NEW.

Sorry, I've been real lame. I have news! I now live in the Chicago area and have been spending the last few days moving in and hanging out with Camp people. It has been stressful, but good; so, so good. I'll let you know more later...Until then, peace out.

I'M BACK.

(Short Version)

I'm home.

Camp was swell.

(Longish Version)

This year was definitely the hardest year; it was good, but hard. For one thing, half the staff was new and young, so that was a challenge in itself. I felt that I also became much closer with the veteran staff, so that was a blessing.

Relationships are hard. I felt stretched by trying to make relationships work. Sometimes at camp, it is so hard because your are working, playing, and living with the same group of people. You would think that in the 1000 acres of camp that it wouldn't be that hard to get away from people, but believe me, sometimes it is. Overall, it was great. I became super close with a couple of girls, and other friendships were deepened as well. I am thankful for this summer, as hard as it was at times. I learned many things and questioned others that I have yet to figure out. I am blessed. Hope you all had a delightful summer.

On top of the lighthouse with my friend, Cally.

Some of the girls and I at Grand Marais.

So Long For Now.

Tomorrow i leave for Minneapolis, then Saturday i will be heading up to Camp Paradise in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I am super excited to get up there. I love camp. It is one of my favorite places to be other than home. If you would like to send a little note my way, here is my address. :) I would love to hear from you!

Camp Paradise

Gretchen Luhmann

P.O. Box 657

Newberry, MI 49868

Quilts.

So far my summer has been consumed with piecing my quilt together. My hope is to finish hand quilting it while I am at camp! Here are a few pictures of the process.

Weddings.

Wasn't she gorgeous?

I absolutely loved her dress and her style. I love how she seems so simple, but yet so classy. The way she carried herself too, I am so jealous of her poise and grace. My floor woke up at 4:40 in order to watch the Royal Wedding, complete with chocolate chip pancakes. It was so much fun! Definitely a memory that will stay with me. I feel like I was able to participate in something special and significant. It's not everyday that royalty gets married and half the world is watching. Even though I only received 2 hours of sleep last night, it was still worth it!

Craving:

Summer, home, the lake, the cabin, long weekends, bonfires, s'mores, hugs, flowers, books, tubing, grills, CAMP Paradise, nieces and nephews :), flannels, swimming, road trips, and some good ol' music.

Doesn't that sound just lovely?

Church...and other things.

So, lately I have been thinking about the church and what the church is all about. I just got back from choir tour and we were in many churches. Lately, churches have been bothering me. Bothering me in the sense that they are all so cookie cutter and spend tons of money just to have nice things. One of the churches we were in made a big deal about showing everyone God's love. Are we actually doing that? By spending money to have nice things are we losing opportunities to use that money for other things? Peter Singer, a philosopher at Princeton, asked the question, "If you were wearing a really nice pair of shoes and there was a child drowning, would you jump in the water and save them even though you couldn't take off your shoes." Well, everyone would most likely say yes, but he shot back then why not just forget about buying the shoes and use that money to sponsor a child that is living in poverty? Peter Singer gives away 80% of his income to sponsor children. I'm not saying that we should all be that drastic, but could we be doing more? I feel like we could. I am going to start reading The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, right after I finish Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot. Super excited for it!

Also, after writing my paper on consumerism in college writing, it has sort of become a passion for me, realizing that things aren't everything in this world. I want to become better. God created this world and we should do our best to keep it's beauty alive.

On a happier note: 5 weeks and 4 days left! YAY! That is definitely doable.