Back to The Real World...

After several weeks of vacation/recuperation we have finally re-entered the real world. We started back to work on Tuesday of this week and things are back in full swing as we prepare for the year to come! It feels good to be back - the people that Graham and I work with are truly like family to us. We are blessed.

To catch you up on what we have been doing...

We started with a 4 day get away to the lake. We strongly considered going on a cruise during this time, but with the ones that worked with our time schedule we decided it probably wasn't the best of ideas considering the only boat that was going during that time and had space available was super cheap...scary cheap...since this was their farewell cruise. That ship is being retired this month... Enough said. We also decided it would be more fun to go on a cruise with another couple and experience it with them! Anyone interested?! So, that being said...the lake it was! You can't beat a free vacation! Melanie and Reynolds joined us for the first two days, then we stayed down for two more - it rained most of the time, but considering we slept most of the time anyways it didn't really matter to us what the weather was! It was so nice to have some days away...free of responsibilities...decisions...work...ahhhhh...so nice :) We returned to celebrate the birthday of my beautiful mother and had a wonderful birthday dinner at Melanie's house. Reynolds is a grill-master, so we always love going to eat at their house. We left a few days after that to spend a week in Oklahoma visiting Graham's family. As always, it was so great to be with them! We got to see most of his friends too which was lots of fun - they are all so sweet and so much fun to be with. Good times :)

Now we are getting back in the swing of things...and I'm loving it. I started in a new Bible study last night with some ladies of all ages from Brook Hills. We are doing a precept Bible study on the book of James, and I cannot wait. I have never done a precept study before, but I have heard that they are absolutely amazing. I will also start teaching Sunday School next Sunday which I could not be more excited about! I guess 'teaching' is a relative term when the kids were born between May-July 2008 :) Precious. It is good practice for my litttle niece who will be here SO SOON!!!!! The nursery is finished and ready to go...I will put some pictures up just as soon as I have them. It is beautiful!

I got to talk with one of my very best friends, Briana, last night for almost 2 hours. It had been a while since we had been able to actually catch each other...so we had lots to catch up on :) It was wonderful hearing her voice...and since she recently moved to California we of course had to plan a trip for me to come visit her...right Rae?! :)


One other exciting thing... Fall is well on it's way which not only means incredible weather...but it also means college football is about to kick off! I just know that Auburn is going to take it away this year :) .....

That's about all that is going on here with the Hills. Life is good and we are blessed!

Clarification...

...Graham and I are NOT moving to the North! After my last post I believe that I made it sound like we are packing our bags and moving to New York. Wrong. We are loving life in the South right now and will stay here until God calls us elsewhere :) Whether that be Alabama, Kentucky, New York, or Alaska...who knows...but for now, we remain Southerners. My apologies to all of those who called with questions about our Northern-bound plans. No worries :)

The Northern Ways...

We are in our last week of camp right now. It is such a bittersweet time. Part of me cannot wait to be home and get back to the normalcy of everyday life, but another part of me aches at the fact that I will not be with these 24 amazing people every day. Well, except for Graham of course...and thankfully I get to be with him every day for the rest of my life! :)

I was able to go home last weekend for my dear friends', Alan and Amanda Bates, wedding. I love these two so much and was so happy to watch them as they begin this journey called life together! In typical Beth Ann fashion, I ended my night in Birmingham with a trip to the Emergency Room...with a sweet case of Bronchitis. Thanks to a shot and some good meds, I am beginning to feel better, but can tell that my body is in need of some serious rest. Please pray for renewed energy and rest for me and my team as we finish the summer!

I am currently sitting in Mt. Bethel, PA...and it is gorgeous! I always pictured this area to be more city-like (don't make fun if that is completely crazy of me to think...my geography skills are not the best), but it is the most green and lush place I have ever been before. Absolutely beautiful!! After pushing our team to finish load-in quickly, we surprised everyone with a quick trip up to New York City for the night! It was incredible. There were many people on our team, including Graham, who had never been to NYC before, so it was so much fun experiencing this with them for the first time. We started off having dinner in Little Italy at La Mela...this food was incredible! It was a family-style restaraunt with amazingggg food. They bring out different courses...5 courses...and you share it with your table. Our meal included tomato/mozerella cheese, vegetables, pastas (including a wonderful potato pasta for us gluten-sensitive folks :)), meats, and dessert....all cooked Italian-style...all amazing!! We then got on a subway (which was quite an experience for many of us southerners...) and headed to Time Square! We could only spend about 30 minutes here taking pictures and gawking at the lights/billboards/people...but it was worth every second! Here are some pictures:

Office girls...

