We had a smaller group from Tulsa than expected; only fifteen, but that still was easily the most of any group. (By state, of course, Missouri had the most people overall.) The guys were Bennett, Wesley DeSpain, Trenton and Caleb, and then rookies in Wesley's brother Bailey and the Coxes' cousin Joe. The girls were Laura, Courtney, Callie, MattieGrace, Vivian, Lydia, and then rookies Chloe(the DeSpains' sister), Kate and Hope.
There were 25 guys, and about thirtyish girls; the final count was about 57 campers, so by far the smallest year that I've ever seen. I knew all the counselors; Tim, Brother Larry, Tom Henry, Curtis, Mrs. Boyer, Robin, Janets Crawford and Pokorny, Rachel, Miss Kathy, and then new camper-turned-counselors Anne and Abbey. Trevor Johnson spoke during the group sessions, and his wife and kids were back again, too. The camp pastor this year was Mark Webb from Mississippi, and his sermons were from the elements of Jesus' life that Luke looked at specifically, or gave more detail to than others did.
The camp books had a page dedicated to camp history for the first time; which was awesome. During the counselors' meeting on Tuesday morning we looked at a lot of pictures from 1985(the first year) and heard lots of stories about how awful Camp Sonrise was. (Ryan and Mary had both talked in earlier years about the electrifying showers, and Mrs. Boyer added that her first year as counselor she broke her ankle falling down a hill.)
Except for sermon notes, and scorekeeping for cabbage ball, I kept absolutely zero written record on what happened during the week. So what follows won't be chronological, and it probably won't be as detailed.
Things were really fixed up this year; the outer left cabin "ghetto" was walled over(insert complaining here...though it probably was a health hazard). The ceilings and walls of the guys' cabin had received new plywood covering and paint; the cabin had a completely new metal roof, replacing the shingles, and the chapel had gotten a total makeover; lights, paneling, carpet, everything. Most of the mini golf holes had been recarpeted as well. And the concrete of the tabernacle floor had been stained.
Almost nobody got hurt; which was great, and there weren't very many rule infractions, either. So that definitely helped, too. Forrest did break his nose digging a volleyball on Thursday night, and one girl got pretty dehydrated Monday/Tuesday, but other than that I don't think there was anything serious.
There was a food fight at lunch on Wednesday, which resulted in pudding splashed across several backpacks, and scrapes caused by fork attacks. But we learned later why that fight took place, and while it wasn't a good thing, it happened for a pretty good reason. Apparently one of the Beth-Eden staff was being a huge jerk in general, and he kept pestering Audrey in particular, causing a general freakout among everyone on the Black team. ("Freakout!" actually became the Black rally cry.) Her brothers and most of the Tulsa guys came to her defense by retaliating at the guy somehow over lunch.
There were a lot of hijinks in the cabins all week. Caleb Freeland and the Bebouts were playing pranks on everyone, beginning with moving a mattress into the shower. "What are you doing?" "I thought you said there weren't any counselors in here right now?!" Forrest hisses at Caleb. "We're moving this bed into the shower." "Who's is it?" "Drew Brashers's." "Uh-huh....Is it wet?" "Nope! We're just hiding it here." "Why?" "Cause it'll drive him crazy. Is that okay?" I think a minute. "That's hilarious. Go for it." One of the younger Mississippi kids, watching the scene, says, "That guy's my new favorite counselor." Drew then stole Hunter's mattress as payback.
A couple nights later Caleb F. and Chris Underwood markered on the faces of most people who were asleep, using a Sharpie I'd found in my backpack.
I think I must've been influenced a lot by Jon to allow/help with those pranks. But it was fun; and they'll remember how they had a blast doing all that stuff. And maybe Jed's comment about the spirit of adventure had something to do with it, too.
There was also a bunch of Nerf gun battles almost every night; which can be quite intense in such a confined space as the cabin.
Tim's nephew(and rookie) Matthew kept incessantly setting his flashlight on strobe mode and shining it in everyone's eyes; that was a little frustrating at times. Thus he will likely forever be known camp-wise as "Strobe".
