June 14-19Jayden spent the week at Hidden Acres Christian camp/ horse camp. Jayden was excited to go and very scared. She was signed up to go with her friends Hannah and Makena. That was what she was most excited about. She also knew she was going to be sleeping in a chuck wagon and that she was not excited about. I couldn’t blame her as I got to peek in them ahead of time and they were pretty rustic with lots of daylight shinning through.
To make things even more of a challenge, Jayden had her last ballet recital performance, so we had time to go home, take a qucik shower and head to camp. She was about an hour late and the kids were in chapel, she also missed dinner. Mark, Jake, and I carried Jayden’s giant bag to her chuck wagon and a top bunk was all that was left. Jayden was scared about sleeping on top. I also saw the duct tape above her bed in a few spots and cringed, but stayed brave for her. There were 4 bunk beds in this tiny wagon and a hammock was strewn between them all. Wow. I took Jayden to the chapel and briefly got to meet one of her counselors. Her name was Sarah Northey and she is Bill Northey’s daughter. He is the Ia secretary of agriculture. Sarah also wants to be a full time overseas missions person. She seems neat and energetic. I gave Jayden lots of hugs and kisses and let her go. We were brave for each other.
The week wasn’t looking the greatest in the weather forecast and I was so worried for little Jayden. Makena's mom ended up picking her up every night and bringing her back every morning. That made it even harder. The second night was a stormy one and at 3AM I was pacing the house thinking of poor little Jayden out there in that little wagon probably terrified. I could not imagine. The thunder was so loud and it was pouring. Day 4 they were predicting another big round of thunderstorms and bad weather. The day had been miserable hot and humid. I couldn’t help but worry and called the camp just to see what they do in storms. They were so good about my worries that they ended up letting the girls in only their wagon (there were 6 wagon’s) go have a campout in the bunkhouse. I was so happy and relieved to hear that, and they ended up doing that 2 stormy nights. There were 425 kids at camp that week and somehow they managed to let Jayden and her little group sleep in. It ended up storming raining and blowing hard. By Friday I was so excited to find Jayden among the 425 campers. They had a closing ceremony. I found Jayden and gave her big hugs. She had on her wranglers and they were dirty and her boots were so muddy and her hair looked pretty rough. She said she only showered twice all week. With all the rain the whole place was a mud mess. She was smiling and excited to tell us everything. Jayden’s counselors came right up and wanted to make sure we knew how impressed they were with Jayden. They went on and on about how the girls were scared the second night during the storm and missing home and Jayden prayed for strength and that God would give her the strength to stay and she was fine after that. She is such an awesome kid! She had so many stories and songs to share with us about her stay. It was neat to see how God worked in her life just in that week.
The week wasn’t looking the greatest in the weather forecast and I was so worried for little Jayden. Makena's mom ended up picking her up every night and bringing her back every morning. That made it even harder. The second night was a stormy one and at 3AM I was pacing the house thinking of poor little Jayden out there in that little wagon probably terrified. I could not imagine. The thunder was so loud and it was pouring. Day 4 they were predicting another big round of thunderstorms and bad weather. The day had been miserable hot and humid. I couldn’t help but worry and called the camp just to see what they do in storms. They were so good about my worries that they ended up letting the girls in only their wagon (there were 6 wagon’s) go have a campout in the bunkhouse. I was so happy and relieved to hear that, and they ended up doing that 2 stormy nights. There were 425 kids at camp that week and somehow they managed to let Jayden and her little group sleep in. It ended up storming raining and blowing hard. By Friday I was so excited to find Jayden among the 425 campers. They had a closing ceremony. I found Jayden and gave her big hugs. She had on her wranglers and they were dirty and her boots were so muddy and her hair looked pretty rough. She said she only showered twice all week. With all the rain the whole place was a mud mess. She was smiling and excited to tell us everything. Jayden’s counselors came right up and wanted to make sure we knew how impressed they were with Jayden. They went on and on about how the girls were scared the second night during the storm and missing home and Jayden prayed for strength and that God would give her the strength to stay and she was fine after that. She is such an awesome kid! She had so many stories and songs to share with us about her stay. It was neat to see how God worked in her life just in that week.
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