La Mela...

Waiting on the subway...

Leadership in Time Square...
BT09 girls waiting on the subway...
Incredible...
Little Italy...

So here is the conclusion that I have come to as I have spent time in the North. I love it. It is different. Very, very different. People look at you a little crazy if you smile or say hi to them as you pass them on the streets. Sir and Ma'am are not in the vocabulary. Loud. GORGEOUS. Fun. Exciting. Fast-paced. Green. Big City. Lights. Peaceful. Corn fields. Eccentric. Traffic. Fashion. Chilly. Culture Shock :)

I was talking with Graham tonight...and although there are so many contrasting ways to describe what I have seen of the North, the one thing that sticks out to me the most is the fact that it is very unchurched. As we were driving up to Pennsylvania and then through New Jersey on our way to New York, I saw maybe 2 churches. Maybe. As I talk with the Youth Ministers of the churches that are attending camp this week, it is amazing to me the situations that they deal with as ministers in the north. In the South, if someone is sick or if someone loses a family member, what is the first thing that happens? A phone call is made from a local church to see what meal they can bring to their home to help take care of them for a night. One of the first phrases thrown out is, "I will be praying for you." Although those of us from the South know that this is, unfortunately, not always the most sincere or genuine statement because it is what you are supposed to say, it can at least serve as a comfort during trying times. From what I can gather from conversations here, this just isn't the case. For example, we have four students here this week who have never heard of Christianity. They have never been around christians, heard about Christ, never been to a church, never known that a camp existed for people their age to go to during the summer and spend time away from smoking/drinking/abuse/parents. They signed up for this week of camp seeking a refuge, and just two weeks before coming they surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They are meeting in a home in New Jersey with 9 other students, learning who God is and who they are in Him. They are here, for the first time, experiencing worship. They are loving it. They have never been reached out to before or asked if they can be helped, or told that someone is praying for them. Graham and I were talking with the man whose house they meet at during the week and he was telling us all about these students and their experience this week. Praise God for His sovereign ways of bringing people together and showing Himself in mysterious ways. These students' lives are being changed and they are excited to take this in to their homes and their communities. Praise Him!

It is because of stories like this that I cannot get the thought out of my mind of coming to a place like New Jersey or Philadelphia or New York City and ministering to these people. Reaching out to these people who so desperately need to be loved and need the love of Christ in their lives. Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone... It would be a HUGE transition. But it is definitely something that Graham and I see the need for and pray about. I mean, let's face it, who ever said that I deserve to live within my comfort zone?

One of my best friends growing up, Katie Furr, now lives in NYC teaching and ministering to students through a Teen Center. After spending some time up here, my respect for her has grown tenfold. Not that it wasn't there before...but praise God for people like her who throw out what they know as familiar to them and go where they see a need.

We have a few more days left in PA then we will begin the drive back down to Alabama. Our worship leader this week is Brett Younker...amazing...and our camp pastor is Sam Bhatt. It is great to be back with Sam - he has such a special way of reaching students and encouraging them (and myself) to dive deeper into the Word of God.

Summer Update...

It has been a while since I have been able to update you guys on what is going on...my apologies! The past few weeks have been rather eventful...to say the least! We wrapped up our week at Lee University and headed to the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, GA to spend a week with Ed Newton and the Jeff Johnson Band. This was a very small week of camp, but still God did huge things in the lives of the students who were at camp that week. It is pretty refreshing to have such a small group sometimes...it is a time for the staff to truly pour into the students and spend quality time with the camp pastor and worship leader. We celebrated the 4th of July that week and what started off as picking up the worship center after worship on the 4th, turned in to a 2 hour dance party with BT09 and the Jeff Johnson Band. So fun! Nothing, though, topped Graham carrying on his tradition of singing, "God Bless America," during celebration on the morning of the 4th...


What a proud moment. .....

