CAMP: Part V, 2012

Part I - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/07/camp-part-i-2008.html

Part II - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-ii-2009.html

Part III - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-iii-2010.html

Part IV - http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-iv-2011.html

   Where to start...

   I guess I'll begin this post by rewinding a few months earlier from where the last one ended. So it's about September or so in 2010, start of my junior year of high school, and Mom thinks we should have a book-discussion group. I think it's a pretty good idea, though not completely sold on it yet. So we invite a few families around that want to try it(Bolands, Nolands) and a few other people(Jayne, Trinnica), and invited a whole lot of other people who didn't want to come or couldn't make it work.
   It began with a rather uninspiring dull mystery by a lady named Dorothy Sayers, and then went into a G.A. Henty book, and further depths of blandness. And I was about the only person not yet done with school to make comments, Mom was hoping for a little more interaction between adults and younger people. But it was useful for getting to know other people, and a way to follow the second half of Romans 12:13, which simply says, "Practice hospitality."
   The other book-discussion group, with Dylan, Gabe and Kaitlin, was going about as well as this one. But they were both working a little bit, so better than nothing.
   I wrote about an up-and-down football season, with a touch of softball on the side, and basketball, and baseball.
   I was starting to become more active in the youth group, poking around until I found the right place to lead from, the core group of "Wes, Marie, Josh, Dylan and Sam" was starting to shift, as new people came in, part-time jobs were found, and other things like that. But as a whole, we were moving from the outsiders to the leaders of the group.

   About March or somewhere, these weird thoughts kept running through my mind, and I couldn't shake them off. The guilt and fear and pain from leaving Maddie, that that wound needed to be healed. So I think about it for a a while. And I think. And I keep thinking...maybe it'd go away if I ignored it long enough.
   I get on Facebook one day, and there's this "You've been poked" notification. Now, I've never understood exactly why that's there, is it just a "Hey, thinking about you, but not enough to actually write on your wall or send a message"? Anyway, the poke came from...Maddie. That was...weird. I sent her an email the next day, apologizing for everything. She emailed me back, and we cautiously began talking every once in a while.

   And then came the vacation to Missouri and planning for the Youth Tour trip and everything....and there was still the book club. Except now, we were reading throughShakespeare's plays! That switch resulted in two things: Half the people dropped out, and the ones of us still in participated a lot more, since we were actually cold-reading our way through the actual scripts. It was awesome! And those plays take a while. Like four or five hours. So we would read about half the script on Monday night, discussing it along the way, and then for about a half hour afterwards, and then finishing it the next Monday. And Ted and Karen used to actually perform them(they met during their days at a San Francisco Shakespeare company), so they not only knew how to perform the plays, but could actually tell us ordinary laypeople what was going on when the Old English got too difficult. It helped a lot. And even though it wasn't really acting, it was pretty close, and it was just plain fun!
   We'd just finished the second night of the three-part reading of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in late May, and everyone that I usually talked to had left, and I didn't feel like watching Courtney, Caleb and Trevor and their friends play flashlight tag in the dark. So I got on Facebook and finished some cookies and cheese that were left over. I'd just posted one of my Random Statuses of the Week(actually, two of them, since I was leaving for Youth Tour next week), and checked to see if there'd been any comments or likes on it yet.
   Well, Sam, who'd won of the awards, said something, I replied, and went on to see what other news there was. Then Amanda(who is completely insane, but in a good way) comments on it, and this nutty conversation follows for the next hour between the three of us. I was laughing my head off, and I'm pretty sure they were, too. Part of what made it so interesting is that they have so many personality traits in common, so it was like conversing with two mirrors, each almost-but-not-quite reflecting the same type of humor and reactions. Anyway, that's how they met. And, like I figured, they became pretty good friends.
   One of the main topics covered was this passage from the Lucy Maud Montgomery book "Anne's House of Dreams", talking about "kindred spirits" or "the race that knows Joseph". I guess it was a Victorian concept in general, she didn't invent it; but wherever it comes from, it's true.  Those kindred spirits always find each other somehow, and leave an impression deeply imprinted on you. Might not ever see one again, might become one of your best friends, or somewhere in the middle; but when you meet one of them, you know it.

