Camps Revisited: Week 6 - Dayspring

Week 6: Dayspring - Dayspring has always held a special place in my heart because I will forever remember it as a camp where I made bold decisions to live, love, and lead differently. And I can honestly say that I honored most of those commitments. Going into this week I had the attitude of "If I can just make it through this week, then I'm done! I'm free!" I was already looking to the other side of the river without looking at what was even in the water! That's when I realized that my attitude totally sucked! And once again, God showed me that he knows exactly what I need and that it wouldn't be any more than I could handle. Dayspring is a magical camp - you know, where things happen and you're like "How did God do that!" This year I lead the graduate group and I couldn't have had a better group. Even though we didn't get to do all the special privileges like grads of the past, it was so incredible to be able to sit and admire God's goodness. While I was struggling in the "pong-game" of wanting to be home and finished with camps and trying to be love God, love people, and love camps, it wasn't until later that I would realize the fruit of my efforts. Just this past Sunday we had students share their testimonies from camp. I was able to sit with a few of the students and talk about their experiences and that is when I became thankful for enduring 6 weeks of camp. Other highlights from this week included grad group domination, Jello in my bed, a swim in the bathwater lake, and our midnight canoe trip with star tripping.

Good times, good camps, goodnight! 

Camps Revisited: Week 5 - Tweens and Growin' in Grace

Week 5 - Tweens and Growin' in Grace - Oh dear, where do I even begin with this one. I was hesitant to sign up for this camp because of my obvious growing exhaustion with Summer Camps and because it was organized through the United Methodist Conference. Little did I know of what I would be in for. Really the only reason why I decided to go is because my sisters were going as campers and I knew that I would love to spend a week with them. But oh, oh, oh, I completely forgot what it's like to be in 6th grade. If I ever have a kid of my own, I will mandate that they skip the 6th grade because I just don't think I could bear to watch them go through it! It's such an awkward transition time both physically and emotionally and there's just too many personalities in between. I'm so glad that I'm certain I will never be in that horrid grade again!

Anyhoo, as I was preparing for the week I realized something big. I moved out of the house when Caroline was just 6 and in kindergarten and Katie was only 4 meaning that I have had very little spiritual influence in their lives.  So, in going, I was anxious about what God was going to do during our sister time. When I think about it now, I am so glad that I went. Here's why: organizationally the camp was equal to or worse than blind people touring the Grand Canyon, the overall program and teaching materials were probably written for tree-hugging do-do birds, and the team building activities were intended for a weekend at OU/Texas. Looking past all that, and in such a true showing of His character, God showed up and showed us that He didn't need flashy lights, rehearsed programs, or even a worship band - He just needed willing hearts. And guess what?! Lives were changed. (I'm writing this next part with a huge lump in my throat) My sister Caroline was in my small group and during our last session we asked the kids to tell about a time in their life when they first knew that God was real. Caroline responded with telling the group that she first knew that God was real when she saw our love for Him at our wedding. (Gulp!) She said that she has been encountering God every day ever since. !WOW! I never knew! Both of my sisters were changed that week and now live with a fresh perspective of what it means to be a Christ follower. Other highlights from the week include fun dance parties, ice cream in a bag, the "prayground" and excellent 6th grade quotes including these two gems:

Maegan: (after just waking up) "Ewww, my breath smells like a pet store!"

AND

Ashley: "Hey Amy, let's have a belching contest."

Me: "Um, how 'bout not. Belching is unladylike."

Ashley: "Fine then, I WIN!"

Camps Revisted: Week 4 - Youth Force

Week 4: Youth Force - This was the camp that I was the most anxious about because I felt the most unprepared for it. Perhaps it was because I had never been or again, perhaps it was because I was not in charge. My role this week however was a familiar one - feed 200 students. I consider myself a pseudo-expert on feeding large quantities of people especially in lieu of my inability to cook properly for myself. But oh, when it comes to purchasing mass quantities of lunch meat and pizza, I order without hesitation. My other anxiety came from the fact that we were to be in Lawton for an entire week. Since 2002 I have developed a rather unhealthy hatred for Lawton and there I was to be living in Lawton, eating food from Lawton, and breathing Lawton air for an entire week. ( I just realized that while writing this that I was making a horrible scrunched up nose face.) I have no real reason for my disgust of this town except for what is hearsay. To my surprise, I actually kind of liked Lawton, or at least tolerated it. I learned to humble myself this week. And to do that meant not only serving in a town I didn't particularly care for, but it also meant loving strangers who made their homes there. I was amazed as I visited the 14 job sites where teams of junior high and high school students worked in the hot sun to re-roof and re-side the homes of Lawton families. And we got to know some of the homeowners too. Their stories were even more humbling. All in all, Youth Force Lawton taught me a great deal about serving the needy and loving the poor. Other highlights from the week include getting to be the shower cheerleader, the super awkward hugging man at Pizza Hut, the amazing 30-foot long ice cream sundae, and the best dance party of the summer.

