"Sitting" In Memphis...

So I'm sitting in the Memphis International Airport, with yet another delay on my flight. I am now due to fly out at 4:10, which will take me into Moncton at....let's see....12:30am! Yargh!

There may be a chance that we'll get out of here earlier, and so I'm praying for this weather to let up, and soon!

Attempting to wait here patiently,
Chels

A Certain Sadness...

Well, dear friends, in just a few short hours, I will be flying out from Oklahoma City, bound for Canada. This indeed marks the end of my journey to OK for now.

I can't help but feel a great sadness to leave this place that I love so very dearly. I know that, deep in my heart, I am following God's will by returning home, and there is an excitement and peace in doing that; however, for this moment, I am feeling an intense sadness about leaving Oklahoma. I will dearly miss my beloved friends (who really have become my family!), and I will miss camp, and all the amazing things I got to witness throughout the summer. I have made a home here, and it pains me to leave this life behind.

I realize, however, that this is part of making the emotional separation from this place. I know that this great sadness will only last a short time. I take great joy in knowing that, despite the short moment of sadness I must endure, the relationships that I have made with the people here will last a great deal longer. And who knows? Perhaps God will lead me back to Oklahoma next summer to work at Conservatory. It is my prayer, very eagerly prayed, that He will do so, and make the way to do that. I know that my friends are supporting me in that prayer as well.

And so, in these next short hours, I will be saying farewell to the Barringtons (as I have already begun with the kids, since they are NOT early-risers!), and to Oklahoma, "until we meet again".

I am trusting in the Lord, and leaning on Him extra-heavily during this time. Please be praying that He will stay especially close to me during this time, and that His comfort may surround me, and those I am leaving here in OK.

Signing off for now,
Chels xoxoxo

Going Home...

Well, dear faithful readers, the time has come to head home. I'm sure any of you who know Lisa already have realized that she has returned home for the remainder of the summer. I sure was sad to see her go, but I know that it was what she needed to do.

Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote on this blog, and I apologize for that; however, things have been incredibly busy! Let me back-track a little...We had our graduation almost three weeks ago, celebrating the accomplishments of our students! What a wonderful time of rejoicing and sharing in what God had done in our lives and in the lives of our campers! Here are a couple of highlights:

Our Contemporary Worship Majors

Intermediate Band

Brass Ensemble to Accompany Most Outstanding Soloist

Heart O' Hills Chorus Singing "Revelation 19" and "Ave Verum Corpus"
(Sorry, I ran out of disk space before the performance was over!)

TMI (Territorial Music Institute) just recently ended this past Sunday, and what a week it was! We had 248 musicians from across the Southern Territory of the Salvation Army gather for a week at camp to learn to play music together, all for the glory of God! I had the opportunity to take part in this week as a delegate, and, musically, it was a very challenging but motivating week! Some more highlights:

Opening Night @ TMI

Our TMI theme: "Heartfire"

Some crazy delegates I ran into! ;)

The awesomely-wonderful Southern Territorial Band!

If you look very closely, you can see Andy on tuba!

Elizabeth and Bobby goin' at it in the ring! :p

Sorry that I couldn't get some sound clips in, but once I figure out how to edit those clips for sound, I'll throw them in! :)

I am now at the Barrington's home in Oklahoma City, spending some time with Andy & Connie and their kids before I fly out Thursday morning for home. It is a bittersweet ending, and I can hardly believe that eight weeks have passed as quickly as they did. I am most certainly going to miss this place that I have called my home for the summer. I have made friendships here that I know are lasting, and I have developed a love for Camp Heart O' Hills, and for the amazing things that happen there over the summer. What an honor and pleasure it is to be a part of a team devoted to providing a safe and nurturing place for kids to come and learn about music and about God.

Three Barrington "siblings" I got to pal around with this summer! :)

The Wallace's - a family who quickly "adopted" me this summer!

It has been an incredible summer, and I know I can speak for Lisa when I say that, this has been one summer that neither of us will EVER forget!

Well, the clock is ticking away into the wee hours, so I suppose I better sign off!

Peace out,
Chels

Gong Show Highlights!

Just when you thought that you were too young to learn a new instrument... :)

My friend Laura Birks taught me how to play this the night before our camp Gong Show! :)

"Interpretive Poetry" - Notice the name drop! :)

Alright, that's all I got for now! Signing off,
Chels

Happy Belated 4th of July! :)

Hey Hey!

Greetings from Welling! It is a scorching 93 degrees here today (or 34 for my Canadian friends!), and so I'm sitting here in a puddle of Chelsea! However, thanks to a camper's mom (who just HAPPENS to be a hairdresser!), I was able to get my haircut to a nice short summer cut, and highlighted deep blonde. You have no idea how much of a stress-relieving blessing that was!! I was a happy camper, needless to say! :)

We had a fabulous 4th of July yesterday, as the conservatory lead a parade through the camp grounds. Three of our bands played, our timbrelists (tambourines) walked through the street performing (even yours truly was spinning a flag! ;) ), and everybody, though hot and sweaty, had a great time! It was a scorching 90 or 95 degrees (this was at 7:00pm!!) with 100% humidity. We were sweating in places we didn't even know we sweated in!! :) But all in all, it was an awesome day, and I was very honored to share with my new American friends in their day!

