Days at Camp

Back to Reality

God is so big and good! Camp was absolutely wonderful!! God sent a nice cloud cover and rain to keep us cool, amazing WyldLife leaders that He raised up to step in the gap, true healing and protection for my ankle, ,and amazing kids that He allowed me to love on for 5 days....and for them to love on me! :) Our kids were awesome, the leaders really did just leave me amazed, and the staff was great at aiding a bit of assistance here and there to help me keep up.

I have to admit that at first I was really bummed out about my ankle, knowing how much it was going to pull me out of and limit me to at camp. But I really do think that just might have been God's plan. During the times the kids were on the zip lines, or the ropes, or the blob, I had some amazing quiet time that the Lord really spoke to me. Some things that were really hard to hear that I know he just had to get me still enough in order to listen. And, in my absence, God totally raised up the leaders that went to be these awesome camp leaders that loved on kids, prayed with them, and even led a good number to the foot of the cross! I am really proud of them for the leadership that they had this week.....Chris, Tori, Ben, Christine, and Forrest...you guys completely rock my socks off!

As for this kids....I think I'm going to have to save that for tomorrow's post. I am so whooped and my bed is calling my name. I will post about the kids and share some pics and videos with you throughout the week! Thanks for covering us in prayer while we were gone.

KD

And....They're Off!!

Yes ma'am!!! We are officially headed to Carolina Creek!! God is so so great!! As of Sunday night we only had 6 campers and today I have a bus full of 22 campers and leaders!! My WyldLife leaders completely rock my socks off! We all gathered at the Downdey Den on Monday night and called every kid and parent on the Carrollton WyldLife roster..yep all 140 of them. We begged and bartered to get all our camps spots full ...and we did! Well, God did....plus 1!

So here we are on the bus....all the health forms gathered, bags loaded, and flu checks completed. Pray for our week.....can't wait to share all the things God will do in our lives this week at Carolina Creek!

The Ankle

Well....need a little bit of prayer lifted! I had my follow up appointment today for the ankle and it looks like the doctor isn't very pleased. I have some discoloring that he is concerned about, the swelling was still too much for his liking, and I have limited mobility to bend and flex. He ordered an MRI and stated that he wants to make sure we are no looking at major Ligament damage. The discoloration that we thought we were seeing from bruising he thinks now is blood and fluid, which explains the consistent swelling. Fractures usually don't involve that much fluid or blood..so we schedule the MRI tomorrow for next week.

He thinks I'll be fine for camp....I am just praying that this doesn't become the focus or prove to be too limiting while I am at camp. I need to be focused on my kids and supporting my leaders. I am praying for divine interventions, for the opportunity for conversations for kids to share, for the wisdom for me and leaders to listen and be responsive to how He leads us counsel.

Thank you so much for reading and being a part of our lives...we love you all so dearly.

Kelli

Birthday Planning

So, Cameron's birthday is right around the corener...August 16th and we have decided that we are going to let Cameron decide how we celebrate his birthday. And his focus the last two days is trying to decide what exactly he wants to do. So far he has asked if he could move all the furniture out of the living room and have a foam party...A FOAM PARTY IN MY LIVING ROOM!!! Then he started looking around and asked if we had any spare mattresses? And asked if our back yard was big enough to build a bonfire and if streaking was illegal!! I don't like where this is going at all!

But I tell you what I DID like, what I actually LOVED....I loved sitting in my living room laughing and talking with Cameron tonight. Cameron just got back from a week at Crooked Creek where he went with our Young Life groupd to camp. Cameron had a great time with the kids and leaders and was able to spend some amazing time with the Lord. Tonight, I think really for the first time since he joined us in January, Cameron and I had no walls between us, no barriers, and it really seemed like I was sitting in my living room laughing and sharing as a family!