   With summer, the book club kind of disappeared, much to all our disappointment, it wasn't resurrected. But there was Youth Tour, which was great, and then church camp, which was weird and unusual, and kind of scary, but very good and fruitful.
   When we got back, of course the sending and accepting of friend requests, emailing, texting and calling, and loading and tagging of pictures took place, along with the sharing of stories with people who didn't come, and with people who did, who might have had one or two different experiences or anecdotes to tell.  And the general "Darn....now I feel kinda lonely" letdown from the wonderful temporary reality of the Stockholm Syndrome. It's kind of like a foretaste, a tiny little glimpse, of what heaven will be like, spending time with that many believers and studying the Word, not having to worry about what everyone thinks or other things to distract us.
   Jed was feeling this particularly hard, as he checked the next day to see if all of us from Tulsa had made it home okay. We had, which I told him. And of course the story-swapping and inside jokes had to be exchanged.

   When school started back up, I learned to write about softball, and other than that, I stayed pretty focused on school, I was studying an insane amount to get all the credits I needed for financial aid. And I had to figure out where to go, and what to major in. Everything has eight million details and paperwork to fill, and did I mention that I needed to finish Algebra II and Geometry in the same year? Like, "All-the-way-to-the-back-cover" finished? Plus Chemistry and a few other subjects? Well, I did. I'd kind of lock myself in my room all morning, emerge for a quick break to fix a sandwich, and then back to school for about another hour or two. Going grocery shopping was counted as an adventure, an out-of-the-ordinary treat. (Boring? Perhaps. But I'm a small-town kid, when it isn't football season, people go to Dollar General on Friday nights.)
   And then comes the (yikes.) SAT test. That was scary. For one thing, it was, like....an actual honest-to-goodness test. Like, in a school. With timers, and other people in the classroom also taking it. And - This has a huge role in determining how the money for college will work out. 
   No pressure or anything....right?

   Josh had become the worship leader for our youth group, since he was the only one of us who played music to be depended upon to always be on time. And also, he is a good pianist. Steven thought they needed somebody else to help lead worship, preferably someone who could play guitar. Josh couldn't. Suzanna had given up trying to learn. Bennett was beginning to try to play a few chords. Sam wasn't ever sure if she'd be there or not. So, that left...me.
   I began playing in mid-October, up til late May. It sounds pretty easy, but it involved more work that you might think. Had to get the songs we were singing, then find the chords(looking up unusual or unfamiliar chords), and then learn to play it, often all in about three days. This constant watchfulness for what might be a good fit for this lesson, or what one of us might need to remember, or just something somebody requested. It was very good to spend that much time analyzing the lyrics, dissecting the lines and extracting all the wisdom and knowledge contained in the music. I do that all the time, anyway, but hymns and worship songs are especially great to study. Kind of a meditation, almost, on who God is, or what He's doing/done for us. Incredibly beneficial spiritually.
   But, at the same time, you had to keep in mind that this is for God, not yourself. You aren't performing; you're in the background, guiding the group to the main objective of giving God glory and praising and honoring Him. A fine line to walk, which I stumbled over too many times before I finally had some understanding of it. Having to play weekly, and with the loudness of a keyboard to follow and talk with, meant a few subtle changes to my playing style, which was improved greatly. Things like different gauges of picks, adjusting my strumming arm to play closer to the bridge, an upgrade in string quality, and a transducer, so I can hook up the acoustic to an amp. Small changes, all of these, but they made a big difference, and Abby Lee sounded much better as time went on. I was usually a half-beat slower than Josh, but mostly the timing was brought close enough to be adequate.