I went with most of the guys down to the hidden meadow soccer field each day while the girls sang; playing on Tuesday, talking to Christian on Wednesday and serving as a goalie and dealing with a swarm of wasps flying around the whole time on Thursday. I just kept hoping none would land in my hair like that one last year did to Ashland. And the following mangled Scripture came to mind: :"When you encounter wasps of various kinds, consider it all joy; by doing these things for them, you have done them for me." (James 1:2 and Matthew 25:45)
I was assigned to work cabbage ball solo; which felt weird, taking over Brother Larry's spot there. And also, probably a nearsighted guy whose knowledge of baseball rules is shaky isn't the best candidate for serving as umpire? I tried to call things as best I could, but I got a lot of flak most games. Thankfully, Miss Kathy, Abbey and Janet P all helped out at various points with second-base calls.
The new cabbage ball I got from Amazon got broken in pretty well; the games used both mine and Brother Larry's well-used mushball, with the switches depending on how play was going. Remembering that Ryan, Dylan and I weighted down the archery targets with chunks of firewood, I pulled a couple chunks out of the woodpile down by the tabernacle to mark the pitcher's circle and Catcher Safety Zone. And not wanting a repeat of the time that Samara got a bat thrown at her ankle(she had a bruise for two months), I created a rule that a flung bat was an automatic out. It wasn't very popular, but no one got hurt.
White and Yellow started the Tournament Challenge in cabbage ball; their game went back and forth for five innings before White erupted for 18 runs in the final inning; the final score was 25-6, which everyone talked about for most of the week. Mrs. Boyer even opened the lunch line by announcing "if your team got destroyed this morning, go ahead!" (Red was also obliterated in volleyball by Green; as best I could piece together, the final score was 15-8, 15-1, 21-0).
Red beat Yellow 8-6 in a fast-moving back-and-forth game during Worst/First Tuesday night. (It went seven and a half innings.)
Red won Wednesday morning 7-4 over Blue in another fast-moving game, which went eight and a half innings.
In the second Worst/First through Thursday morning mist, Yellow defeated Black in the rematch by a 7-4 score in eight full innings.
And to wrap things up, Green exploded for 13 runs in an extremely-slow-paced game to beat Black 16-0 in four innings, winning the Tournament Challenge with six points.
Most of the great camp songs were sung again - Daniel 4:35, "In Christ Alone", "Conquering Now and Still to Conquer", "Are You Washed in the Blood?", the camp "Come Thou Fount", among others.
For the talent share, the Grace Bible-Tulsa youth group sang a couple songs, including "Come Praise and Glorify"; the Fergusons sang the Chelsea Moon version of "How Firm a Foundation", the Knapps played several awesome fiddle/cello/piano pieces, the Underwoods and Dischers had some fantastic songs, including a teamup effort. Courtney and I did the Studio C sketch Evil Memory Lapse, she as Jemima and me playing Professor Murdoc, drafting Caleb as the soldier and Audrey as my assistant Dr. Jenny Graves, since she'd borrowed Courtney for The Triune Tale of Diminutive Swine last year. My SWAT T-shirt wasn't worn, but I did use it as a prop, on Courtney's suggestion. On a rather disappointing note, there was nothing done by Tim, Mrs. Boyer, or Miss Kathy this year. The talent share went by very quickly, probably 45 minutes until some encore performances, and still there was about a half-hour gap until general session started.
Rachel said the skit reminded her of Megamind; and Janet C thought it was hilarious, especially since it was clean. Tom joked that I better not go all Hollywood on everyone. Maybe the humor was too subtle or something - Courtney said a lot of people were a bit confused. Caleb Freeland asked me the next day, "Do you guys watch Studio C?" I grin and answer "Yep!" He laughs. "I thought that was one of theirs." (Comparison of our favorite sketches commenced here.)
