Camp was such a fun experience for me this year. My team of sixth graders was so great! As one of my girls pointed out - "We really know each other well and everyone is participating." It was amazing. At any given point you would find all of my girls hanging out with each other or even the whole team, boys and girls choosing to be together. Since we were learning about the life of David our teams were given names from the genealogy of David - we were Team Obed - David's great grandfather. Here's my team:
Each day for me started with my alarm beeping at 6:05 am. At about 6:50 am we would wake up our girls and Allison would read a devotion. I would then head to "Cottonwood" - camp headquarters for my daily coffee and checking my email. On to a leader meeting at 7:30 with a message from Pastor Dan. Doors opened for breakfast at 8:30 with a fun Rally at 9:30 with Silly Songs from Sara Beth. Pastor Dan then introduced the Bible Story and we headed to our cabin for Bible Story activities. Recreation was right before lunch - we played mat ball, mush ball, capture the flag, and caterpillar dodge ball. After lunch the kids went to worship seminars and I took a nap (10 to 30 minutes).
Then I took some kids hiking - they signed up for various "Find the Fun" activities. Here are pictures of my hikes from Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday:
Then the kids had free time and I usually sat with some of my friends on the main path of the camp and interacted with kids as they walked by. Here are some pictures of some of my friends. Sadly I didn't get pictures of all of them - there were so many friends there it was so great!
After free time we had dinner and then went to our team times called "Heartbeat" to prepare for the worship service. Each day we experienced a unique "Call to Worship" - one day we heard shofars calling us to worship - one was on a hill just above us and the other just below us. It gave me goosebumps!
Each day the worship services were a bit different - contemporary, gospel, liturgical, etc. The Worship Service was followed by a team time of Reflection. On Thursday night we had the privilege to participate in communion with our team. Since all of my kids have accepted Christ (one child accepted Christ that day in the Worship Service!) we did not have enough cups for everyone. Drawing on my experiences from "CRASH" I improvised and we served communion by intinction. It was such a powerful experience as each child was spoken the Truth: "The is God's body broken for you" and "This is His blood spilled for you." The kids took it very seriously as did the adults. After the kids all had their bread and juice the leaders served one another and almost in unison we all dropped our bread in the juice or on the floor! LOL! :) I think we were nervous, I know I was! That is a memory I will always cherish!
After "Reflection" we went to "Campfire" for more fun songs followed by craziness at Late Night. Lights out at 10:30 pm. Except for Tuesday and Thursday when the 6th Graders got to stay up until midnight. Here's the day in a slideshow:
On Wednesday (I think, the days really blur together) we took the kids canoeing. It was a blast! None of my kids had room in their canoes for me so Matt Madison, our Family Minister graciously let me canoe with him. We raced Kyle & Troy (we won of course!) and then rescued Kyle & Troy when they somehow lost their oars. Later Kyle and Troy sunk their boat! Those two provided all the entertainment on the lake! Here are some pictures from the canoe trip:
For a long time I have used the word "RESONATE" to describe how the Word of God speaks to me; it was exciting to be part of teaching that to kids all week.
1 comment:
Looks like TONS of fun. Memories for you and the kids as well as life change for both too. Glad you're safe and had a great time.
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