My Camp Experience.

I had the privilege of serving as camp staff for my churches youth summer camp over the last week. This was probably the most overwhelming experience I have had since my wedding.


First, going into the week I was uneasy. Even though I have been teaching for a year with the High School, I knew only a small portion of the High School group, and many of them graduated this last semester and weren’t going to be at camp. So I knew I would be forced into making some new friendships and trying to connect with students in a new way. I was also worried because I have never been staff at a camp, and I knew there were many things I would have to learn along the way. But more than this, I was concerned that I would not be able to impact students lives spiritually.

But despite all this, God really did some amazing things this week. I never imagined that camp could be more intense and more fun as staff than as a student. The intensity is obvious enough, leading a bunch of young students, keeping track of them, and always engaging them and keeping them interested in what is happening can be very challenging and exhausting. But more than this, it is a blast. As a student, I remember how fun all the activities were, and how exciting it was to be around friends and having the “camp experience”. But as staff, I think not only were the events fun, but being able to connect with several different kids and in many ways be the center of their attention for a week only added to the fun.

I definitely felt that God gave me the strength to set aside some of my inhibitions and introversion in order to engage the students (especially the guys in my tent). I’m sure I made many mistakes as a staff person, but I know God carried me through the week there too. The other staff were so talented and things moved along so smoothly, that there was room for my mistakes so that things kept moving smoothly.

Did I make an impact on their lives spiritually? I really do not know. I had a group of good guys, and I raised several (what I think are) important and deep questions. I can only hope that they will continue to pray over and pursue these, and with God’s help grow in that. I do know that whether or not I individually had an impact, that I was a part of a team that as a group impacted several students. Being a part of that team, and helping out in whatever ways that I did were a blast and totally worth the sacrifice of time and energy.

I’m very excited about youth ministry now, at least much more than I was. I made several new friends, and many of them are just starting high school, so I look forward to getting to know them more over the next few years. I feel very dumb for not having been more intentional in the youth ministry over the last year. I feel convicted for not having taken it more seriously, and set aside more time for events so that I could really connect with the students.

Although the intensity and fun were greater as staff, I think saying goodbye was also harder. I remember that as a student, when camp was over it was sad because the week of fun and friends was over, and I got to return to my home and the boring routine of life. This is certainly true as staff too, but there is an added negative. This was the fact that I got to see kids that I had gotten to know (even if superficially) and love and having to watch them return to broken homes and painful lives. It was sad to see a few of the kids flourish in a loving environment, and knowing that their home is anything but that. Fortunately most of the kids I know I'll still have opportunities to interact with during youth meetings, and many of them are in solid discipleship groups.

The group is made up of solid, mature kids, but there are some that I worry for. All I can do is pray and trust that God will continue to work in their lives and protect them from circumstances outside of their control, and hope that they will continue to pursue God.
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Love/Hate Relationship Part 4

The 4th thing I hate about SoCal is the big city life. This is literally directed at the fact that LA and its suburbs cover so much land that SoCal is mostly made of concrete. It is ugly, smoggy, dirty, and busy. But more so, LA is a large city, and with that comes all of the blessings and curses of a large city. Traffic, fast paced life, impatience, frustration, and so on. There is also the culture of the big city, where everyone pursues extravagance, and everyone tries to cram as many things (whether productive or entertainment) into their days.

But I also love the big city. There are so many opportunities that I missed in Ga. that the big city offers. Not just shopping opportunities, but also music and culture. There are lots of fascinating events that take place, fancy movie theaters, concerts, and a great diversity of people. Since I came to California, I’ve seen over a half dozen amazing concerts that would not have stopped anywhere near where I lived in Ga. There is also a lot more talent in this area. It is just mind boggling how many kids are talented in some form of art or production, whether college or high schooled aged. Back east, I do not remember anywhere near this degree of talent. Further, there are so many unique and interesting people. So many varying backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives on life. It can be overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.

So that is part 4 of why I love and hate SoCal.
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Things I forgot to take to summer camp

Inevitably, I always forget to take things on trips. This year for summer camp, I did alright, but I still forgot a few important (funny?) ones:

• Money for a shower (results in interesting smells)
  
• Extra pair of shorts (also results in interesting smells)
• Beach towel (fun times drying off after shower with a sandy towel)
• Chair (I like to sit on ground anyway)
• Watch (because phone doesn't get reception)
• Sunscreen (yay for blistering sunburns)
• Real sleeping bag (Marcy's kid sized one just can't cut it)
• Audio adapters (Needed for sound system, fortunately we were able to rig up an alternative)
• Hat (also helps with sunburn, and keeps hair from whipping eyeballs while riding the buss)

So lessoned learned... maybe....
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Back

I'm back from a crazy fast paced week with Bridges youth camping out at the beautiful Lake Lopez.

It is so disorienting being back, trying to figure out whether or not I want to fall back into the inevitable "routine" of life.

It is also annoying because for whatever reason, all of my sunburns from the week decided to start hurting the moment I got home. Most of them are your standard "oops I forgot to put sunscreen there" burns. However, my feet are the most impressive: they are bright red on the tops from Tuesday @ the beach. Because of how bad that burn was, I decided to stay barefooted for most of the week (so my feet collected a nice layer of dirt). The dark brown and bright red were rimmed with the pale white where neither burn nor dirt had touched.

The best part though was Friday, during one of the games one of the staff accidentally tripped over my feet several times. This ripped off a few layers of skin, adding to the already beautiful collage that is my feet.

Fun times :)

I'll write more about this week tonight at work.
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