Camps Revisited: Week 3 - VBS

Week 3: VBS Sonworld - It used to be a dream of mine to be one of Barney's playhouse gang. And I'm not talking when I was a little kid. I'm talking like 13 or 14 years old I authentically wanted to audition to be in a Barney video. Why? Because I have a serious passion for queer songs and even gayer dance moves. I love it. So for VBS I naturally have to surround myself with all the music, singing, and dancing that is so teapot. (Put your hand out like a spout and you'll understand what I'm saying) This year our music was surprisingly High School Musical and, as you can imagine, I came up with some pretty inventive dance moves. Mind you, I choreographed every step in the car on the way to and from Dallas for my cousin's wedding. Did I mention the weddings I've been to this summer? That's a whole other blog. Anyway, VBS, songs, dancing, little kids. We had this one song in particular that we were practicing in which they galloped as if riding a horse. To better get the in the galloping spirit, I suggested that they name their horse. Instead of hearing the normal "Bob" or "Fred" generic horse names, two boys shouted out "My horse's name is Fohan!" and "Yeah! And mine's name is Shadesey!" And there you have it, Fohan and Shadesey, the VBS horses of the apocalypse. Other highlights from this week included getting to hang out with my wonderful VBS dance crew, figuring out that the lyrics were actually saying "Lord" and not "perv," and getting triple sick with strep throat, laryngitis, and bronchitis.

Camps Revisited: Week 2 - Falls Creek

Week 2: Falls Creek - I know what you're thinking, but no, I am not pregnant. And forevermore when someone knocks the name of Falls Creek for being a camp of a bunch of sex-crazed teenagers, I will defend it and say "sex-crazed teenagers who love the Lord." And I'll go ahead and say it - my favorite week of camp. Wopsle led worship for Eagle Heights Baptist Church out of Stillwater and I got to go as a small group leader. I was nervous because of all the hype and because I knew not one student but they all took me in and loved me like one of their own cowpokes. I gotta say, Falls Creek is incredible. For those of you who may not know, Falls Creek happens something like 10 straight weeks in the summer every summer now for like 5,000 years. And it. is. intense! An evangelical based camp, students really do invite their friends which contributes to the some 6,000 people that come each week. And they do a great job of leading students to make decisions for Christ. Each morning a bell would ring from salvations the night before. One ring for each commitment. I never got tired of hearing that bell early in the morning. Not only is the evangelism spot on, but they also do an incredible job of praying with students, backing up their decisions with Scripture, and helping to know what their next steps should be. Everything was done with excellence, from registrations and free time activities to production and sowing long lasting seed. I may have just convinced myself to become a Baptist! Other highlights from the week include fishing each night in the creek and catching a bangload of fish, cabin food, theme night dress-up, and making lots of fun Stillwater friends.

Camps Revisited: Week 1 - Disciple Camp

We're baa-aack!It feels so good to kick back, melt into the couch and re-enter the blogosphere! If I could only express to you, Internet, how good it feels to sleep in my own bed, not wake up at 6am, nor have to sweat it out in the dry dry heat 10 hours a day - then you might want to roll around nekked in a pool of chocolate pudding like I do. Yeah, it feels that good to be home.
But it wasn't all days of plastic mattresses and thigh chaffing. No, each camp was unique and had it's moments of hilarity and real life encounters with the Living God. So each day or so I'll be posting a recap of each of my 6 weeks of Summer Camp. After that, I promise to resume a regular blogging schedule.

• Week 1: Disciple Camp - Ahhh, the kickoff to Summer Camps, little did I know what I would be getting myself into. Heart O'Hills in Tahlequah, OK has gotta be one of my favorite campgrounds because of the countless memories I have there. From the retreat where we played a game involving "purple prophylactics" (Thank you Timmy Coleman), to the two wonderful years spent with SJ Summer Camp, way too many Tahlequah hospital visits to count, and onto my 6th year of Disciple Camp. That camp and I have some history. This year was different...and difficult because of that. No longer was I in charge of the camp that was going on there, nor did I even have the opportunity to lead a small group. Instead, I was in charge of testimonies where each day I had the chance to sit with students and listen. I loved this because I love to hear about life change and lately I have been craving it. Camps are like a smorgasbord of God at work in the lives of teenagers. You get to sample nearly every experience and taste the goodness of Jesus Christ. I got full because of it. Some other highlights from the week included spending time with Toren Silas, seeing students conquer their fears on the trust fall, and eating way too much Arti-Toast at the famous Sam and Ella's restaurant.

"Board, Bra"

This year we spent Spring Break a little differently than in years past by going on a ski trip. Now normally I'm against ski trips in youth ministry, but for this group, it was just what they needed. Late Friday night, we loaded up and headed to Crested Butte, Colorado. It was refreshing to see snow since, as I have referred to before, Duncan seems to be a weatherless wasteland. I've been skiing a few times before but since I decided to snowboard, there were a few things that I learned/blocked from my memory.

1. Elevation - Whew! Crested Butte sits around 12,000 ft. which makes for me and my little lungs being extremely out of breath. Also, the dichotomy of the snow and the sun makes no sense to me but I am happy to report that only my lips got burned. Mr. Wopsle, on the other hand, no so lucky.
2. Fatigue - Ugh! I came to board, not walk. The layout of Crested Butte requires lots of uphill walking. Couple that with being 12,000 ft. closer to the sun, and it was HOTT! I don't remember being so worn out in all my life. Every muscle and joint in my puny body aches with snowing pains.
3. Snowboarding is very different from skiing...in a good way. I was not so good at skiing mainly because of my noodle legs and aerodynamic frame. I felt much more in control of a snowboard because both of your legs are strapped down thus eliminating the independent nature of the limbs. However, hands down, heads and shoulders, far more than, and any other trite expression you can think of, the lift and getting up aspect of boarding is the most exhausting/stressful time.

Needlesstosay, we are now 2 full days home, and I continue to feel the lactic acid burning in my muscles. I am very excited about going back again to board more. And yes, I do feel extra sk8r style when I get to say "board," bra.