and so it goes...: August 2008

21.8.08

nostalgia

.....from the greek nostos "returning home" and algos "pain"

i miss jerusalem
i miss galilee
i miss hanford
i miss big bear
i miss rancho la sherpa
i miss......

the problem with college is that one develops too many homes and too many families.


10.8.08

this is also what we did

jr. high camp 2008

4.8.08

this is what we did

logging camp 2008

3.8.08

and i'm sick...

logging camp 2008 ended yesterday at about 11:00am.....

....which means the entire staff completely crashed in order to prepare for our next week.
(2 hour naps all around!)

but oh, friends! i love what we do so much.....i've never been part of a more united team.....joshua, ben, and bethany are family. so often, i step back and wonder, "why the heck to we mesh so well?" i mean, yes, we're all just about as nerdy as people come.......complete with our linux platforms, sheet music, and settlers of catan board game......but i share like interests with lots of people. and it's not because we divulge every nook and cranny of our soul to each other........because, well.....we don't.

i think this family is unique because of our united purpose. we all desire to enable kids.....to help children experience the Gospel of Jesus Christ. we spent two weeks (probably could have gone more) planning every last detail in order to make sure that every game, every meal, every song had a purpose. sure, we had our disagreements about the effectiveness of various plans.......but we paused to listen. and we trusted.

why won't the Church do this? why won't we sit and enjoy each other and trust each other. why is it so difficult to strive for out primary objective of sharing the Gospel? i'm so discouraged by the splits that keep happening. is my sister's sexual orientation really that important if we're both feeding the hungry and clothing the naked? (excuse my naivety....but i'm only 21)

i have no doubt that because of our union as a staff, we were able to see 35 campers also bond as a family. examples:
  • when captain cornelius cuttlefish, the not so friendly pirate came in and stole the map that the campers had spent an hour searching for, they instantly mobbed together and chased him down. bethany and i were scared for joshua's life, but at the same time, it was an incredible demonstration of unity.
  • during our "loggerlympics" event, bethany and ben lead their respective sections in a spontaneous synchronized swimming event. the event would not have been a success unless the kids completely trusted their leaders and united as a family. i watched almost 20 young men pull some of the most ridiculous and utterly embarrassing stunts to "a whole new world" and "kiss the girl," because in that brief moment, they weren't self-conscious......they were excited to participate in what the group was doing
why do these kids trust us so much? and their parents too.....who leave them with us for an entire week? how do we convince the rest of the world to do the same?

the events that transpired this week were downright hilarious, inspirational, and just enjoyable. there are memories that i'll be recording here so as to avoid personal forgetfulness. you are more than welcome to continue reading, but you've already been so patient, i won't take offense if you travel to your next website instead.
  • during a conversation with one of our staff, a young man made the statement "it was almost as bad as laura on sugar!" hehehe....apparently i maintain a significant amount of energy on the job.
  • on the zip line, one young girl was completely horrified the whole way up. when she reached the top platform 30 minutes later (where i was waiting,) she clutched me so tightly........ in that moment i realized her trust was in me......not the ropes and carabiners that she should be trusting. what the heck do i do with that? i was so proud of madison.....yet completely blown away by her confidence in me.
  • one of my favorite youtube videos is a skit by the smothers brothers titled "boil that cabbage down." (courtesy to the cousin) in the middle of this skit, one brother dives into an extensive monologue concerning pumas that jump out of crevices. during planning and orientation, our staff thoroughly enjoyed this video, and i adopted the role of "puma" whenever we had down time. once the kids arrived, this inside joke concerning these "vicious beasts" blew way out of proportion, and soon i had 35 pumas chasing me all over camp. by thursday, we had various breeds of puma including the "winged puma" and the "aquatic puma." i received puma artwork in the mail, and even a song entitled "do do do do the puma."
i can't believe we're doing this one more week. i'm so physically exhausted, and my voice is completely shot. this jr. high camp that we're doing only has about 10 kids enrolled, and will be of a completely different format than "logging camp." i'm stoked for what will happen this week, but also more anxious than i was last week. i actually get to give a "lesson" about defining neighbor on monday night.......gah! i was hired to lead games!

if you're still patiently reading along, would you please pray that God would move in this next week. our agenda is still very rough and we're all very tired. of course, now is the perfect opportunity for God to move, since we lack the strength to move ourselves. i can't wait.....yet i feel so unprepared.

thanks for reading! blessings!