   Courtney and I kept playing our daily ping pong matches on the card table until it fell apart; and then we got creative. Picnic tables, the kitchen island, a coffee table, even the concrete floor, we tried playing on it all.  Some surfaces worked better than others, obviously; but we had fun trying to improve our skills on everything, and like Thomas Edison once said, we "found a hundred ways to not build a light bulb, so we're that much closer to finding a way to craft a better one." Dad, on observing one of the games on makeshift equipment, suggested that we just build a table to play on. It seemed like a good idea.
   Caleb, Courtney and he all drafted plans and did the actual construction of the thing, while I babysat Amy and Trevor and made sure they weren't getting in the way or fighting or whatever. Once it was built, I painted it. Two coats of primer and at least five cans of spray paint later, plus about three days dry-time, and we had ourselves a ping pong table. Which was even cooler, because we had company coming next weekend to help us break it in...

   Jed had hatched up a scheme. A very good scheme. He and his mom were going down to southwestern Oklahoma to visit his brother, and since they had to go up I-44 to get back to St. Louis, why not cut down a bit and spend the weekend with some pals? Plus, that would also solve the "Where should we worship this week?' problem.
   So we got the necessary OKs, clean the house spotless, reclean everything, build a ping pong table, and study for an SAT, all in about two or three weeks. I went over practice tests upstairs, simulating everything as best I could down to the last detail, for about five or six hours a day, and then my regular schoolwork on top of that. It. Was. Very. Hard. And these were the beautiful late September days where you have the windows open and look for any excuse to be outside...yeah, it was a little hard to concentrate. But it was IMPORTANT.
   The Boyers are coming Saturday, October first. No problem. Oh, yeah; my SAT is also that day, in the morning. Setting up to be one eventful weekend.

   I manage to fight my way through the stress and anxiety(and LENGTH) of the test, hoping I did well enough to pass, and wondering if I'd marked in all the little circles the right way. It was by far one of the most intense experiences I've ever had. A little after one p.m,(it started at eight a.m.) I was finally finished and we were let out of the classroom. I was exhausted. Totally spent. Drained, mentally and physically. I manage to eat about half a burger Dad got me while he was out garage saling, he has a TobyMac CD he found at one of them in the truck's CD player. So off we go to get some last-minute groceries, and then to the mall for a reunion.
   Now, since he was in town, Jed was hoping to hang out with a few of us from Grace Bible-Tulsa. Disappointed at our lack of skills at randomly hanging out as a youth group, we came up with a backup plan. A handful of people we invited to come meet us at the mall, to hang out and windowshop for a while. Among them, Sam and Marie, who had actually asked me to meet them, which fit our plans nicely. Marie couldn't come at the last minute, but I convinced Sam that we still needed to hang. So she and Katie come over to the food court, where I say hey and wave her over.
   Her face, when she saw who was with me....priceless.
   Absolutely stunned that they were down here, and trying to figure out how,why, and what was happening. Courtney had spent the night at Paige's house, so she was going to meet us. They got there, Paige was also surprised to see her Camp Mom and Jed sitting at the table, talking to my dad and I. We chatted for a while, then gathered up everybody for a cookout at our place.
    But we were out of ketchup and coat hangers. Terry/Jed/Sam/Katie all go to Wal-Mart for the ketchup, and Chris/Wes/Courtney/Paige begin this bizarre search for coat hangers. "Let's try here.(Burlington Coat Factory)" "Dad, I'm pretty sure they won't...." The four employees he asks all stare blankly, we're trying not to crack up. "Target?" "Nope." Same story there. Finally we find a dry cleaners, where he picks up a few dozen and then it's back to the house.
   It was a pretty good visit. Lot of ping pong, none of us were used to the table size(8x4', instead of a regulation 9x5'), laughter and pleasantness that comes with the game; and a quote as great as this: On preparing to serve, Mrs Boyer takes a closer look at the ball. "Where did you guys get custom-painted ping pong balls?" Um, well...that's actually just spray paint. The friction of the high-velocity sphere moving so fast rubs paint onto the ball, so that they resemble fresh eggs: All speckled. "Wow...huh. I've never heard of that before...you said you guys built this thing?"
   There was testing of the new zipline, and spending time in the pasture talking with the goats. The firepit Caleb and Trevor built was a big success, they were very proud of it. Apples to Apples later that night, and then Jed and I had a great theological discussion, and just pondering life and catching up on life events, until 1:40 a.m, when Dad tromped downstairs and told us to shut up, we were keeping him awake.
   We went to church the next morning, me giving Mrs Boyer directions, those who knew them were pleased that they were able to visit, and I think they enjoyed the teaching style and atmosphere. Then lunch at McDonald's, back home to get their stuff, and they had to head back. Too short a trip, but there was the possibility of camp in July. Jed jokingly said, only half kidding, that if I didn't come with the rest of the gang, he'd kidnap me and drag me over there. Several people volunteered to help him, should that situation ever come up.

