Hello, my dear friends!

This is a quick note to ask ya'll a major favor. In exactly one hour, I'm leaving for Texas for the next 12 weeks. I'm going to the beautiful place I call home - Pine Cove Camps. It doesn't get any better than the beautiful pine trees and sunsets of east Texas.

The Lord has given me the incredible opportunity to spend another summer with the coolest kids on earth - 8th & 9th graders. I am so humbled that the Lord has called me to build relationships with not only them but also the college girl counselors that will directly oversee the kiddos. For the next 12 weeks I won't have my cell phone or internet except for a small amount of time we have off on the weekend. So, I say that to say, you can be a huge blessing two different ways:1. Prayer2. Good 'ole Snail Mail

Please be praying that: The campers coming in this summer will understand, embrace, and live out the glorious truth of the gospel that Ephesians 2:4 talks about - "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved, through faith."

The counselors, who are pouring themselves out, will be filled up by the spirit, and love unconditionally on these kids. Pray Galatians 5:6 for them - "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

For me - that I will embody the truth of 1 Corinthians 7:35 - that I will "live in an undivided devotion to the Lord." This year has been a chaotic one - a semester of surprises, blessings, faith, and the incredible workings by the Lord's hand. I finished my last final Wednesday morning, got home late Wednesday night, unpacked from school on Thursday (yesterday) and packed for camp at the same time. Please pray that the Lord will focus my heart solely on the mission at camp.

If you've ever been in a camp atmosphere, you know what I mean when I say there is nothing more encouraging than receiving snail mail. I would love to be hear about your summer - send me some snail mail and I will be your pen pal! :)

Regular mail:

"Speedoo Redoo"

Pine Cove Timbers Camp

P.O. Box 9055

Tyler, TX 75711-9055

I'll also be updating about each week on my blog - http://swyckoff.blogspot.com/ -- Check it every Sunday night for an update!

Love ya'll. More than you know.

This thing called
College
A place where we are supposed to develop in
Knowledge
Happened here in
Kansas

But I am a pool next to the lapping waves of the sandy beach,
Nice enough but
Misplaced.
So tell me
When did the flickers of inner reflection
Become too bright and start to blind
Me and you
Dulling us to the deafening cry of
Unheard hearts but
Beckoning us toward this new beginning
While bowing
To the bittersweet paradox
We call
Good-bye.

They are telling us to
Look at what is ahead.
But what if I
Focused on what’s
In front
Of me.
You
Clasp the hand that is two inches from my face
Despite the darkness of my destination
I will embrace
The tender touch of today
Because soon everything I know
Will change
This moment will never be paired with
This thing we call
“The Same”

But your bravery will be bookended
By sweet memories.
A library
Filled with novels of
Late nights. Pages of
Good decisions
And words incomprehensible due to teardrops called
Bad decisions
That beautifully decorate your
Chapters of change
That gave way to
Lines of laughter
To create space for
Paragraphs of pain
Only to include
A prologue of prayer
And finally
An epilogue of enjoyment.

So we will fade west
With the setting of the sun
But don’t let your smile
Wane with the moon
Because without this good-bye
We could never say,
I’ll see you soon.