Hume Lake

Alyssa and I leave for Hume Lake Christian Camp tomorrow morning with Calvary Church. We are both going to be counselors, and are super stoked about our cabins!! Alyssa has senior girls, most of whom go to Calvary Chapel, and it is pretty much the same group of girls she had last year. I, on the other hand, have a different group of girls than I have normally. I still have junior girls, but only four girls from my small group, along with 7 other junior girls. Since Jessica and I co-lead a small group of fifteen girls, there's no way we can all be together, especially when almost all of them signed up to go to Hume (which is AWESOME!). Unfortunately that means splitting up our small group, but I know the Lord has placed the girls in the cabins they should be in, there is no doubt in mind mind about that. My prayer is that these girls grow closer to the Lord and continue to love him with all their hearts.

The theme this year is "Rise of the Kinematics". Kinematics is the study of motion without regard to its cause. The theme's goal is to give cause to Christian experience and action. Brent Eldridge is our speaking and he will be discussing the topics of God, Man, Christ, Justification, Discipleship, and Scripture. The overall goal is that students walk away from camp with an understanding of these foundational principles of the Christian faith. The root scripture for the summer will be 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Be praying that the students from Calvary Church will open their hearts, become broken, and be prepared for the Lord to work in their lives.

Also, please pray that God will give me strength to keep up with these high school students and the patience and diligence to really pour into them spiritually and emotionally. Things can get pretty crazy up at camp and I know it is only the Lord who can give me the silence to listen and the right advice to offer. I know the Lord is going to do amazing things this week up at Hume!

If you want to email Alyssa or I up at Hume just go to http://www.humelake.org/content/yc_emailcamper.php. We absolutely LOVE getting mail!

Cutest Kids in the World

Tonight I babysat for five of the cutest kids in the world: brothers Jackson and Houston, and their cousins Max, Kate, and Avery. It was only my second time watching them and they are becoming two of my favorite families to sit for. Not only are the kids adorable, but they are so much fun as well. I have to give so much credit to their incredibly kind parents because their children are so well behaved and respectful. I always leave their house wanting to stay a little bit longer.

I brought my computer so that we could play around on the photo booth. It never fails-all the kids I babysit for just LOVE it! Here are some of the pics that crack me up.

Hot N' Swayze

On Sunday night my friend Colin's band, Hot N' Swayze, played at my friend Forrest's house. The night was quite an event with Forrest's youngest sister, Brooke, turning 13 years old and the numerous high school reunions going on throughout the night. The ages of the attendees ranged from about seven years old to probably close to the mid 50's and it really generated a feeling of family. The band raged on throughout the night, which included one of the most epic dance parties since Alyssa and my birthday party at Oceanside in early February. It was a great night, and Hot N' Swayze rocked it.

Fourth of July

So it's taken me awhile to post, but here I am nonetheless. I spent another Fourth of July in Oceanside and it definitely was worth it. My best friend from LMU, Allison, came down to Oceanside, as well as my old neighbor, Sean, who brought his girlfriend, sister, and good friend along. Alyssa also had some good friends from PLNU come up from San Diego, so it was a good group of people. In addition to our friends, our entire family was there, as well as the Journigan family. We had a lot of fun swimming, bike riding, playing paddle ball, throwing the football and frisbee, and of course tanning all day. Unfortunately the fog settled in when it got dark, which kept us from seeing any fireworks, and believe me my Mom was upset- it's her favorite part! Luckily my Dad is taking her to Disneyland so she can get her fireworks fix. What a great guy!

This is Allison, Mason, and I.

Alyssa and I (and somehow Mason crept in...)

Doing what I do best...

Hanging Out: Mason, Alyssa, Anthony, Trevor, Allison and I.

THE WHOLE GANG (you can really tell how foggy it got in this picture).

Countdown to the 4th

One of my most favorite family traditions is going down to our beach house in Oceanside and spending the fourth of July with extended family and close friends. This year the tradition lives on with some new friends. I'm so excited to celebrate this momentous holiday with such great people!

Here are some pictures from past Fourth of July's....enjoy!

What High School Students Face Today...

It really saddens me how soon High School students (or all students, for that matter) begin to experience things nowadays, whether it be the death of a close friend or family member, experimentation with drugs or alcohol, intimacy with the opposite sex, or even the incorporation of defamatory language in every day conversation. Kids today are growing up too soon, and who is to blame?

My mind immediately develops a theory that the media is solely responsible for all this ungodly behavior. There are so many movies, television shows, and songs that blatantly encourage underage drinking, sex before marriage, etc. The media glorifies beauty in ways which force girls to dislike themselves and seek approval and validation in other ways or defame women to the point that men begin to treat them like meat. Whatever happened to the shows I grew up with, like "Saved by the Bell" or "Full House", that had positive morals imbedded in each episode? (Positive for the most part, anyway.)

But then I begin to doubt the control the media has on its viewers, and I begin to think about the actual ROOT of all the temptations and expectations surrounding students today. What is the cause of this instant maturation of students? And how can we help students who struggle with this temptation?

Muir Family Reunion

I've been waiting three years for this family reunion to roll around and it definitely rose above all of my expectations. My family and I recently got back from Fort Worth, Texas where about 60 of my extended family on my Dad's side traveled to be together and enjoyed some family bonding time. Between the live rodeo, country dancing, the water park, free happy hour at the hotel, and being with just a rad group people 24/7 you wouldn't want to go home either. But I guess all good things come to an end, and thus this family reunion did as well. Here's a few highlights from this week:

Some of the cousins in front of Billy Bob's



Ryan and Alyssa dancing at Embargo during Salsa Night. The 7 kids that went out that night were about the only white people at the bar. When the DJ gave the Muir Tour a shout out he just happened to play "Ice, Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice...what a sense of humor that DJ had!



The Burgess side of the Muir Family



Uncle David Muir and Ryan.



Grandpa Bob, who's still good looking at 80, with LaVerne and I.



Sarah Dudley, Emma Muir, and David Muir II at dinner.



Susan Dudley and I sitting next to each other at dinner.



Some of the girl cousins on the dance floor.



Jammin on the last night together.