It was a great week...but unfortunately ended with almost half of my team being sick. Very, very sick... The next week of camp was at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center again with Adam Robinson and Matt Papa. This was a wonderful week for the students...the feedback we heard was so encouraging...but for our staff, this week was pretty tough. With 8 people being out due to being sick, the rest of our team had to step up and take on two or three extra jobs in order for the week to run smoothly and hopefully not allow the kids to realize that anything was different. It was a challenging week, but a good bonding experience for our team as we realized that in order to get through the week we had to lean on each other, and most importantly God to have the strength, energy, and health to carry on. It was funny because the week before everyone got sick we had Jeff Johnson as a worship leader. Jeff has a song called, "Ruin Me." Our team LOVES this song so while he was here we sang it constantly. Funny how that played out in our team over the next week..! Still such a great song though :) I don't believe any pictures were taken this week...

By the time that we finished at Georgia Baptist, everyone was feeling much better as we headed down to our largest event of the summer...Student Life @ Daytona. This is the event that has consumed most of my time in the office leading up to the summer. With 7,000 people attending the event, there is much preparation involved!! It was, however, definitely worth every second of work. Our camp pastor for the week was Louie Giglio and our worship leader was Chris Tomlin. We had concerts on two nights with Leeland and David Crowder, as well. It was great being back with these guys and getting the chance to learn more about our Father through them. Praise God for the gifts He has blessed them with! I can honestly say that there is not one that I walked into the worship room and did not get chills or tear up. 7,000 students worshipping the Lord....7,000 students learning more about Christ and who they are in Him....7,000 students sitting on the edge of their seats as they learn what it means to live for Christ and ways that they impact the world for His glory. Amazing. During our time in Daytona, we had 753 Compassion children sponsored! That means that 753 more children around the world are now able to be released from the chains of poverty and introduced to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Praise God! Here are some pictures from this incredible week...



We are now back to where we started the summer off at Covenant College. It is good to be back! I can't believe we are on our 10th week and only have 3 more to go. This time has flown by! Our camp pastor this week is Sam Bhatt and our worship leader is David Odom. I am looking forward to a great week with them!

Here are some other pictures from the summer that I just haven't had time to put up...they are in random order, but regardless...here they are.. :)

Ashley Turner, a precious girl on my team, was baptized one night of our first week at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center. This girl is amazing and has committed her life to the mission field. Praise God!

Out to dinner in Chattanooga!

On the sky lift in Gatlinburg...maybe I had to beg to go on this... :)
At the top of a mountain in Gatlinburg

Our team mascot...Hoot!
Some of my favorites!
Dinner with Lindsay and Justine
Welcome to Late Nite...
Shea! This girl is amazing.

On the road...

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far a it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
~Romans 12:9-21
I love this passage of scripture and just wanted to share it with you before I went any further!

The past two weeks of camp have been incredible! Last week we were in Gatlinburg with 4,500 students - it was unbelievable the amount of students there! It brings chills to me just thinking about the sight of 4500 students worshipping the Lord. Wow. Those are images that I will never forget. We had a wonderful week with Louie Giglio and Fee - such great guys with a huge heart for the Lord and bringing others to know Him. I was so encouraged by them. We also had two concerts throughout the week with Leeland and David Crowder Band - both were great and seemed to really draw in the students who were there to a genuine time of worship. This was my first time working with any of these guys...I look forward to being with them again in just a few short weeks!

Gatlinburg is quite an interesting place in case you didn't know. There are more Old Time Photo Shops (which maybe we did one as a team...), fudge, candy apples, taffy, souveniers and tank tops that any one person can handle. The week that we were there was Student Life week as well as AARP week...interesting combo of people, that's for sure...! There was something just so special about that week though - the people who were there for Student Life @ Gatlinburg were wonderful - so excited to be there and so encouraging to me and our staff. It is amazing how far a "Thank You" will go! Oh how much I am learning this summer...

We loaded out of the Convention Center beginning at 11:00pm..yes..pm..the last night of the event and finished up around 8:00 am..yes..am..the next morning. An all-nighter of coiling cables, undoing trusses, gathering chain motors, packing up an office full of computers papers, printers, office supplies, and packing 4 penske trucks...big penske trucks...full of all of this stuff! It was a looong night, but I was so proud of our team as their attitudes stayed wonderful for all 8 or so hours of loading out and packing trucks. We ended up staying in Gatlinburg that next night in order to allow everyone to rest - it was a much needed break for the team and served as a great time to catch up on sleep!