Camp continues on, and we're all exhausted, but we're pressing on, only by God's grace! We have days when the kids drive us absolutely nuts (in fact, there are days when I wish I could go home!), but I wouldn't change what I'm doing right now for anything! With each week, I see a kid's life being slowly transformed by God's hand, and I wouldn't change a million naps for that! :)

We had our first recital last night, and Lisa and I got to see our first students perform. My heart was absolutely pounding with pride as I watched two of my girls play pieces they have been busily working on. That, in itself, is a huge highlight of my summer for me!

Well, dear friends, the hour is coming quickly for Sealed Orders (our camp-wide devotions), which means the ol' lappy has to be closed! :) Sending lots and lots of love to you all!! How I miss you!

Signing off for now,
Chels xoxoxo

P.s. - More pictures are coming soon! Stay tuned!!!!!!!

An Unexpected Visitor...

Mozart in a boot

Cowabunga!!!!!

Mozart tries skateboarding for the first time

What are YOU looking at??!?!!?

Hanging out with Auntie Chelsea

I love my Auntie Lisa! :)

Mozart with his new aunties!! :)

Aren't I cute?!?!?! :)

Everybody, Meet Mozart! He was our new friend for about 8 hours today! One of our new campers smuggled little Mozart into her suitcase, and our guest conductor, Marty Mikkles, heard him mewing in the suitcase. And so, Lisa & I thought it would be fun to love on him and try to feed him. So, new Aunties Chelsea & Lisa decided to have a little photo shoot with Mozart (Lisa insisted on calling him Beethoven, but I thought he looked like a Mozart! :) )

So, today is the beginning of a new week at camp. The kids are still driving us crazy (in fact, there's a group of them here slowly letting the air out of balloons as I speak), but we love them, and we're going to continue loving on them and teaching them.

Alright, I'm signing off. Peace out,
Chels xoxoxo

Why I Love Sundays...by Chelsea Gallant

Why I love Sundays...

1. Mandatory camp nap time from 1:00 - 3:00...or 4:00 if you're staff!! ;)

2. Optional breakfast (which equals sleeping in!)

3. Seeing campers pray for each other

4. Seeing campers come to Christ for the first time

5. No Regular Campers!!!!

6. Free Time...finally...

7. Laundry!

8. Time to update my blog! :) (Really, that should be why YOU, the reader, loves Sunday! :) )

9. Spending time with friends

10. Opportunities to go into Tahlequah for Walmart and Sonic runs! :)

Well, it's a beautiful evening here in Welling, 32 degrees with a nice breeze. We have worship leader Marty Mikkles with us this week. Should be wonderful!

Well, after a great day of rest, I feel like I can face the week! Please keep us in your prayers!

Love to you all,
Chels xoxoxo

Internet Withdrawal...

Well, folks, after a week of internet withdrawal, we were able to get to a Kettle restaurant in Tahlequah, which had free wireless. Hallelujah! The camp internet has been down for over a week now, and so it has been difficult to update our blog. I promise that I will try to get something a little more detailed next time! :)

Camp starts tomorrow, and we're terrified!! Haha! Well, maybe nervous would be a better word. I think it's just the unknown. Andy (our boss) has not been around this weekend, and so we're not feeling as prepared as we could. But, we also know that God has a way of taking the unprepared and preparing them in ways they could never have imagined. So, we'll hang on tight, and try our best to enjoy the ride! :)

Orientation ended today with a worship service at the camp conference center. The entire staff, both regular and Conservatory camps, gathered together for a time of intimate worship. Personally, it was an awesome experience for me, as I really needed a solid time to connect with God, and to be refilled for the week ahead. I also saw a lot of evidence of that need written on the faces of other staff members. What a wonderful time we had.

Our week has mostly been spent getting the conservatory ready for the campers. We had to clean the building from top to bottom, and begin getting classrooms and practice rooms ready. I have a fairly small classroom, and so I was only able to fit five keyboards in the room, as well as my own keyboard (which is a SWEET synthesizer that the conservatory recently purchased! :D). I even got an opportunity to make some cute posters to put on the wall, as well as a couple of memory verses I'd really like my class to memorize over the five weeks.

We're starting to build relationships with people at the camp, especially in the conservatory. Nights have been filled with laughter and sharing, and of course, lots of board games! :) Apples to Apples, Speed Scrabble and Dominoes have been the choice games of the staff, and of course, the Wii and Playstation 2! Rock Band and Guitar Hero have been taking us by storm, but it's been a good time!

