Arrival in New York!

Greetings from the Catskill Mountains of central New York! I arrived in East Jewette at Harriman Lodge on Thursday, July 1, 2010. The past week at home in Bemidji was a mind-numbing whirlwind of goodbye’s and packing up of a wonderful season of life. My room in the Pinkhouse laid bare on Wednesday, as my roommates and family helped me pack up the very last of my things for storage over the summer. While it was nice to be able to say “goodbye ‘till September”, I knew it would be a more permanent goodbye to Bemidji; at least for the next season of life.

So, to honor those who have meant so much to me over the years; here’s to you:
To my wonderful parents who have supported me and loved me more than I can say or deserve (which includes storing my roomful of boxes in their basement ) , to my brother, sister, nieces, and brother-in-law who is by the way my hero in this process of packing being my “man” to help haul all of my furniture and boxes in his pick up, I LOVE YOU and THANK YOU. To my roomies, Natalie, Miriam, and Ashley, thanks for so many wonderful years and memories at the Pinkhouse… I will truly treasure each one as long as I live. To all of my dear Bemidji friends, my amazing church family, and any and everyone to whom I never had the chance to say goodbye; I love you and am so thankful to the Lord for his goodness is giving me you.

In this new journey at Harriman Lodge (a camp for mentally/developmentally delayed adults) in central New York state, I am working as a camp nurse caring for the 75 “guests” we have here each week along with 6 or so other nurses. I found out about Harriman Lodge through my friend, Sarah Couch, who I met on Mercy Ships this past spring. The application process and how I ended up leaving Bemidji July 1 is a testimony to the grace of God! Oh my gosh! It was CRAZY! Looking back, it has only been 5 weeks since I came back from Togo, West Africa, and I am yet off again! So hard to believe. But I have been settling in here nicely.  The staff here are GREAT, a lot of fun and so great working with all of our guests. The camp is situated in the middle of the Catskill Mountains, and the view here is unbelievable. What a place to live at and work at every day! I already have some favorite to be along the lake.

My nursing work is, as I described to Sarah, Nursing Home meets Camp. She couldn’t agree more! It’s a lot of medication administration, first aid treatments, and minor crisis management. The campers or guests, as they are called here, are amazing! My favorite time of day is evenings when they have a dance party! I can’t tell you when I’ve had so much fun dancing or watching people dance as I have here! Wow. Their joy, innocence, and simplicity humble me, and even after 3 days, I have come to love them and learn from so many of them. I will be working about 6 days a week here, alternating day and evening shifts. Woo-hoo for working full time!  The staff here is about 75% British which will make my British inflection with my American English even worse by the end of the summer! Most all of the cabin counselors come from other countries, while the nurses are American.

Ways to pray: the one thing that I have found difficult jumping into this new situation has been not having a close spiritual connection with anyone here. I know the Lord wants me here and has some intentional purposes for me here among the staff and campers, but not having a close, seeking-Jesus friend here has been difficult. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this environment before, and so I want to be faithful to the Lord first and foremost and serve and obey Him with what He wants here. So, prayer for strength to have courage in Him and continue to seek him with passion. And for more of a heart to listen and obey. May we all grow to desire more of him.