The First Six Months (+3!)

Dear Family and Friends,

It is incredible to think that we have entered our ninth month together as a married couple. Time seems to have flown by, filled with adventures, decisions, accomplishments, a little bit of chaos, and lots of camps in between. Throughout it all, it has been nothing short of joy to watch our God work in our hearts, our lives, and at the camp we’re serving at. We hope this update letter can be as encouraging to you as it has been to us and capture some of all that has been going on with Jared and I at Wolf Mountain.

Adventures

We have had so many adventures that have highlighted God’s goodness. After our honeymoon ended in September, some of our adventures have included lifeguard training, the Dickens Fair with JD’s family during Thanksgiving, Christmas in February with my family, shooting in the largest shooting range on the West Coast, and serving in other ministries. In February, we also celebrated our sixth month anniversary in Tahoe, taking in the scenery, hiking in the snow, ice skating, celebrating my birthday, and trying new restaurants. These adventures are memories and reminders that God has not only faithfully provided for our necessities, but also given us a great many blessings. Though these adventures are certainly highlights of these past few months (check out our Gallery for more pictures and details!) we don’t have to look far for other ones!

Whether we were finding skinks, snakes, or salamanders in the camp canal, riding horses around property, watching the Northern Lights from our front porch, taking slow walks together in the evening, or simply watching movies with dinner, Wolf Mountain carries with it many of its own adventures. These little moments have created memories that have made these nine months beautiful. Who says adventures have to be chaotic? (Well… more on that later.)

Decisions

On top of all our adventures, our schedule has been full with school and work. Decisions have ranged from “what time do we make dinner so that we aren’t eating at 10 PM?” to “what are the next steps for us?” One of the biggest decisions I have made this spring is the decision to start working at Wolf Mountain. As JD serves in the horse area, I will be a first aid assistant this summer and start in the front office this August.

In the horse area, JD also decided to add electricity to the horse shades, as well as bring in five more horses to the ten we currently have. These horses will allow us to bring in more campers to hear the gospel. One of these new horses is from my cousin, which will be used this summer as a demonstration in Round Pen Chapel on the importance of trusting God. These decisions are ones we are excited about, knowing God will work them for His good in this ministry and in the lives of campers.

Accomplishments

Our fall and spring has been full of projects, and while some are long-term, many projects have been finished! This Spring, JD was able to finish his plan of bringing electricity to the horse shades, allowing for more horse activities at night for Horsemanship and the electrifying of the horse fences. In addition to this huge project, JD also upgraded the horses’ watering troughs.

This May, my greatest accomplishment was finishing my AA in Psychology – Christian Counseling. This two year degree though Liberty University was an incredible time of learning and growth, and with the Lord’s help I graduated May 9th with honors! In between work and school, we also finished writing our wedding thank you cards. That labor of love was an incredible reminder of the abounding love shown to us by our family and friends. We are both so incredibly grateful and blessed by these gifts even today.

Chaos?!

With adventures, decisions, accomplishments, and camp, we have found that there inevitably comes chaos. JD and I, as we have discovered, are both prone to accidental adventures. We have been underprepared for three multiple-mile hikes so far (the picture shows us on mile six of one such hike in February!) and while we hope not to continue this specific tradition, we won’t get our hopes up too high. LifeStraws have been added to our Christmas lists!

Moments of chaos also came in the forms of camps, school, and travel as JD and I worked to balance extremely busy schedules and full workloads (September we actually spent more days off property than on!). My final year of school had started the week before we got married, and JD had many responsibilities that he worked to balance incredibly well. As we learned how to balance ministry trips, work trips, family trips, school, and work, we also have been learning how to do life together as a married couple.

It may have been a crazy nine months (especially this spring, as our staff team worked to prepare for summer). However, it was in the craziest moments where we saw some of the most laughter and prayer. So, why does chaos get its own category? I believe the chaos in our lives is not just a part of the world we live in, but also a reminder that trusting God completely is the best way to handle every part of our lives. Taking the time to pause and find the fun and the joy in the complete security that God provides even in life’s craziest moments is well worth your while.

Camp(s)

While much has happened at Wolf Mountain that we’ll talk about in the next paragraph, a fun outside ministry opportunity for JD and I was counseling at Camp Julian Oaks Youth Ministries in February. This ministry specifically reaches foster children with the hope of transforming their lives with the gospel. Being able to work alongside one another in a different ministry was an unexpected joy full of fun moments (JD was even in skits! <-).

And what of God’s workings at Wolf Mountain itself? Wolf Mountain has seen lots of camps and some amazing improvements these past nine months. In November, we held our largest camp of the year – Youth Rally. Designed for Junior and Senior High, Youth Rally is a fun one day camp that acts as a great source of outreach and opportunity to share the gospel with kids who may have never been to Wolf Mountain. Perhaps one of our largest camp projects is the new Shop location, which is the home for auto and general maintenance and our volunteers. This is the first step in the transformation and building of a New Junior Camp facility that will be at our old Shop location! Another new project in the works is a swimming pond, which is only one of many opportunities for staff, facilities, and projects that we hope to share with you soon! We are so excited to see what God will continue to do at Wolf Mountain.

At this point you must certainly be thinking, what of the many other adventures, decisions, accomplishments, chaos, and camp(s) that has happened this past nine months? We certainly can’t share them all here. However, some are captured in our Gallery, which has been updated this May! It is amazing to look back and see all that God has done and provided up to this point (this letter barely begins to cover His goodness to us). God has demonstrated His sovereignty, His goodness, His provision, His love, His peace, and His abundance these past nine months. He has provided a great church, a growing camp, a wonderful home, and a beautiful marriage. He has seen us through difficult moments and has rained on us abundant blessings. How good and amazing is our God. As I write this letter we have just wrapped up our two week summer staff training and brought in our first summer campers. We are so excited as we look to our full summer.

Our next update probably won’t come until August, as Jared and I will be working full time serving campers for the next eight weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers throughout this time and for the different ways you have demonstrated your support. It’s truly a blessing to us as we continue through our first year of marriage serving together. If you would like, check out our Praises/Prayer Requests page for our most recent praises and requests. Thank you for joining us at Wolf Mountain!

In Christ,

The Lenherts

2 responses to “The First Six Months (+3!)”

  1. tinamassa3gmailcom Avatar
    tinamassa3gmailcom

    Hi Kacey and JD!

    Just wanted to say that it was wonderful to visit with you two recently, albeit briefly and during our busyness of camp. It was encouraging to see and hear how well you are both doing in your first year of marriage and in all the ministry opportunities the Lord has opened up for you. May He continue to provide for all your needs and equip you in every way for all He has called you to. I really enjoyed this update as well!

    Blessings,
    Tina

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