Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Camp
This week I'm at Camp Selah in southern Michigan pretending to be Mr. Cool Camp Speaker Guy. I got the gig because 1) I went to college with the director's daughter (Erin Charles - she was in our wedding actually), 2) my dad is on the camp board, and 3) they needed a speaker. Julie and the kids are staying with my folks just half-an-hour down the road - speaking here was a good excuse to let my parents spend some time with the grandkids before we all move to Texas. It's really weird to be staying by myself in the speakers cabin though. Necessary, so that I actually get enough sleep to speak coherently during the sessions, but still weird to be able to sleep 7 hours straight through without getting up to deal with a screaming baby. Poor Julie! :(
I've only given two talks but I'm having a blast so far. I grew up at camp, first as a camper, then as a director's kid at a Baptist camp further up north in Michigan. I have so many memories of all the camp speakers I heard during all the many weeks of junior and senior high camps and retreats, and it's weird to think that now I'm that guy. I'm the one who will hopefully say something that will stick with them past this week, maybe even their whole lives (I know there's at least a few things that are still stuck in my brain from some of the better camp speakers.) I'm the guy who needs to be super out-going and strike up conversations with every kid I meet by asking really deep questions right off the bat (at least, that's what I remember liking about some of the better speakers - no small talk, just someone who would give you permission to think deeply about your faith right away.) I also hope I can be an encouragement to the staff this week as well, realizing that I'm just a temporary hired gun and they've been giving their whole lives to kids like this 24/6 for the past two months. This is their last week (like my camp up north they wisely saved Sr. High week for last) and I'm sure it must be weird for them to be winding down. I hope I can help them go out inspired and ready to face the real world again.
Internet access is limited and as soon as we get back we'll go into packing mode with only two weeks left till we move to Texas. So yeah, again, don't expect too many blog updates in the near future.
I've only given two talks but I'm having a blast so far. I grew up at camp, first as a camper, then as a director's kid at a Baptist camp further up north in Michigan. I have so many memories of all the camp speakers I heard during all the many weeks of junior and senior high camps and retreats, and it's weird to think that now I'm that guy. I'm the one who will hopefully say something that will stick with them past this week, maybe even their whole lives (I know there's at least a few things that are still stuck in my brain from some of the better camp speakers.) I'm the guy who needs to be super out-going and strike up conversations with every kid I meet by asking really deep questions right off the bat (at least, that's what I remember liking about some of the better speakers - no small talk, just someone who would give you permission to think deeply about your faith right away.) I also hope I can be an encouragement to the staff this week as well, realizing that I'm just a temporary hired gun and they've been giving their whole lives to kids like this 24/6 for the past two months. This is their last week (like my camp up north they wisely saved Sr. High week for last) and I'm sure it must be weird for them to be winding down. I hope I can help them go out inspired and ready to face the real world again.
Internet access is limited and as soon as we get back we'll go into packing mode with only two weeks left till we move to Texas. So yeah, again, don't expect too many blog updates in the near future.
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