Girls Camp!!!!!

Another year of camp has sadly come and gone. Not sad because it came, just sad because it's gone for another whole year. Our theme was "Reflecting the SON". I think the statistics were something like 200 some girls (including counselors and staff), 33 churches, 10 states and 3 countries represented. It was incredible. We started the weekend off doing cardboard testimonies for the girls. If you've never seen it or don't know what it is, go to youtube and searc cardboard testimonies. It was really powerful and emotional. I think about everyone was crying by the end. Just seeing everyone's "before and after" testimonies written out, saying "look what Jesus did for me" was very touching.

We had indoor/outdoor game time. I was helping with outdoor games. We did frisbee football (boo) soccer with an exercise ball (looked fun) and a relay where we passed an orange down the line with our necks (hilarious). Except, as you can see in the picture, sometimes there was a little bit of cheating going on. But it was still funny. We did it again using water balloons, then had a huge water balloon fight.

The counselors did a skit for the campers about how we are apples in an orchard and we need to stay at the top of the tree. The best fruit is at the top because it's closer to the sun, whereas the apples at the bottom may get picked first, but that doesn't mean they're better. We definitely went the guy route with the skit, but recognized how staying close to the SON goes for every area in our lives. That was a God thing. We practiced one time. Practice was unorganized, chaotic and confusing. But when it came time to do the skit, God took over and it played out nearly perfectly.

Saturday morning Gloria and LeaAnn showed up wearing the same shirt as me. Or maybe I was wearing the same shirt as them. Either way, we all matched:)

Saturday we went to Hermann's lake and much to my dismay I forgot my camera. I was not pleased with myself. But it was a great afternoon. Saturday night, of course, was skits. Ours was pretty funny if I do say so myself. All we did was take turns telling a laffy taffy joke, but we all had different laughs. Funny laughs. And when we all did our laughs together you couldn't help but laugh for real.

This is my awesome cabin, minus Alex and Christi. And Jennifer who was extra staff. They had already left when we took the picture. The other girls are (L to R) Claire, Jessica, Sam, Kyra, Mandy, Kendra (not a camper, just extra staff) and Anna. With 12 people in our cabin we managed to cover 11 churches.

Here's Alex. I unfortunately didn't get a good picture of Christi.

And my amazing co-counselor Javon. I've known her for quite awhile but never had the chance to really get to know her. Now I've had the chance and I must say, she's a dandy! And just a disclaimer, the picture was taken after just a few hours of sleep and several shots of espresso:)

Here's my Athens girlies. Jessica and Roslyn. I'm so glad they went. And I'm really glad they were in the car on the way home with me, keeping me awake. It took us about 9 hours to get home. We were plenty ready to be out of that car by the time we pulled into the church. But it was great to be able to spend some quality time with them. I love them!

So, that's the end. The emotions coming off of camp have been almost as strong as the emotions coming off of a great work trip. That's how great the weekend was. But now I'm tired and trying to get rested up before I head back up to Illinois again on Thursday. Then that should be the end of my IL trips for awhile. For which I will be glad. I love it when I'm there, but all the driving really wears me out. So, until next time..... ta ta!