Some of the girls asked for a tour of the guys' cabin once we'd gotten it all cleaned up, and their reactions were entertaining. They said it was like visiting a prison. Sure, it's not fancy. But it works. (Besides, footballs and karate kicks tend to break stuff and cause holes in walls and floors...and that's why we can't have nice things.)
The Gum Tree was freshly decorated, as it should be. (Old picture from several years ago.)
The general session sermons were from Luke, and going in order from Monday night, from Luke 1:1-4, which was basically an introduction to the book, and educated guesses about the character, life and work of Luke. Much like Mark worked closely with Peter, Luke worked closely with Paul. Luke's Gospel tends to emphasize the same things a lot of Paul's letter did; and it's written as a story in tone(which is why it's always been my favorite Gospel). Each Gospel writer stressed different points, as Mr. Evans' choir explained to Jane Blonde in The Mystery of the Manger, probably to reach different people. Luke was a careful historian and likely personally interviewed many of the key characters of Jesus' story , since he states in v3 that he has "carefully researched everything since the beginning".
Tuesday morning was from Luke 7:11-16, showing how Jesus' raising of the widow's only son in that little town called Nain connected with Old Testament history. It featured a lot of explanation about the area that Nazareth is in; how drenched in OT events the area is.
More interesting facts about Israeli geography in Tuesday night's sermon; apparently Jericho and Jerusalem are only separated by about fifteen miles, but Jerusalem is 3,500 feet above sea level, and Jericho is a thousand feet below sea level. And the road goes through an enormous dark canyon the locals call "the Valley of the Shadow of Death". In other words, this was(and is) the perfect place to get robbed. Which is exactly what happens to the traveler in the parable Jesus tells of in Luke 10:25-37. Here's something I hadn't thought about before; maybe the priest couldn't help the man, because he had his own job or task to do at the moment. I suppose that would have been God's will, too, one of those mysterious ways it works sometimes, that the right man would come along. The Levite was probably a kind of priest's assistant, so maybe he couldn't help, either. Or maybe he just didn't want to get involved. And then there's this Samaritan, of all people....Samaritans were kind of halfbreeds, and fully outcasts. Also, they hated the Jews almost as much as the Jews despised them. John Dugas preached from John 4 about the Samaritan woman at the well a couple months ago; that helped a lot in understanding this passage. Anyway, this Samaritan is the one to help the man, and in so doing, serve as the example for what it means to love one's neighbor. The lawyer asking the question that started this parable is looking for a loophole to close off the "neighbors" circle, but Jesus makes it clear that what the law demands is that anyone we come across that needs help is our neighbor. Which is basically everybody. And by helping that person, that is love. It's more of a chosen willful action than it is an emotion, though emotion sometimes goes with the action. Mr. Webb defined it like this: "A self-sacrificing determination to do good for the other person, as God defines what 'good' is." That's...really specific. And very hard. And highly encouraging. And really convicting. It goes back to the idea of Jesus becoming a servant, really. (Mark 10:45)
Didn't get any notes on Wednesday morning's sermon on prayer from Luke 11:1-10, but Wednesday night was the entirety of Luke 15 on the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son. I hadn't really connected before that they were all really parts of the same speech; or the common themes of lostness and grace. The stakes keep rising throughout the story; at first it's only one sheep out of a hundred. Sure, you want to find it, but if you don't, it's not a bad shrinkage rate. An individual coin is worth more than an isolated sheep; especially if there's only ten to start with. And then when it comes to people....well, it's hard to measure stakes that high; but it's easy to feel the weight of losing people. There were lots of stories about how dumb sheep are; they're experts at getting lost, they follow the leader all the time, they're helpless without any natural defenses, and they're stupid. It's almost like they stay up late at night in the barn plotting their suicide attempts for the next day. A lot of that....kind of really applies to people, too, spiritually speaking. Which is pretty embarrassing... Anyway, the lost thing is sought because it belongs to the seeker. But in order to find the object, the seeker must expose themselves to the same environment as the lost thing. Which is why Jesus came to live as a man. Grace is the Holy Spirit hunting down that lost object, or the soul of those God has chosen. It's invisible and gradual, but it happens, and as the sought soul draws closer to God, they reflect him more clearly. And the second half of the story of the Prodigal Son, I heard this explained really well on the radio by Ravi Zacharias one time, is that even "good" people need a Savior. Maybe more so, because they usually don't realize that they need him. Self-righteousness will keep you outside of heaven; and no matter what you do, you'll never be good enough to earn your salvation.
