Week 2 (II)

so i think i'm giving up for a while on the whole posting pictures on here idea (gosh, where is sims when you need him?) and settling for posting on facebook for now. to view the album just see my facebook profile, or if you don't do facebook you should be able to go to this link: http://samford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033496&l=62b69&id=41804530
let me know if that works!

ok, i really need to get sleep tonight, because camp officially begins at 8am tomorrow so i'll just cover some high points from the past few days!

One day we were training the rest of staff to belay on the climbing tower and I got stung twice by an angry wasp when I rang the bell at the top of the tower. The little demon got me under the arm and got trapped in my t-shirt sleeve then proceeded to sting my thumb while I tried to shake him out of my shirt, all the while clinging onto the wall. I didn't care, though. "Yess," I thought, "Now I have something to talk about on the blog." It's a good thing the kids are coming this week. Sacrificing my bodily comfort for your entertainment is fine for a while, but really, it could get out of hand. So then I got to climb the "jacob’s ladder" (I love climbing!) and do some more high ropes. Rain and lightning ran us out early…by the way, does anyone believe you can hear lightning? Daniel, our sole male counselor, told us he could hear the lightning, but I just don't know if I believe it.
The rain let up long enough to put up mine and kristen's laundry on the clothes line and just before dinner I had this strange Impulse to go run. It looked like it would rain again but I kind of wanted to get a little wet and went anyway. Seriously, after 10 minutes I looked like we did that night we played with water balloons on the quad and jumped in the fountain. Oh, and the clothes on the line, I think they mildewed.
Then, big news! I ate eggplant for the first time in my life! Whoa. Then I tried to learn worship songs on the guitar...did I mention that I, who have been playing for, pues, maybe 3 weeks have been volunteered to help lead songs for the campers AND help teach guitar to interested campers?? I know, I don't know what they're thinking either. Anyway, trying to learn all those old praise songs you did in youth group has a) made me realize how little I like these songs, and b) made me happy because of how easy they are! Update: the callouses on my fingers are a little shiny now!

Another day began with the nice solitary task of clearing branches from road, which is nice because, oddly enough, I don’t really get much time to myself here. Then I came across a dead little fawn on the vehicle path into the camp, which was kind of sad. The others here think it was a conspiracy of a speeding, anti-social electrician seeking out small woodland creatures to kill, since two fawns were found in the same place before and after the guy came. I'm not convinced. Yet. Later, a group from the Downtown Social Club (a group of people with some mental illnesses which the church works with) came to camp, and I took them through some low ropes elements. The high point of the day was serving this group and getting to talk with them and see how they enjoyed being in the woods and completing the ropes tasks, taking such pride in this.
We started a ridiculous game of basketball as they left, and seriously, it was probably the worst display of a lack of athletic skill in the history of basketball. But, like most ridiculous things, I loved it. Lots of squealing and silliness. Also, the last student.goer, Rachel, arrived to prepare for her summer theatre program at the church and spent a few days at camp with us, and she's completely awesome. She reminds me a lot of Amber Tatum sometimes. It's funny how people can enter immediately into a group of people and fit perfectly (Olivia Carter). Anyway, I then sat on a platform 30 ft up in a tree for about 3 hours. I really like being up in the trees, but it felt like I was in a tree stand, especially after the whole deer incident.

On Saturday we had an open house at camp for church members and other people who support the camp, and it went so well! It was really nice to host people at camp again, and I got to share about the theme we have developed for camp devotions this summer ("Blaze a Trail," based on 1 Timothy 4:12). We also showed them the high ropes course...I know, it seems like all I talk about is ropes, but it's MY activity ok? geez....and a lot of them went through the course, which was really fun. This one woman in her 50's did the entire course, trying to keep her eye glasses from falling off--she was so great, because the course was too hard for some of our staff to even complete. I liked being able to coach everyone through the last difficult element. It's funny how much ropes courses affect people emotionally, both when they fail and when they succeed in completing challenges. I think I'll really enjoy ropes days this summer.

So then we came in to stay with our host family. Mine made us waffles for dinner and afterward we just sat around the table and talked. I love living with people. Sunday just consisted of church in the morning, lunch around the national mall area and walking around to the washington monument, wwII memorial and white house, father's day phone calls and discussions about how many additional snipers were turning their gaze toward us with each step we took toward the white house. I think it's a decoy, though. No way does the president actually live there....other than that, we've just tried to take it easy this weekend, because camp starts Monday (tomorrow morning!), and I am beginning to feel every minute of sleep that this is keeping me from. But I would love your prayers this week as we figure things out and pursue our purpose for being here. I have the 10-12 yr. old boys' cabin, which I hope will be a lot of fun. I ask you to pray for opportunities to clearly share the gospel of Christ in both word and deed, and for God to teach us to humbly trust in His strength and grace. I have a feeling I will be taught many things in the coming days. Pray for rest in Him.

ok, as my dear father says, it's beddybye time. i can't wait to talk to you all next weekend!