It was a bittersweet ending! I LOVED LOVED LOVED camp! More so than I ever remembering liking camp as a youth! For me, this was the best week of camp I have ever experienced! I sure hope the kids feel the same way I do. With that said, I am tired! The kids were tired. It was time to come back to reality- and squeeze in a little sleep! I will miss camp this week, and miss the staffers that our kids really got attached to!
I thought about camp today as I drove from Clinton to Natchez to Baton Rouge to Natchez to Woodville. This camp awed me. I have been apart of Junior Camp (a camp we used to put on for our kids at Parkway, but put a pause on it a few years ago) since I was in first grade, either as a camper, a visitor, or a leader. I love junior camp. It was a sad day for me when the decision was made to put a pause on camp, but I knew it was absolutely the best decision for many reasons. I was very sceptable about going to another camp. I didn't want to send our kids to a camp where the focus was going to be on track times and recreation. I wanted our kids to go to a camp where the Gospel was the focus. Our kids went to Centri- Kid last year, but I was unable to attend,so I still did not have a good picture of Centri- Kid. I will say, after going this year, and being apart of camp, I was awed every day. The camp pastor has talents for teaching the Gospel that are unexplainable. He crunched toes, had them laughing, and had them begging for more of the word in every service. He was not afraid to approach topics with the kids that are rarely discussed with adults. He was able to take these topics, Spiritual Gifts for example, and convey them on child's level without sacrificing any depth. It was truly an awesome experience to be apart of. The worship leader's main focus was worship- not rock band like you tend to see at some camps. He took time to explain the lyrics of the songs to the kids and then explained how they related to the message. He used the worship services as a classroom to teach the campers what worship was, how to be reverant during worship, how to worship,etc. That was also an awesome experience. By the end of the day, the kids had no doubts about what the message of the day was. It was conveyed to them in everything they did - bible study, rec, track times, worship, morning meeting, and the late night party. I give props to the CK3 staff and leaders for a job well done. It was truly a life changing week for everyone in attendance.
This week also gave me a lot of ideas. I have been struggling with several things and trying to figure out how to get different ideas to work and several ideas and plans were developed this week--these things will be discussed later.
Now on to the group... We took 18 AWESOME kids to camp! They were wonderful!! I am so excited to have been able to spend a week with them! I also had 3 WONDERFULLY AMAZING adults with me! Without the three of them, we would have all been in trouble this week. They held us together and really helped out!
Now onto the pictures!!
Well after all of that, the computer will not allow me to upload the pictures today... here is a link to my facebook album that has all of the picures from camp... the news one are towards the end. Here is a group picture!!
***facebook isn't cooperating either- here is the video i made that contains all of the pictures from camp. the songs are songs we sang at camp!!
Please click on the link below and it will take you to the video!
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=b2bef99d5f45a195967767&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url
We have signed up for Centri- Kid 2011!!! It will be July 18-22 at Milsaps College in Jackson, MS!! We are very excited about this!! We have be having informational meeting in August to sign- up and get deposits! You will not want to miss Centri- Kid 2011! The theme will be God Provides! We will be doing fundraisers again, so be on the look out for information for Centri- Kid 2011
Awesome! I've done Student Life for Kids a couple of years. I'm really glad to hear that your CentriKid experience was so positive. Also love that even though he's not sound guy any more, Steve Timmons still goes to kids camp. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSaw your blog listed on your mom's. I knew I recognized somebody in that picture! Danielle Russell is my first cousin. Small world! :)
ReplyDeleteBro. Joey,
ReplyDeleteSteve was awesome as an adult leader. I'm glad that he was able to shine away from being the sound guy. He has such a gift with sharing the gospel with kids. He was able to take the lessons the kids were learning during the day, and really break it down with them when we were in church group devotions. He, and all of those adults, are awesome! p.s. we miss y'all!!!
Mrs. Penny,
It is a small world. We LOVE Mrs. Danielle!! I would be so lost without her! She is an awesome worker, and brings WONDERFUL ideas to the table! She has been my lifesaver numerous times!