So I found out this afternoon where my region will be this summer! I am part of Team #4 and the states my team and I will be holding Sportscamps in are...drumroll please...Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri! Im attaching a map below so you can see where all those crazy, amaing places are! (If you look closely, when you trace the path of the states, it makes a smiley face!) Yay God!

I fly out early, early, like coffe-won't-help, early at 5:30 am to get to Minneapolis. Please, please pray for mercy, safety and blessings on this trip! I've already been able to speak to my Area Director Kurt who seems pretty cool, so I am excited for all of the new people I will meet this weekend!Pray that I am open to learning and loving everything that God is and will be doing in my life. I will update when I get back on how it went! I fly back late Sun night so be in prayer for that flight too please! On my flight up, I have three layovers, but thank goodness on the flight back, it's a straight shot! Love to you all! Don't forget the joi de vivre!

In Him,

Shannon

Luggage and Dreams

So I bought some new luggage and luggage tags today with part of my tax return. I figure since I will be living out of two suitcases for 10 weeks (aaaack!) I might as well be living out of nice ones!

So I thought maybe you all might want to know the story behind how I came to even apply for such a crazy job this summer. Don't I like my freedom? Yes! Won't I miss my family and friends? Yes and yes, but this is so much bigger than me. For the longest time, I thought I would spend the summer in Florida working and hanging out. A couple of months ago, as I was driving to a friends house, I was driving around Melton Lake and the thought came to my head "Why don't you do missions this summer." I know with all that I am that this was the Holy Spirit planting a seed in my heart - And I thought - wellll maybe, but I've made other plans.

Ever since I went on mission trips in High School, I always thought it would be so neat to be one of the people paid to work for the mission organizations and have such an adventurous summer. If my life changed in one week from my various mission trips, how much more were the leaders' lives changing from being out the whole summer?! I had turned in an application the year after I graduated with CCI, but ended up going to NewYork for 12 days to surprise my friend Rachel whom I hadn't seen for 10 years and see her graduate.

The 10 summers since I graduated brought college classes, marriage, divorce, teaching summer school and various vacations so the dream was continuously tabled...that is until this year.

Simply put, I believe God has changed circumstances in my life to allow my summer to be open so that I can work an amazing job for His Kingdom and have an amazing summer of adventure. I only thought I was working in Florida this summer - as always - God had other plans. Am I scared to death? Absolutely! I've never been gone from home for so long before. I've never been away from my family for more than about 6 weeks. I've never been able to wake up and want to shop or go out to eat and not be able to because I had a schedule I had to follow and people I was in charge of. The fact is though, that my fears are stomped by my faith in Christ and the fact that I believe this job was meant for me and that for 10 summers, He never forgot the passion and dream that I had to do summer missions, because lets face it, one of these summers I will be married God willing and one of these summers I will have children, God willing and I am choosing to use my singleness for the hidden blessing that it is and go on a grand adventure. And what about going to Florida this summer? Please be in prayer for me as I prayerfully and hopefully move to Florida this Fall to complete my other dream of Graduate School.

This Friday I fly out to my first training and will be sure to update the blog with all the goings on from Minneapolis! Please pray for a blessed time and safe flight.

Love to you all!

Remember to seek the joie da vivre!

In Him,

Shannon

What have I gotten myself into?

So after aprrox 3 hours of phone interviews, a seven page application and a pound of paperwork, I have been hired as a Camp Director for YouthWorks as part of their Sports Life Camps this summer. My "tour of duty" starts June 6th and ends August 15th. I am creating this blog in hopes that you will share in this wonderful adventure with me.

The long and short of my job goes like this: 10 weeks on the road - I will be in a different city weekly and probably several states over the summer. My region has not been assigned to me yet, but I will probably find out in two weeks when I go to training in Minneapolis, MN. I will be one member of a four person team made up of "coaches". I will also be a coach and my area of "expertise" is the dance/cheer coach. Yes, I have some experience in dance and zilch-o experience in cheer (does having one of your besties be a cheerleader count?) We travel from city to city and set up at churches to do half day or full day Sportscamps with a lil mix of Jesus thrown in :) The camps are strictly for elementary shcoolers with the possibility of community camps being thrown in there which are camps open to the whole community and not just a church. Church volunteers help us throughout the week with the camp. We live in church provided housing and travel in a van towing our supplies behind. (Guess who the lucky driver of the van will be :) thank goodness I've had practice.)

I start training April 30-May 2 for being a Camp Director. I get to fly out and hop 3 planes at 5:30 in the morning to get to Minneapolis - yay! They made up for that harrowing day by getting me a return flight back which flies straight into Knoxville. Right now Im simply getting paperwork done and finished an online safe drivers course as well as catching up on training material and questions to be ready for our training in June called SLC Ramp. (My training in April is called ON Ramp, catchy I know.) I am going to post the link to Youthworks website so y'all can check out the company and specifically the Sportslife page so you can see what I will be doing this summer. Please check back periodically, especially as the summer approaches, for many exciting updates about what God is doing in my life and the lives of my staff and the campers/volunteers and churches.

Oh, and by the way, joie de vivre is French and means the "joy of living", because, God willing, that is what I will be experiencing this summer. I know it's going to be hard, but being able to do this (something I've always wanted to do but up until now have never had the guts) is such a joy, such a blessing and I am sooo excited for the opportunity to rock for God!

Please, if you could be in prayer for me as I prepare my heart and mind for this summer. The more people praying the merrier!

Oh and our theme this summer is REACH :)

until next time, embrace the joie de vivre!

All my love and prayers,

Shanners

http://youthworks.com
http://youthworks.com/join/sportslife.asp