Didn't get any notes on Thursday morning, either; but it was about Zaccheus, from Luke 19:1-10. Paul was said to be 4'11" and bald, so maybe he particularly liked this story, and so that's why Luke included it. But from now on I'm probably going to imagine Paul as Wallace Shawn. Also, this response stood in sharp contrast to the rich young ruler(imagined as Tony Stark, due to one of our SWAT skits), who refused to surrender all his wealth.
Anyway, Thursday night's sermon was from Luke 23:39-43 about the Thief on the Cross. He mocked Jesus, too; but sometime during the horrific ordeal he changed his mind. Maybe because Jesus prayed for the Father to "forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). That rich young ruler asked what good works he could do to earn his salvation; this dude on the cross can't do ANY good works. And he can't promise to do any in the future, either; because he's gonna die in hours. It's all grace. No one deserves to go to heaven, but some are allowed to go there, because it's a gift. Mr. Webb quoted Matthew Henry the commentary guy, who once wrote that there were "Two thieves there on the crosses along with Jesus. One of them was saved; so that none might despair. But only one was saved, so that none might presume."
On Friday morning, the last sermon was from Luke 24-13-32, on the Road to Emmaus. These disciples had put their trust in Christ; but things looked extremely dark, and so they were sad(grave), because the world had been shattered and they realized that none of what they thought would happen actually would. They were probably confused, which is why Jesus explained all those Old Testament Scriptures about himself to them. They were ignorant; which doesn't mean stupid, it just means not being able to recognize something obvious. Before we can see God's glory, our eyes must be opened.
This year, going in, I had a really bad feeling about how things would go. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because almost none of the puzzle pieces last year fit together quite right. Maybe I realized that this would be the beginning of the end of the third generation that I'd known. But it really went pretty well. Bennett called it "a year of healing", which seemed to fit well.
Everywhere I look at Camp Beth-Eden, there's memories. Talking with Jed and Jon in the cabins(and making Tim really mad by keeping him awake with aforementioned conversations.) Duets with Jake on the trail and in the showers. Square dancing with Madelyn and Ashland. Mealtime chats with Daniel, Ryan, the Davises, the Freelands, the Hankinses or the Taillefers. INTENSE ping pong matches. Ultimate Frisbee mishaps. That tension of Final Jeopardy in Bible trivia. Plotting strategy with Ashland and Matt. Getting lost that first day with Josh, and the terror that was meeting Brother Larry. Jamming during Talent Share practice with me on guitar, Daniel on mandolin and Keely on viola. Learning how to throw a Frisbee from Matt, and then teaching it to Dylan Steeley several years later. The Great Rains of 2009. The Oppressive Heat of 2011. All those volleyball games; from learning to play(and Ash and I using each other as targets) to the "Sharkbait!" rally call to winning the Tournament Challenge to chasing runaway balls through the woods. Talent Share times; that first time to sing in front of strangers, "Temporary Home" with Samara, with the Jedites, and as part of Daniel's and Jed's choirs. Wednesday night in 2012. The Card Ceremony. Courtney and Paige's "Twelve Things of Camp". The momentous Thursday nights of '11 and '12. Experiencing things from a counselor's POV for the first time alongside Jed, Taylor, and Dylan Underwood.
I was able to appreciate the moment just by living in it, not necessarily having to capture it for later analyzation. I heard a lot of rather-sheepish comments by campers, as they realized I could probably hear them, that us counselors in general were "not as uptight as usual". But also, they knew where the boundaries were, so they didn't try to stretch them too much out of shape. There were times I wanted to yell at some people, sure, but overall everyone was very respectful. It was a blessing to work with everyone again; and very good to be able to serve the campers.
