This past weekend was spent at Becca’s Lake House for our MSC FISH Staff Work Weekend. It’s so crazy to think back to when we left College Station in May and expected this to be the first time we were all reunited. Life has not been as we had expected, but it has been a blessing spending some of my summer days with these people. However, one of my very best friend’s, Kandace Beall, was a camp counselor at Kanakuk this summer. She was sharing her love for the Lord and passion for serving with high school girls for the past two months. It felt as if she were in a different world—with no air conditioning, cell service, or make-up. I was able to talk to her on her off days, but I have missed her more than anything! On Friday, we met up around 4:30pm to finally be reunited before staff work weekend. Our reunion may have been in the middle of a sketchy Wendy’s parking lot, but it so sweet to say the least. The weekend kicked off with a group dinner at Chili’s and we couldn’t have asked for better service. Even though the waitresses begged us to fill out countless surveys and continued flirting with our boys, our dinner was great because it was spent all together. I was so thankful to finally see everyone’s smiling faces in the same place at the same time. That evening we were able to catch up and relax out of the dock before we began our work. We brainstormed recruitment ideas for MSC FISH, since recruitment is the key to making our organization successful. Once we planned our theme and agenda, we spent the rest of the night hanging out with some incredible people. Although the boys have grown weirder this summer, there never was a dull moment. I stayed up way too late, talked way too loudly, and asked way too many questions… but I didn’t want to miss out on a thing. Saturday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast on the lake, and began our meetings. We filled in our planners with a million dates and I started to feel overwelmed. Informationals, interviews, applications, revelation night, and so much more… FISH round two and we couldn’t be more excited. We broke into our committees, so I met with Kyle Field Day. We have already began preparing for this great event and all of our meetings for the upcoming semester have been planned. Once we finished our hard work, we played out on the lake the entire afternoon. Everyone was floating on rafts, catching up, joking around, and jumping from the roof. It was a fun afternoon relaxing with this perfect group of people. Saturday night was by far one of my favorite memories from my entire summer. As the storm rolled in, all of the FISH ladies gathered on the patio and started a dance party. We were free-styling, line-dancing, and even choreographing our own routine. After hours of practice, we performed our dance for the boys. It was perfect and so were each of these ladies. It couldn't have been more random, but our dance party was an absolute blast. I feel so blessed to have been chosen to continue carry on the great legacy of MSC FISH for generations to come. Each and every one of these people inspire me to work harder, serve more, laugh often, and embrace life. They are my best friends and I am confident our friendships will continue to grow throughout this next year. This weekend reminded me of all of the exciting things to look forward to in the Fall; However, as exciting as the fall will be… there is still so much more excitement for the remainder of the summer. I drove home early Sunday morning from work weekend in order to make it home for our family vacation. Jason’s days in North Carolina have come to an end and his job has officially moved back to Texas. NOTHING could make my heart any happier. The Engle’s are setting sail and cruising off into the sea for a week. We have been counting down for this day to finally come. Everyone is home, all our bags are packed, and the party has just begun. Bon Voyage!
