stay real connected to camp when I'm not assigned to anything specific.

luv notes

Just had to share this... yes, its weeks late, but come on, its the busy season. One of the most potential occurances to be somewhat awkward proved to be one of, if not THE most sweetest notes I've ever received from a boy. During Shalom, the speaker announced that David had asked if he could come up and share a few words about Camp and Kendra. 'Oh dear me,' I thought. This could be really awkward. David got up with a yellow piece of construction paper folded up. He was so nervous he ripped the page as he tried to open it. The camp pastor opened it for him and he read the note - aloud, to all 60+ people present, me with a half smile, half grimace on my face, glued to every word.

"Your always there fore me
When i first came here to camp your samile is nice see to every time
When I see you we always when i see
Your smali shine always in your heart
You shine your ray of light
You are my heart and soul and mind and leader of camp HeBron
My always my friend forever and ever and ever ever lasting friend
I love you a lot
i like you a lot"

He read it much cleaner than that but the misspellings are so endearing. needless to say... the dude got his very own public hug from his favorite leader of camp HeBron. At that night's staff meeting one guy counselor commented he needed to take notes on how to write notes -- agreed!

Camp has got to be one of the most encouraging places to be. Maybe its unfair that its a given I'm at camp each summer -- this wonderful place where God's presence is felt, his people worship Him and the body of Christ is actualized. There is something right, like a piece of heaven, in telling others and hearing from them the Jesus you see in each other.

The photo is of my dear buddy Lisa. This is the photo that so excited our very own 2008 Shalom cover girl. :)