Staff Training Break (For Me)...

"With great friends come great memories and laughter."

-Anonymous

Now you might be thinking...oh my gosh how does Alyssa have internet connection at camp?!?! Well, I don't! I left camp this morning about 5:40 and drove the two hour drive back home so I could participate in graduation Sunday at my church! As soon as our preacher says his last words I'll be changing into my work jeans and back in the car to drive to the wonderful Loy White...totaling about 5 hours of driving today!

Let me just saying that staff training is AmAzInG! I mean, I knew it was going to be a lot of fun but never would I have imagined that 35 college students would mesh together and become friends almost instantly! The late nights (1 AM getting to bed) and early mornings (6:30 AM waking up) don't really seem to bother anyone cause we are doing what we love the most...helping with Carolina Cross Connection.

While it is nice to be home and see my family, I can not express how excited I am to get back to camp later this afternoon! Tuesday morning at 10 AM is when we all find out what camp we will be placed at for the summer and who we will be working with. Please pray that God will guide the directors tomorrow night when they stay up in the wee hours to place staff together.

Godspeed,

Alyssa Caroline

Tomorrow starts Staff Training...

"We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon. - Jimmy Carter"

Wow! That is the only word I know to use to describe this moment in time.

I just finished my last day of high school yesterday. It was a bittersweet day as I closed a chapter I have become so accustomed to. Knowing that life will never be as easy as it is right now scares me but I can't wait to see what all God has in store for me in the future.

While finishing high school is a little sad, I have been jumping with joy all day today because...STAFF TRAINING STARTS TOMORROW. Never in a million years would I have guessed three summers ago (my first time as a camper at ccc) that one day God would select be to be a part of the staff that lead other high school students and adults to rebuild lives and to restore hope. For those of you that don't know, our first camp week starts June 15th but all of us on staff are fixing to embark tomorrow on a 9 day training "retreat". We will be at Camp Loy White in Caser, North Carolina until next Wednesday morning when we will then head out for one of the five camps we have been assigned to.

It has been a very busy past week for I have basically had to get everything together for the ending of high school, this summer, and college in the fall. I won't be home till mid August and then 4 days later I'll be moving into UNC-Charlotte...my home for the next four years :)! I am all packed and ready to go and feel like God could not have blessed me with a more amazing family or group of friends to support me in this journey I have chosen to embark on this summer.

I ask that you all pray for the safety of staff as we drive to and from camp, for our health the entire summer, and for our training over these next 9 days as we prepare to become leaders. I will update when I get a connection to the internet somehow but I can't wait for this summer to begin.

One last thing before I go, to all my staff partnership supporters...THANK YOU all so much. You have blessed me more than I could ever ask for!

Godspeed...

Alyssa Caroline

Praying for time to hurry...

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”- Colossians 4:5-6

As I sit on my bed writing this to each one of you, I can not even begin to express how excited I am. Just three weeks from today, myself and the rest of the 2009 CCC Staff will be at Camp Loywhite beginning our staff training. Three weeks...21 days...still so long away. I have a bittersweet feeling about staff training. No words can say how excited I am for this summer, but at the same time staff training is the closing of life as I know it. I will take my final exam the day before staff training, I will play in my final band concert after nine long years, I will give my graduation speech, but most of all I will be saying good bye to the friends I have called my family for the past 13 years. The class of 2009 is very close at my high school and sadly it is starting to hit me that after our graduation, we will never all be together again.

However, I don't want to turn this post into a sappy sad post. :D THREE WEEKS NEEDS TO HURRY UP!!!!! I want to see everyone I already know and love on staff, and I want to meet those I have yet to meet. I want to know what camp I'm at and who my campers are. But most importantly, I want to see God work wonders not only in the lives of those we help but in the lives of campers. Our God is such an amazing God that I can not wait to see how he works on everyone this summer.

I wish everyone the best of luck this next few weeks on exams or at your jobs (for those of you already in the real world). If you havn't already, let me know what camp you are at this summer and what week by posting it on the groups page!

Godspeed,

Alyssa Caroline