Group Work Camp Princess Power Hour

I just returned from a Group Work camp trip to Racine Wisconsin where  I spent 6 nights with 472 of my closest high school friends (and their adult chaperone's) in Jerome L. Case High School.  We had 64 projects (of which 55 were completed) and worked a total of 14,768 man hours. 

Every night we enjoyed a short devotional prayer tine we call Princess Power Hour (Because our father is the King of Kings!) and our theme was "Spiritual Truths you can learn from the Disney Princesses". 
We "studied" Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Mulan and Cinderella. 

Stay Tuned for what lesson each Princess has to teach us.

Ringing the Bell

Last night I stood in the lobby of our local Kroger and rang the bell for the Salvation Army. We do this as a family because we want to give our children an opportunity to develop a heart for missions. Here's my observations:

My bell always seemed to ring a little louder and clearer when a donation had been made!

It was 4 degrees outside last night as I rang. Even though I was "inside" and wearing a down filled parka, wool socks and boots,my feet and fingers were frozen by the time my husband arrived to relieve me. I'm thankful that I have a warm home to go to and don't have to sleep on the streets. I don't worry about where my next meal is coming from. I am blessed!

Men seem to be more generous than women. The older people exited the store with their donations in hand. The more affluent people were less likely to meet my eye and frequently answered my request "Care to help the Salvation Army this evening?" with "I don't have any cash" (Likely since so many people deal only in credit/debit cards now a days). I did find that ASKING for a donation caused some people to stop and dig into their purse or pocket. Children were willing to ask their parents for a donation and I always let them ring my bell once they placed their money the red kettle.

I came away from my stint a little happier, a littl more in tune with the Spirit of Christmas.

I want to be more generous person and will make sure I have small bills on hand so I don't pass up a bell ringer in the future! Generous giving makes me feel like a better person. I admit I don't give to just any charity or person collecting on the side of the road. I do my homework to make sure my donation is well administered--that takes some effort on my part. I want to model generosity so I have to be ready this season!

Merry Christmas!

Group Workcamp-Brighton. What I learned!

For those of you who don't know me, I suffer from insomnia. I can generally fall asleep quite easily but frequently wake up sometime during the night and remain awake for several hours at a time. A snoring DH doesn't help matters much. When this occurs, I will spend my time praying or when the time lapse become too great, I will resort to reading a novel.

I am an early to bed (9:30-10pm) early to rise (5:30am) kind of of girl.

Work camp taught me a good lesson how to have a good night sleep with no insomnia. A person's day should consist of hard work, for the lord and worship. Because each work camp day included a healthy dose of each of these components, I never woke up during the night! Now to reproduce that at home!

1) Work Hard. Physical labor makes a body sleep all night through
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58

2) Make time for Worship and Prayer daily (it not several times a day)
So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Luke 4:7

3) Eliminate distractions. At work camp I didn't have any access to e-mail, the Internet, television or newspapers. I had limited cell phone service. I had limited things (especially those that I could do nothing about like the state of the economy, the Gulf Oil Spill, Afghanistan)intruding into my thoughts
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught. Psalm 55:2

SO...if sleep eludes you, try my work camp remedy. Turn off the technology, clear your schedule of all but the MOST pressing items (your work, whatever that may be and daily worship). And let me know how well you slept!

Good night!

Group Work Camp trip-Brighton Tenn

I will be leaving with a group of high school students from my church and the other adult chaperone's to attend a Group Work Camp week in Brighton, Tenn to provide home repairs to local residents. It has always been an awesome event and I expect this to be no different! We're leaving at 5:30am Sunday and will return about 4pm the following Saturday! Might be hot and exhausting but I know I will come back filled up as God works through me and in me

E-mail me at http://www.groupworkcamps.com/Workcamps/Pages/EmailaCamper.aspx
select Brighton Tennessee
Diana Maslowski
I'll post about the trip when I return and get caught up at work and home!
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Blessings!
Diana

Why I work camp

School will be out in just a few days and summer will officially begin. I will have the privilege of serving as a chaperone to both our Middle school work camp (Louisville, KY) and High school work camp (Brighton, Tenn)this summer and I can't wait.

Why would I use 2 weeks of my vacation to serve a with a bunch of people I don't know, sleep in a school with 30 of my closest high school "girl-friends" on a cot and work outside in the heat and humidity? Glad you asked!

I love Jesus and Group Work Camps has been one of the greatest experience of my Christian walk. I have met some amazing people (youth and adults), I have grown in my faith, I have gained confidence in sharing the gospel and I have PERSONALLY seen GOD at work!

My first work camp was in Racine, Wisconsin in 2007 and was the experience that got me hooked. We arrived on a Sunday and worshipped at the local United Methodist Church in Racine. Later that day I met my crew (4 teens and one other adult). Our project would be to paint the house of our resident, a man named Ed.

We met Ed (a tattooed, chainsmoking Viet Nam vet who worked at a meat packing plant)on Monday morning after stopping for a short prayer outside his home. During the 32 hours we worked outside Ed's home, it was apparent God was working inside. Lunch devotions bonded the crew members to each other and to our resident but the chair reserved for Ed was always empty until Thursday, when he joined us for lunch. Ed shared with me that the church I had attended on Sunday was the church he had been raised in and that his sisters still attended there. He hadn't darkened the doors of a church for more than 30 years. When it came time to conclude or meal/devotion time with a prayer, I asked Ed if he would close us out with a few words of his own. He stumbled over his response, stating "I don't know if I can do that" but when the prayers circled around to him, he boldly uttered "Amen". God had used 6 people, painting a house to reach one of his lost sheep. Ed returned to his church the Sunday after we left Racine, exactly one week from the time I worshiped there. He joined several committees and the following summer he served on a mission trip his own church sponsored to West Virginia.

I love work camp because I have seen God through the actions of his people. I have felt his presence in a real an powerful way. I have grown in ways I did not imagine possible and I have seen the power prayer has to change things.

The mission field is right outside your door. Pray hard!