   Caught in the middle of an insane crossfire of webs, I was trying to help guide my pals through this mess they made without stirring up anything more than I had to. Delivering cryptic warnings, listening, and repremanding. And arguing. And a lot of prayer. Thought of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 often during the next few months. It's hard to know exactly when those times are to do those things, but every once in a while, it's almost clear.
   I was learning a lot of the depths of the human condition, a little taste of the sorrow and pain that the prophets of Israel must have felt. It was just like, my heart was getting wrenched out daily by the sins of myself, and the sins of others. I basically had a headache and stomachache nonstop from mid-July to early December.

   Also, I was slowly losing my job at the paper, which was good, since I knew I was putting too much effort into writing, but it was a hard lesson to learn. But in the toughness of the way things were going, somehow God saw fit to bring the joy back into the process, and get the focus back out onto those the story was about. The community around softball is a very neat place.
   And there was also the stress of plugging away at school, trying to figure out where I was going, what I would study, answering those questions every time I  saw someone I knew, and keeping the house running.
   December came, and the stress of Christmastime, the depression I always seem to fall in at that time, and Nano was having some health troubles. The week-by-week realization that it was getting to be time to move on from the life I knew, that the puzzle pieces of life I had to cross were always shifting, I never knew where to step next, if it would fall through on me or not.
   But....I was growing spiritually from all this, and learning to trust Christ a lot more. I knew He'd get me through it, He'd done it so many, many times before. As my friend Daniel likes to say, "He is so faithful!!" He really is. I remembered how this guy in my parents' youth group, he used to come to them for advice and counsel a lot. When it was time for him to leave for college, he was really confused and lost, wasn't sure which way was up. so he prayed that God would send him a sign about what the right decision was, it had something to do with the bank sign in the middle of town. Anyway, for some reason, that always stuck with me, and I was just praying constantly that God would show me the right place to go, and give me peace about it, wherever that destination might be. I didn't have any reason to go to a ballgame, since I wasn't writing, and I didn't know anyone, but I had to go to at least one basketball game that season. It was one of the most boring experiences I can ever remember. It was awful. Yet another of the troubles and trials I was facing was that I couldn't just sit and watch sports for entertainment any longer, except for listening to the radio broadcasts of the Thunder. But as far as actually watching sports, I had to have a reason for doing so, otherwise I couldn't concentrate. Except for Bedlam, I watched maybe one quarter all football season uninterrupted, and only half paid attention to the Super Bowl. So that, more than anything really, kind of shows what this past year was like. So I was sitting there in the gym, watching a game I care nothing about, with no reason to be there. It was really depressing. I keep moving around from seat to seat every five minutes, I even practice my sports photography with my phone. (It has a decent camera, and I can get some good shots with it, but it's horrible for sports.) I finally understood something that was almost frightening: Why all those students could attend games and just talk and not even pay attention to what was happening. I end up texting a bunch of friends. And a funny thing happened while talking to Lorene: I felt at peace with where I should go to school. So amazing, how personal and fitting it was, that of all the places God would give me that peace that I'd been so desperately asking for, would be in the bleachers of a high school gym.
   HE IS SO FAITHFUL!!!! 