The weather continues to be beautiful here. We're still adjusting to the bugs, especially ticks and chiggers!! I won't give you all the gross details that go with that! ;)

Well, dear friends, it's time to sign off for now! Until Next Time,
Chels

We're Here!!

Hey everybody!

We've made it to Tahlequah, and we're in the midst of orientation. We promise that pictures will be coming soon! Just a reminder to leave us some comments, as we LOVE hearing from you! :)

Signing off!
Chels & Lis

I've Made It...to the US!!! :)

June 4, 2008

Well, I’ve made it to the US!! I crossed the border yesterday with Lisa (quite successfully and quickly, might I add!), and spent the day with her yesterday. I had the entertaining pleasure of watching her paint a room for her friend Christie yesterday evening. It actually was entertaining! I’m not being sarcastic! I’ve learned that Lisa becomes quite loopy when she inhales paint fumes for too long, and becomes rather giddy and tipsy! That, combined with the theologically unsound tunes of Wow Hits 2007 on the CD player made for an evening of unending hilarity! I’m quite certain that I shall never listen to some of the songs on that CD the same way ever again! J

It feels good to finally be across the border, and I am now feeling more and more excited about going to Oklahoma! I am excited to see how God is going to move over this summer. I’m excited to meet new people, and to invest in the lives of students. I’m just plain excited! J

I was listening to Brian Doerksen’s You Surround Me yesterday on the bus to Perth Andover, and I couldn’t help but lock onto the words that I also heard him sing at his concert last Thursday:

I will stay with You forever, arm in arm we’ll walk together, You will never let me go;

I can’t live my life without You, my whole will to live is for You, You’ve awakened me to know…

There is so much ahead for this summer, and for this fall, that I’m sure I’m not even aware of. As a very wise friend said to me yesterday, it would be easy for us to react to the unknown future of our lives in fear, but it is so much more wonderful when one can embrace the next phase of their life, trusting in God to lead them with each step. My friend has chosen to embrace the next phase of her life, and I am learning to do the same. God is showing me that, though it may seem scary, He has not left my side, and He is not about to in the future. I have realized that I cannot live my life without His guidance, and that He has called me with a will to live completely and totally for Him. The beauty in that truth is found in knowing that God is faithful to walk with us through this thing called life, and to share in communion with us through this journey. Faithful is Our God…

Later That Night...

Well, faithful readers, tomorrow is the big day! J Lisa & I fly out from Bangor tomorrow morning at 8:35am, which means that we will be leaving from Presque Isle at…3:45am!!! Oye is all I can say to that!!!

Well, we have both been shaking our heads in disbelief at the fact that we are actually going to Oklahoma! It’s been quite a journey to get to this place where we are going, and now that we are going, we can hardly believe it! I suppose we will still be feeling this way tomorrow, even as we step off the plane in Fayetteville, and as we drive to the camp with Rachel. My heart is beating a little faster just thinking about it! So many opportunities, so many adventures (and misadventures!) waiting for us to experience!

Well, dear friends, the clock will soon strike 11:00, so I suppose I should lay my restless head down and get some sleep! 3:15 will be coming early! J

Signing off for today,

Chels

Waiting at the Airport!

Good Morning, Faithful Readers!

We’re here at the airport, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Well…okay, maybe not bright-eyed; more like bleary-eyed. As for the bushy tail…maybe more of a slightly flat and lifeless tail! J

We rose at 3:00am and left Presque Isle with Lisa’s friend Christie at 3:45, bound for Bangor. I do not remember much of the trip, as I was passed out in the back seat. I didn’t sleep all that well, as I was just too excited about the trip!!! However, I did stay awake enough to see A MOOSE ON THE ROAD!!! That’s right, we encountered a moose standing on the road, just minding his own business! For our safety, however, Mr. Moose stayed on the opposite side of the road! J

Check-in was successful. I was a little nervous about whether my luggage would be too heavy, for, as many of my good friends know, I’m not what you would call a “light packer”! They don’t call me “Pack-n-Go” for nothin’! J But thankfully, my suitcases just barely made it! Yay!

So, here I sit, watching our carry-ons. Lisa & Christie have disappeared somewhere, and I am guarding our things with my life! Yargh! J I’m very excited about the trip ahead, despite my fatigue (That’s what coffee’s for!). It still feels a little surreal, even as I was holding the ticket in my hand. I know it will sink in for me when I sit down on the plane, and as we feel the plane slowly leave the ground. What an exhilarating feeling that is, to feel the plane slowly lift! I can’t wait! But, until then, I shall drink my coffee and wait…

But, before I go, I leave you with this thought from the good people at Bangor International Airport: “Do not accept things from people you don’t know”. Thank-you BGR, because I almost took candy from that sketchy character standing by the washrooms! J Gimme a Break!

Until Next Time,

Chels