Church Camp in Review

Church Camp in Review

Well friends, I returned from church camp yesterday feeling refreshed. I don't feel like I helped much; all I really did was make sure the 4 high school girls in my care were where they were supposed to be at all times and kept the hoard of boys following them around on a tight leash.

We'll start with the "churchie" part of camp since it is church camp. Sean Dunn-- http://championministries .org... -- was our speaker and he was absolutely amazing. He held my own and the students' attentions so well I was amazed. By the end of the week, the kids were even commenting on how interesting he was, so I highly recommend him if you might be in need of a youth speaker. He spoke on getting out of the center of the broad road and jumping over to the narrow path by letting go of whatever chains you to the road. Out of that apparently many of the campers came to him with serious issues-- self-mutilation, very dysfunctional families, etc.-- and so he spoke on those too. He also spoke on dating relationships, which I think high schoolers need instruction in so desperately. I know I did then; given I wouldn't have listened if taught, but at least I would have been exposed.

The Bailey Band-- http://www.myspace.com/bailey... -- lead our worship and gave a concert on the last night. They weren't half bad for a small time band. The bass guitarist and I have a bit of a past. Well, our dads grew up together and grandparents are still good friends. Haha. You thought I meant something else didn't you? Sorry. Upon mentioning my meeting him to my grandmother, she revealed that I've been promised in marriage to his cousin... ok, not for real, but she and his grandmother have been hoping to get us together. She says he's tall, dark and handsome... I may have to look into this. lol. And if he doesn't work out, there's always his bass playing cousin that's blond and not half bad looking either and can sing. Shesh, I have more set ups thanks to my grandmother than I care to count. I am SO glad that American society frowns on arranged marriages these days.

When not in service, the rest of the "churchie" activities were seminar type classes. Their were several to choose from; I attended some too, topics of which included prayer, how the church has lost it's focus on loving others, devotionals, and writing. I also did crafts. I made a purty painting; ok, I thought it was a masterpiece but no one else did because mine wasn't even nominated for best work of the week. :-p Learned some good stuff. In the prayer one they were teaching to agree in prayer when you're not leading, like saying "amen" or something when the prayer leader says something you agree with. I kind of liked it; I had always thought those people that did that were being rude interrupting the prayer like that, but doing so made me feel more connected to those that were praying with me and helped me to concentrate and focus during prayer too. I'll probably keep that up. In the one of the church we were challenged to get out there and actively love others like Jesus told us to. In devotions, the instructor gave some guidelines; he suggested starting with 10 minutes of silence, followed by a prayer for understanding, reading a Bible passage-- not necessarily with a study guide or a set amount, just until you feel like you've read what you're supposed to have read--, thinking about and analyzing what you've read, prayers of requests and praise and then of course not leaving what you've learned behind but applying it. I like that too. Then in writing we wrote and were encouraged to use the gifts God gave us for words. There were some amazing writers there.

Beyond that, we played some games. Had a basketball and volleyball tournament and ate some really nasty food all week long.

My girls were an interesting bunch. One had a very over bearing personality and kind of pushed the others around. They didn't seem to mind though. She has a boyfriend but flirted mercilessly all week with several boys. There were a couple nights that pebbles hit our window and I had to step out with a scowl plastered over my giggles and tell the boys to go to bed. One was a tom boy and challenged the leader of the bunch but never took it too far. A third was pretty reserved but such a sweetheart. The last is probably the biggest girly girl I have ever met. She wouldn't fart in our presence; she would excuse herself the bathroom. She also wouldn't go "#2" while at camp. That can't be healthy. She looked cute the whole week, even though the rest of us were in t-shirts and shorts.

Well, that was my week and I'm about to start another week of camp, this time a tennis camp. Wish me luck! These campers will probably be younger and I'm the only female counselor they have this week. This will be an adventure.

Oh, in case you don't have your volume up, I took off the old, non-working music and added a whole group of various songs I like. Hope you like something on the list!