   In April, I was able to go to Louisville, Kentucky for the Together for the Gospel Conference, with Steven, Josh, Dylan, Greg, Peter and Paul. (The in-depth story is here: http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/04/t4g-conference-in-louisville.html)
It was a really special time of fellowship, and there was a ton of great preaching. There was this sermon by Al Mohler on how we need to use words in spreading the Gospel, not just our actions, because those can only go so far. That was really impactful, it's not my nature to speak about things like that, I've been trying to improve in that area. CJ Mahaney gave a wonderful sermon on that we get discouraged as humans, but how the Holy Spirit picks us back up. Kevin DeYoung also taught on the Holy Spirit, that was good. David Platt blew everyone away with his passion for missions, and how urgent of a need it can be. John Piper...how can we even start to understand God's pleasure in being Himself? Well, it was a really blessed time, thankful I got to go on it. A good break from the crazy unsettled days my life was in right then. (See http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/04/being-glad-you-ate.html)

   Marie had been flipping out over her graduation since last fall. Sam and I took turns being amused and almost sad for her. She saw it as An Event, an ending, that was exciting. Us? We saw it as A Beginning, a departure from the Golden Road into the world of adulthood, filled with unknown dangers and twists. Little by little, it came closer. When it really got real was when I got my senior pictures taken. that was kind of when it really hit home that I was leaving here in a few months. That went pretty well. Anyway, it came time for the rehearsal, with Alton, Phil, Nate and Rachel, the other graduates from the homeschooling families around the county. ( http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/05/playlist-g.html, http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/05/lets-see-umm-work-in-progress.html )
   That was really out-of-the-ordinary, but kind of wonderful. I had about thirty people come, just for me. A lot of people from GBC, Steven was the speaker, and then my cousin Logan absolutely flew from work to make it on time. That was really neat. And then Daniel and Emily came all the way clear from Springfield! Just to be there for my graduation. These kinds of gestures were amazing, they meant so, so much. After my speech(with my silly tassel flopping into my face every other sentence, talk about an exercise in public speaking...thanks for teaching that class Kirsten!), there's a "Special Presentation" at the end. Valerie comes up, motions me to come up, and then gives a short speech, at the end presenting me with a plaque and a scholarship check. That was such a surprise, and it was so incredible....it was just really, really great. Dad(of course, haha) had to embarrass me by talking about me, but I mean, your oldest son only graduates high school once, right? Guess it's natural.

  I also got braces, which has been a large adjustment, my teeth are much straighter already, and they seem to be doing their job well. I do think, though, that hell might be full of dentists and orthodonists. Your jaws are not supposed to be yanked in so many different directions!!!! It hurts!!!!
 
   Bennett, Courtney and Paige are flying off the walls with camp being so near, for the rest of us, it's a more subdued excitement. Callie and Laura, our rookies this year, were getting amped up, too. Me? I was almost dreading it, honestly. Ash, Matt, Madelyn and Jed all self-tasked themselves with cheerfully pointing out the good things that would happen, the great memories waiting to be made. It...sort of worked; I have some pretty great friends. :) Just....SGYC had made such an enormous impact on my life; the campground itself, the teaching, the memories, the friends, the way God works. In talking about it, I have to give a mini-autobiography of my life each year to barely even scratch the surface of what it means. I've used about 20,000 words just in these posts so far, and I'm not even done with this one yet! I might even have one more  on this subject to write. But, anyway, the first year was a survival test. The second year a time of rest, the third a needed maturity shot, and the fourth the beginning of a new chapter, ending of an era. This time, I didn't really want to go, almost. So I didn't go for me. I didn't have anything left to look forward to or achieve(except maybe winning the Tournament Challenge, and I'd be perfectly fine if that never happened).
   No, I went because I had a job to get done, passed down to me by the guys I looked up to and tried to emulate(Cody, Daniel, Nathan and Jake, if anyone's wondering. Older camp people, isn't that an odd mix, covering just about everything imaginable?). My focus this year was to make sure the younger kids whose names I have no idea what are have the time of their lives, and to set an example of how an older Christian lives, for them to look at and maybe think, "I want to be like that guy Wesley when I'm his age." So that was why I came along for one last ride...

