Things I Hope to Never Forget

Wednesdays are my favorite days at camp. Why? Because Wednesday nights we share the gospel story with the kiddos. And let me just remind you, that is what this whole thing is all about. For real.

Seeing lives changed, kids transformed: it never gets old. No matter how many weeks, how many years, I do this – I inevitably find myself with tears pooling in my eyes when I see the light come on in theirs. What? It's not like I'm emotional or anything.

Last night I walked through our "Cross Walk" presentation with Jayci before bed. And I was blown away anew by hearing the message of salvation in such a fresh way.

The walk starts just as dusk falls. It meanders through the woods beside the lake, on a dirt path lit by torches. Along the way the children encounter Pilate, get to hold and feel some of the "tools" of the crucifixion, see Jesus being beaten (or "whooped" as they describe it later)and hung on the cross, and then finally they visit the "empty tomb" and hear Mary Magdalene describe how she felt when she realized her Savior was alive. Not only are the kids moved, but I was moved too. Realizing anew how great his sacrifice was, and recognizing my own first joy in Mary's story . . . it was a powerful way to reconnect with my Savior under the stars.

And let me just tell you, there are going to some more really cool kiddos in heaven one day as a result of last night. There were LOTS of kids who made the decision to accept Christ.

One of my favorite little kiddos this week described his experience to me by saying "it feels like a big weight has been lifted off me." Wow. I dont think I even have anything to add to that. Hallelujah and Amen.

I'm all About the Fun

Normally I am adamantly opposed to playing games "just for fun." My personal motto is "if you're not keeping score, why bother?"

However, I do not have any wedding photo's for this week's I Heart Faces contest, so I figured I might as well enter in "Just for Fun" - because y'all know that the fun? I love it.

Speaking of fun, my entry is nothing if not "fun." Or cute. Whichever you prefer.
This is Nick wearing a hat which belongs to "cowboy." And yes, that is what he introduces himself as.

A Week in Review

I'm not sure how many of you have noticed how lengthy my weekend reviews tend to be - so I am not making any promises to keep it concise when I'm trying to condense an entire week.

As I already explained earlier, Monday started off a little rocky. From there, however, things only got more rocky. Oh I kid. But seriously, this was the most chaotic week of camp I have experienced in three years. Luckily (ok so I'm guessing it was more providential than lucky), we had the easiest week of campers that Camp Grace has ever seen. I even got called Ma'am, which is practically a miracle for the kids we usually work with.

We took kids on the zipline, both into the lake and 50 feet in the air. They did a great job conquering fears and learning what it looks like to step out in faith. One child, however, refused to step out in faith, meaning that Adam was stuck up on the zipline in the 100+ degree heat for over an hour. Which was really fun for him.

On Thursday night some nice folks brought stuff over for "pony rides." However, as one counselor so kindly pointed out, these were really more like "full-grown horses" than ponies. Luckily, the kids didn't mind and none of them got kicked.

And now kids are starting to arrive for THIS week's camp (clearly I'm a little behind), so let me leave you with a few more pictures and I will promise to be back soon with more updates and more of the words.

As an aside, who would have thought that having a child would make camp so much harder? Oh, I should have realized that? I can't help being a little slow sometimes. I blame sleep deprivation.

Bottle-Feeding

Since a few months ago, Jayci has been bottle-fed. Since then, measuring and mixing and shaking and warming and spilling and so on and so forth have been a part of my daily routine with Jayci. Lucky for them, these kids have also been able to experience the joy that is bottle-feeding.
Both Jayci

And some other babies

A Week's Worth of Pictures in Two Days

We've had two days of camp so far. And it is SO different than camp has been the past 2 years. Probably because we have 35 kids instead of 95, and camp is half-built so everything is sort of "jimmy-rigged" . . . never-the-less, the kids are LOVING it (and we are too).

Quote of the day:
Counselor: "well run to the cabin since you have to go to the bathroom"
Camper: "I can't run, because it makes my pee jiggle"

A Fort and Some Kids

So as it turns out, camp started off to a little bit of a rocky start. This year is our first year holding camp on our very own land (in the past, we have rented a camp). So we built camp and REALLY came down to the wire with everything. As in, we still didn't have our certificate of occupancy at 10:00am this morning, when van-fulls of kids started pulling up. So we tried to keep the kids distracted with HORSES and PUPPIES and LAKES and BALLS and HOSES and LUNCH. Small children, however, can usually be distracted for only so long before the burning questions have to be asked: 'but where will we put our stuff?' and 'where are we going to sleep?' To which I responded with my usual grace and charm: "ummm . . . but look at the miniature horses!"

Luckily (or rather, PRAISE THE LORD!) we got our certificate of occupancy after lunch, and the kids are moving their stuff into the fort as we speak!

I'll be back later this week with more updates - but wanted to share the good news!

ps - I waited to post this because I wanted to add some pictures. But unfortunately I cannot currently find my camera cord. Clearly, I am very organized. Pictures will hopefully come soon!

Unfortunate Mishaps

Ok so Adam and I spent a good deal of time preparing a truly delightful video tour of camp for your enjoyment. Unfortunately, I'm not always the brightest crayon in the box . . . and I accidentally was NOT recording when I thought I was and WAS recording when I thought I wasn't. We will try to re-record it at some point . . . but let's be honest, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high with this track record.

To make up for your loss, please enjoy what we like to refer to as our cute little inch-worm.

Our Little Inchworm from Becca Stanley on Vimeo.