Brokenness...
9:30 AM | Author: Josh W
So Kaleo continues to chug along one day at a time. But because this is Camp Qwanoes everyday decided that it wants to be on camp time and end up feeling like 2 or 3 days. one example of this was this weekend with the Juniors retreat. wow talk about a lot of work! I had a great time having an amazing cabin and having some really deep talks with my cabin. The fact that I had Benjy Starr as my Co-Counselor was a blessing because of the fact that i've been so out of contact with T-town lately that it seems like people are starting to drift away. But thats ok, before I came to Kaleo I understood that this would happen and I prepared for it. But even though it was only a weekend the time I spent with my camp friends felt like a camp week.

I also had another crazy week at Warmland youth. This week first looked like I would not have to deal with the craziness because when the girls saw that my hair was gone they seemed to leave me alone...for a time. About half and hour of peace I was once again getting attacked by a larger group of about 8 girls. The pain of being known....but no the less youth was still tons of fun and we had a good message and we seem to be starting to get through to the kids.

Aside from Qwanoes and Warmland work, this week the Kaleo team went to S.A.L.T.s in Victoria to help them to get the ships ready for the winter. While there I managed to get to know the group I went with on the first day a lot closer and I really started to feel part of the group. This feeling of becoming accepted started an entire new chapter in Kaleo for me.

So I should probably start to explain the title of this post. Starting about 3 weeks ago I started to deal with some of my pride issues. In doing so I came to the understanding that the best way to deal with pride would be to become completely broken. So over the last few weeks God took me to this place where I felt comfortable and safe. Then God "punted me off the mountian" (as Jon would say it). Everyday I started to go out and listen to Linkin Park and just scream at God. Day after day I just went out and blamed God for all the hurt that he was putting in my life, forgetting that I asked for that pain. Then a couple days ago, God broke me to the point where I was almost ready to call it quits with my faith. I broke completely and felt completely lost and felt like I could turn no where. Then after a long talk with another Kaleo student and some very long prayer I felt like I could do no more and went to sleep. Then God answered every trust prayer that I have ever asked. He showed me that the reason why I am so confused about God's trust is because I'm too focused in on just one thing and not the big picture. Now because God has shown me this great truth, I can focus on applying that truth and dealt with other things in my life that need some focus. I think one of the new songs from Anberlin puts it clear on how I'm feeling: "I can finally breathe, suddenly alive, I can finally move, cause I realize".

Oh and the reason why this is so late is because I did not want to post while I was in the middle of that Brokenness.
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A week of homework and Haircuts
4:17 PM | Author: Josh W
So the long awaited day has arrived. my shaggy hair is gone! After 4 long years of long hair getting in my eyes and whipping me in the face, I have cut most of it for a shorter style. The first cut took about 45 minutes to do and was done by a couple of Kaleo students that had little experience in cutting hair. That hair style lasted about a week before I decided to ditch the long look and go for the short Fo-hawk. So after 2 hours of still outside in the cold watching my hair falling the final product was so: So there it is short hair

Anyways other then the haircut, we did have other things to do. We had a class with Jim this week and I had fun actually paying attention this time. I had gotten through the idea that Jim's course was just CIT and learned a lot more about Qwanoes then I knew before.

At Warmland this week I was overwhelmed at youth group by the same 3 screaming girls who this time decided that instead of playing with my hair that they would steal my hat instead. So the entire night I was running around trying to get my hat back. Next week, now that my hair is really short, I'm not wearing a hat. Warmland had their first Deeper service of the fall this Sunday night and it was a sweet experience. I was working both sound and video so I gained the experience I need to do both at church later this year and opens up more doors for what I might do this summer at Qwanoes. What I liked most the Deeper service is the fact that it was much smaller and much more focused on going a lot deeper with Christ.

Then came Guys night out. A sweet time of just boys off doing what boys do best. Eating steak. We had a great time just bonding as guys and I think it was one of the best times we've had in Kaleo so far. We had a question time where what we did was just open up and ask any questions we had about anything and as a community we could answer the questions. I can't tell you what any of the questions were but I can tell you that it helped us come together as a closer group and enjoy comforting each other in our questions.

Looking forward to whatever this week has in store!

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Surfing, Thanksgiving, And more!
3:25 PM | Author: Josh W
So another week of Kaleo goes by and I still am growing and trying new and exciting things. This week we went on a Surfing trip to Tofino and I was surprised at how amazing it was! The first thing that amazed me was the fact that the forecast for when we were over there is that we were suppose to have a huge storm with waves too big to surf on the first day. But the entire time we were there it rained for a total of about 3 minutes (maybe more when we were sleeping). So this trip was the first time I've ever seen the Pacific Ocean, I mean i've seen the Juan De Fuca Straite before but never the open ocean. Surfing is something that i'm looking forward to again in the future as long as I don't get sick again :)

Me, Jon, Bruno, Jake all getting ready for some awesome surfing

Anyways after we got back from the trip we had a course with Jim Badke. This course has gotten the nickname, CIT on steroids. For me its a harder course to pay attention in just for the fact that I have to remember that it's not just CIT and there is things to actually learn from it rather then just review. But it's still a great course and lots of fun because we have lots of group things to do.

Then about 15 of the Kaleo students headed home for thanksgiving. Me, having my surfing sickness still decided that I was going to stay here at camp rather then get more sick taking a ferry. And also the fact that I haven't been here for a Saturday yet and it seemed like it was time to stick around. I'm glad I stayed though because on Saturday there was only 5 of us Kaleo Students here and we managed to get pretty tight the 5 of us. Oh and I also got my haircut on Saturday. Overall this was a fun week and I'm feeling much better and I'm looking foward to Thanksgiving Dinner tonight.
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Another Kaleo Week (This time with school!)
3:48 PM | Author: Josh W
Ok so another great week has gone by over here in Crofton. For the first time this year we've spent an entire week here at camp. We just come off our first course with Marv Penner and I had an amazing week. First, we had a class on Wednesday that left me with the feeling that God was telling me to go hiking up Maple Mountain to where the cross is and just sit there. So at the end of class that day I packed up some munchies and started my hike up the mountain. When I got up to the cross I just felt the need to just scream everything that was on my mind to God. Dozens and Dozens of questions just shouting them and getting frustrated at the amount of time it was taking for God to answer my questions. Then all of a sudden after 3 years of waiting for a question to get answer, God just came out and answered the question. Then I was told that although His will might hurt that it was time to let his will reign out before mine. So at the end of the week I attended Mainland Road Tour and let his will reign out before mine. I ended up making a good friend angry and causing myself to feel terrible but I went to sleep that night with a sence of peace as I knew that God's will was accomplished and not mine.

The next day I came back to camp and then went with the Warmland youth to Island Road Tour and enjoyed a very peaceful Qwanoes time. About half way through the night I was asked by Russ to talk to the youth there about how church is inportant in my life. After I finished talking in front of the youth I went and sat down and felt an old song come into my head that I had forgotten.

"my good and faithful one, my good and faithful one, my good and faithful one, Well Done"

I feel that God put this song in my head to tell me that although what I had done the night before hurt it was ok because God was happy that I finally learned my lession that I need to trust that God has a greater will for me then I do.
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