   We left from the Rusco's at 7:30, late like always. Martha was driving one van, her sister Mary the other. Our group of guys were me, Josh, Caleb, Dylan and Bennett, the girls were Marie, Suzanna, her friend Kaitlin, Courtney, and Paige; Eva caught a ride up there with us, and then rookies Callie, Laura, their pal Marie K., and Miriam. For some reason, I nearly started crying. Glad for the others, but a little unsure of what this year might hold. Mary is a good conversationalist, always a good trait in a driver, we talked about classic books to vet's-office stories to a good many other subjects, including the grisly war tales that no one really cares to listen to, and the lame jokes weren't told until we were nearly to Joplin, so that was a good thing. Also, it was a very talkative trip, almost everyone was awake and engaged in what was happening.

   Some of the differences this year, besides the fact that it would be mine, Daniel F. and Jed's final week; Shelby, Bethany, Brittany all weren't there because of college. Jojo, Jon, Marshall and Sam were all working, couldn't get off. Others were absent also. Most notably, our Camp Mom.

   We understood why, but it still "saddened us greatly", as Ash put it on hearing the news. Terry's dad was in failing health, on hospice care, and she was his primary caregiver. If something was to happen while she was gone....it wasn't worth it. I text Ash the news, her first thought, besides "Wahhh!!!", is "How can we help her?" That just epitomizes everything I love about these people,  this topic, and why I can't stop talking. Well, we get to thinking and planning a new strategy; so many times greater value than just the games we play. The plan we come up with is to make an enormous, gigantic card, filled with smiley faces(Mrs Boyer loves those) and bright yellow lettering(her favorite color). (Yeah, I used my network of spies to get that important info.) It wasn't anything, really, and it couldn't actually do anything to ease to pain and the hurt she was going through, but it was the best we could do in four days' thinking. Just to say "Thank you so, so much for everything...we're praying for you, wish you could come, but we understand. We love you." And so we had everyone sign it, placed it prominently in the dining hall, and got Tim to make several reminder announcements.

   There were still friends I knew who would be there, of course: the Freelands, the Hankinses, Andrew, Jed, Shari, Jorgi, Ashton, Madelyn, Colton. And Jessica and Amanda were coming, too. Brother Larry was still here, providing good preaching and authority on all things cabbage ball-related. Tim was still directing and leading the camp, and juggling in the spare moments. Janet and Robin were there to make sure Bible trivia went well and the pool was supervised. Miss Kathy and Ryan were leading music and archery, it was good to see everyone and know what was happening.

   Registration, lunch and orientation went well, much like usual. We exchanged greetings with those we knew and talked to those visitors who couldn't stay. Instead of group sessions on Monday, we went down to the tabernacle to hear a report on missions from Trevor and Braxton. Wow. It was amazing to hear of how much God works, how much we need to help with what little we can do, over there in places like Indonesia. We forget that here in our safe culture in the U.S, we need to remember that more often. It was an incredible blessing to heat their stories, and it was good to see them again.
   Miss Kathy was leading the singing this time(YAY!!!), and it was different. Instead of singing the songs in the camp book and duct-taped hymnals, she took a more academic approach and taught on what music is, how we can use that message to glorify Christ and spread the gospel(Double YAY!!!!)
   Most guys didn't really like it all that much, but I loved it, it was wonderful, and I was always really disappointed when that hour ended. Because it was a terrific subject, and a great teacher, effectively communicating what she was wanting her students to learn. Jed was a bit disgusted that he was needed for about four songs in two hours, he would have rather spent the girls' hour playing ping pong or something. And the camp version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" had been rewritten, I spent all week wondering why, and who did it. The singing time was fantastic.