We are finishing up our week of camp at Lee University tomorrow. It has been a wonderful week here as well. Ed Newton has been our speaker for the week, with Pocket Full of Rocks as the worship leaders. It has been great :)

Each week I sit in on meetings and listen as youth pastors share prayer requests for their students. I am amazed at the things that go on in this world. And I do not mean amazed in a good way... There are teenagers all over this world dealing with more struggles and difficult situations than I can't even begin to imagine having to deal with. Students come to camp every week dealing with broken homes, other troubles at home, abuse, addiction, deaths in the family...the list could go on and on. It is heartbreaking to hear. But...more than that...is the AMAZING ways that God works in the lives of these students...especially while at Student Life Camp. Nothing brings me more joy and there is no greater miracle than when youth ministers or Family Group Leaders come tell me that one of these students, that we have been praying for, comes to know Christ throughout their time at camp. Praise God!

Headed to the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, GA tomorrow...need to go pack the office truck now! :)

Let Your Kingdom Come...

We are wrapping up our 4th camp at Covenant College - Jeremy Kingsley and the Stephen Miller Band were wonderful! We leave tomorrow afternoon to head to Gatlinburg for one of our largest events...ah! I am excited about it, but have to admit that it's a little nerve racking at the same time :) 4,500 students is a lot...but it is exciting that they are all coming together to spend a week worshiping our Lord and Savior. Our speaker for Gatlinburg will be Louie Giglio, and the Worship Leader will be Fee. We will also have two concerts by David Crowder Band and Leeland. I am looking forward to a wonderful week!

Last week with Aaron Ivey we sang a song called 'Let Your Kingdom Come' that has continued to stay in my head...the words are so incredible...

Give us a love for peace
Move us to brokenness
Our generosity,
Release from poverty

Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and see

Let Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
All the Earth will say
and echo angels' praise
That You are God

So, let the sick run free
The orphan find her home
The captured man will know
Release from slavery

Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and see

We pray and ask for hope
We pray and ask for peace
We pray and ask for justice
We pray and ask for You

Let Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
All the Earth will say
and echo angels' praise
that You are God

BT09...

For the past three weeks, two times a day, I have found myself sitting in corporate worship with teenagers from all around the country. Interacting with students day in and day out is such a blessing! Sitting in the back of an auditorium and watching students encounter Christ is more than powerful. In just these past three weeks, God as taught me so much about myself and who I am in Christ. I have been challenged in my job, challenged in my walk with Christ, and challenged by my amazing team and their hearts for the Lord. I praise God for blessing me and Graham with an incredible team of college students and college graduates. These people are beyond wonderful! Their love for Christ and desire to serve in His name never ceases to inspire me. The Blue Team...also known as BT09...is a blessing to me!

I truly love my job. I love the fact that I am able to play a part in making camp happen for students across the country. I pray that my work makes the work of every Youth Minister attending Student Life this summer easier so that they can spend more of their week at camp pouring into their students. My favorite part of my job, though, is getting to love on and encourage 11 of the most incredible girls I have ever met. Take a look at them:


Aren't they gorgeous??! These girls are some of the most passionate ladies I have ever met when it comes to talking about Jesus Christ. They have truly challenged me, more than ever, to dive into the Word and strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I praise God for each of them and for giving me the opportunity to love on them.

Covenant College has been such a fun place to 'live' for the past several weeks. It is on top of Lookout Mountain - the view is INCREDIBLE!!! The weather here is crazy - there are times where we are literally in the midst of a cloud. This is what it looked like the other day...

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That's the Chapel that you can barely see in the background. It was so creepy. When it is not cloudy though, this place is beautiful :)

We have been blessed with wonderful Camp Pastors and Worship Leaders. The first week we had Adam Robinson speaking, and Chuck Hooten as the worship leader. The second week we had Jarrod Jones speaking, and Chuck again as the worship leader. This week we have Chad Norris speaking and Aaron Ivey as the worship leader. God has blessed each of them in unique ways to share the Gospel. Here are some pictures of these incredible worship leaders as they lead students to Christ...

That's about all that is going on right now! We have a camp that ends tomorrow morning, and another that starts tomorrow afternoon so things are about to pick up once again around here! After this coming camp, though, we're off to Gatlinburg for our Student Life @ Gatlinburg event! I am really looking forward to it. I will write more later...for now it's time to shower and get ready for Youth Minister's meeting and worship tonight. Have a wonderful night :)

Oh...and an exciting update on this summer...throughout our 3 weeks at Covenant, we have had a total of 95 children sponsored through Compassion International! Praise God!