Tuesday, March 1, 2011

S-T-O-K-E-D

I spent this past weekend in the mountains of Ramona (still not sure where that is) for Wyldlife Winter Camp.  It was probably one of the most epic weekends of my life.  Exhausting but epic.  There is something about Jr. Highers that is just exhausting.  We were at a camp called Oakbridge that was one of the coolest camps I have seen.  Ok, I havent seen many, but still it was so sweet.  They had a skate park, high dive, basketball courts, none of which we could use because it snowed almost 6" on Saturday night.  As someone who spent 4 years in Colorado, the snow is something that I have grown to love so that was a special treat from God.  Here are some other highlights:

*Dancing to Justin Bieber till the early morning hours
*Having club every day/night
*Program and entertainment night
*Double tap (Its a pretty sweet game.  If you want to learn just ask. :))
*Silent football (I actually never played this but watching the kids play was fun!)

There are so many other things that happened and I could spend hours telling you all about it.  But I think for me the best part was the relationships and conversations that I was able to be involved in.  Camp is a unique thing because as leaders we dont have to plan anything.  Normally it falls on us to plan games, talks, food ect. but camp is different.  All of our attention can be on the kids and spending time with them.  Camp creates space for conversations that club just cant.  And for me that is what its all about.  Its the reason I became a leader and a big reason that I joined Circles.  Being able to pour into these kids and simply love on them as Christ would is such a wonderful blessing. 



This weekend was an awesome reminder of what is important and what I should be focusing my life on.  When I get wrapped up in and frustrated with work, family, and life I can look back at the time I spent at camp with those kids reminds me what it is all about.

Here are a couple pictures too...

7 comments:

  1. I went to Oakbridge when I was in Jr. High! Amazing! So Ramona is in San Diego County. It's North East of San Diego by about 35 miles (I live in San Diego). So now you can know where you were! ;-) I loved going to camp when I was younger. It was the highlight of my year. And I remember looking up to the counselors so much. What you do matters. Thanks for serving those kids ;-)

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  2. Awesome! Glad you had a great time. What you said about the kids reminding you what it's all about...that reminded me of Nouwen, the part where he mentions that worrying/focusing on the kingdom of God replaces our worries about ourselves.

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  3. SO FUN!!!! Thanks for sharing Kate. I love hearing stories of opportunities like this. I too work with junior high and high schoolers so I can relate to the awesomeness these moments =) LOVE IT!!

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  4. camp is the best. I absolutely agree with everything you said. I was a jr. high summer counselor a few summers back and the days we didn't have to plan anything, like dland days and what not, were great because my mind got to just be with the kids. double tap is SO fun! def one of my favorite games! and if silent football is one you play in the dark, then that's super fun to watch too. p.s. I love your first photo a lot-alot. great emphasis and lighting!

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  5. So great. As a parent, even of a 1.5 year old, I really appreciate the time, commitement, friendship, and love that you are pouring into these girl's lives. Thanks for giving of yourself--over and over again.

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  6. Those pictures are sick. I love the one of you an Cate on bathroom duty. It so awesome to hear how God can reveal so much through your girls' lives. Reading your post and seeing your pics got me so excited for the winter camp I'm going to at the end of this month with 3rd-6th graders!

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  7. Speaking from my past history of working at a summer camp for 3 years I can totally relate to everything you have said. There is something about being lost in the mountains that brings out the most amazing experiences with God. Anytime I hear about someone that had the opportunity to hang out at a summer camp I just get so jealous that I am not there. I'll have to talk to ya sometime about your experience :)

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