Of course, we stated that no he could not have a foam party on our hard wood floors and there would be no ma tress surfing down the stairs, no bonfires or streaking. But the joy and excitement in his eyes just at the opportunity to plan his own birthday party.....as he shared with us tonight....his very first birthday party ever!! Please pray that we can keep him real ed in, as that in and of itself is a very difficult tasks with any teenager! But most of all, how thankful I am for this time that we spent tonight together. Just recently, David and I spent a significant amount of time praying and searching to know if we were doing the right thing with Cameron being here under our care. It's so refreshing to see the sweet, tender moments that the Father allows to confirm his will in our lives.

So for the time being, the birthday plans have not solidified into anything firm. We will keep you posted on what wonderful ways we keep coming up with to kick off Cameron's 18th year on this earth and his Senior year at Creekview! Love you all....

KD

The weekend before CAMP...

The weekend before camp is usually busy with last minute details, collecting camp forms, and running around town buying all the surprises that we give the kids throughout the week!! HOWEVER....this weekend was a little different! Last week I managed to fracture my ankle, and there's not even a fun story behind it. I was simply walking to my car and stepped down from a curb....I think I must have steeped down the wrong way! Now I have a very attractive black boot on my foot and my ankle is the size of my calf!

Can I just say that my parents are my heroes!!! They drove up Friday night and spent Saturday morning helping me get ready for WyldLife's Carolina Creek. Yes, if you have ready any of our past blogs, ,you will know that I went on staff last fall with YounfLife in Carrollton. I took the director position for WyldLife, Younglife for Middle School students. It's been a fun year, and this week I take my group to Carolina Creek for a week of camp. This will be my 4th YL camp, but the first trip that I am leading as the director.

I have an AMAZING group of student leaders that have partnered with me this year and most are going with us this week. I have to admit, I am looking so forward to this camp but for entirely selfish reasons. I need this time with my kids, with the Lord, ,and away from Internet, jobs, phones......I am really looking forward to seeing and feeling the presence of God. I desperately need to hear Him. And if you know anything about Younglife/Wyldlife...He always shows up at camp!!

I still have multiple small items to gather, wash, pack, and prepare. Tomorrow night the leaders are gathering at the Dowdney house to pray over kids, go through the leader training, and hopefully get a few more spots filled before we leave. Lord willing....I would LOVE for that bus to be completely full!!

KD

Back on Track

Take 4????...or something like that. So, we have decided that we are going to give this blogging thing another shot...not that anyone will still be around to read it. :) But in case anyone is -- we are back (for now)!!

So, what's new? What's been going on?!?! Where do we start? Well, we have taken a 17 year old in -- to be 18 in August. His name is Cameron, and he goes to Creekview HS here in Carrollton. He is a football player and is trying to get a scholarship somewhere to play in college (and we mean anywhere). He makes good grades, but just doesn't have the funds to go to college on his own. His only other option is going to be grants. So, we have gone from no kids to having a teenager in the house. To say the least it has been interesting, and has forced Kelli and I to have some interesting conversations that say alot about what kind of parents we will be.

I have made it thru another semester at school, which puts me about halfway thru. I am ready for it to be over so I can focus on one thing again, instead of two.

Kelli has been very busy at work and it has been a struggle for her to get acclimated to this new company and their work hours...it is requiring a lot of her time. Strangely enough...I think she thrives under pressure, but this pressure has been something she's never had to deal with before, but it does seem that she is getting more acclimated to it as time goes by.

And, as for us having babies, which is why we started this thing in the first place -- it appears that we are going to have to adopt, which we have not really pursued as of today. We've been thru all sorts of treatments and decided to take a while off, let Kelli's body heal and get back to "normal" and then maybe we'll look at buying a baby again. Really, if adoption is the only way we can have kids...what's the rush? It's not like adoption has a "biological clock" so we can take a little more time, and see what comes our way in the next few months and/or years if we so choose.

So, that's what we have been up to...the short end of it. If anyone still reads this...shoot us a comment so we know we aren't wasting our time. :) --D