Other random bits; Square dancing went well, it was fun to dance again. Brad DeSpain and Mickey Buckmaster drove up in record time(three hours and thirteen minutes from GBC parking lot to sitting in front of the dining hall). Mrs. Mueller and Mrs. Wilson drove on the return trip back to Oklahoma, and it felt a little bit like a SWAT road trip, involving McDonald's mixups, a detour through someone's yard and driving in the wrong lane(I definitely thought of our motto.) Gary Long was the special speaker again this year; much to nearly everyone's dismay, but he didn't say anything offensive this time. Bailey DeSpain was accidentally listed in the camp book as a girl. Brother Larry is pretty good at ping pong.
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CAMP BOOK SIGNINGS
"Enjoy working with you. Mrs. Janet (Pokorny)"
(Drew Blanton's signature)
"Your a good counsalor. John Thomas"
"Jesus said 'in this world you will have tribulation, but BE OF GOOD CHEER! I have overcome the world!' Mrs. Bebout To my sane and urbane friend!"
"Dear Wesley, Thank you for being such an encouragement to me each year. Your love for the Lord is evident and also your love for the kids. Lord willing I hope to serve with you again next year. Love, Janet (Crawford)"
"Wesley, thanks for the great job you did at camp! May God bless you in the days ahead. - PROV. 3:5 Mark Webb"
"Wesley, good to see you again as a councelor! Loved Cabbage ball you made it even more fun, Grayson H."
"Wesley, you are a very good counselor. I so much appreciate your willing spirit. Hope to work with you again next year. In Christ, Tom Henry"
"Wesley, you are one of those counselors I know will answer any question I have about games or help me out...sorry I have not been more friendly over the week. Thank you for your kindness and encouragement at camp! Keep coming back! Emily P."
"Hey Wes! For a counsler and a brother your not terrible....Love, Courtney"
"Thanks for keeping the belches under control. Yours truly, Benito" (Bennett)
"Wesley, thank you so much for all your work this week. I truly do appreciate it. Please come back next year! Jacob"
"Wesley! Thanks for being a soops cool counselor and letting Yellow win at cabbage ball. U da bomb! Laura F."
"thanks for being an amazing conselor and letting us do pranks :) and for playing soccer with us. Caleb Freeland"
"You are so sweet and awesome! Mary Kate"
"Glad to see you again this year. You're a great cousnelor! - Rachel"
"Thanks for being a good counselor Wesley - Forrest"
"You're a great counselor! Thanks for making the week even greater. - Mattie F."
"Wesley, thanks for being a good counselor! - Joe"
"Thank for being a good counselor and for taking away Strobe's flashlight. Wesley #2"
"Wesley, I hope you had a great time, and was blessed by the preaching! Hope to see you next year. Anne"
"Wesley, your a great counselor, and it was great hanging out this week!! - Andrew B."
(Tim Nehrbass's signature) "Thanks for serving again!"
"Nice seeing you again. Have a great year. - Christian"
"Wesley!! Hey, it was great to see you again!! By the way, you make a great evil doctor. Thanks for involving me in that. Hope to see you next year!! - Audrey Bebout"
"Wesley! You were a great counselor again. :) - Callie"
(Bailey DeSpain's signature)
"Wesley, so glad you could come back this year! You were a great counselor! - Brett"
"Wesley, Run the race with endurance, brother. In Christ, Curtis Knapp"
"Wesley, you were a great co-counselor this week! Hope you enjoyed it! Abbey"
"Great to see you again. May God bless you as you continue your education. See you on Facebook! L. Dean"
"Thanks for calling cabbage ball! Hunter B."
"Wesley! You have grown to such an excellent example of a yougn Christian man! I'm honored to know you! Praying often for you - you have a special place in my heart! Love you! :) Miss Terry"
Let's just clarify, Wesley..... *I* did not drive through anyone's yard OR drive in the wrong lane. I'm not saying who *did*, just that it was not me. :-) ~Mrs. Wilson
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