   This year's theme night was Cartoon Character, I had a great idea. After a youth group-wide notion to be the cast of "Calvin and Hobbes" was voted down, I just stayed in the comics section, and went as Jeremy Duncan from the strip "Zits". It was fun. I get to be in character, but yet not have to wear a irritating costume, just normal clothes like always. AND, wearing normal clothes, dancing wouldn't be hampered in any way. Other characters included Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Mario and Luigi, Scooby-Doo, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Batman's Robin, The Thing, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
   The dance was held in the grassy field by the ampitheatre, much to my satisfaction and pleasure. That is where dancing should be; outside, with green grass, blue sky and trees converging with the late sunlight to make a beautiful set, and then good music and good friends. The order was redrawn a little bit, we led off with the Gay Gordon(in other words, the circle dance that newcomers always have trouble with). Looking around laughing at jokes being made and watching the young guys and girls try to figure out where to be and what to do, it was entertaining. I started out dancing with Paige, and then, as the case is, kept rotating and switching partners. Next came the box-and-square(that's not the right name, but I never heard what it actually IS called), I was kind of standing there, wondering who I should ask that was available. Madelyn was, too. She kind of looked over at me and grinned. "You want to, for old time's sake?" "Sure, why not?" That went nicely, except for a snake-hole that you had to avoid, much of our line was laughing at Tim's attempt to understand the steps. And there was a kitten named Sherbet to play with. Then it was time for the Virginia Reel. I escort Madelyn back to the ampitheatre, barely have time to get a drink of water when Shari clamps onto my wrist. "C'mon, Wes! It's your last year, I wanna dance with you!" Jorgi and Derek think this is hilarious. Most of our set was young members of the Henry clan, mixed up, slightly dazed, and confused. It made for a lot of interesting moments, and completely threw off the proper rhythm. It was still dancing, though; and it was a lot of fun. Odd fact I noticed on the way to the tabernacle: Some of us had been jokingly predicting how the dance would be; who would be with who, which couples would know how to dance well, who wouldn't, what if the tall guys ended up having to dance with the incredibly short girls; that kind of thing. Jon said that I would dance with "some random blonde chick, some random brunette chick, and some random redheaded chick". He was right, except the order was exactly flipped. Just thought that was kind of interesting.

   There was a new camp preacher this year, Jeff, from near Little Rock, Arkansas. He brought along a handful of campers with him, several of which were my teammates. Good people. Anyway, his first sermon was on Romans 1:18, kind of hard to listen to. Can't imagine how hard it must have been to prepare. We need to remember those sharp, downer passages, it's all too easy to forget about the judgmental side of God.
   Monday ended with a little irritation: Due to lack of males, not all four cabins needed to be used, and so we were kicked out of our home and displaced into the inner left cabin(the one with concrete floors). Of course, this totally threw our bed order around, it was kind of annoying, though I understood why it was happening. And also the little kids in the corner Would. Not. Stop. Talking. Feeling a little bit like Tim, Braxton or Brother Larry, we appealed over and over that they should get some rest while they could, tomorrow was even more packed than today.

   Wednesday's general session was a lightning overview of the book of Job, the struggles that he faced, and how near God came to him. It was really interesting. Didn't get many notes on this one, but did you know that Job might have been a contemporary of Abraham??? Like, we're talking EXTREMELY early in history here. And there wasn't any part of the Bible yet, not even the Pentatauch, but yet Job still knew there would be a Redeemer, and that he knew this Redeemer. And he also knew that somehow after he died, he would live again. Isn't that amazing?

   After that was finished, it was time for the Tournament Challenge. Given all last year's health problems, Ultimate was disallowed again as a sport, so it was AVC  and BPG. Every year there seems to be some team that's just absolutely stacked with older talent and experience; theoretically giving them an inside track to winning. This year, that team was us; Blue. Daniel F. and Jed; Ash and Eva; then Caleb F. Drew, Callie, Marie K, and Arkansawyers Rachel and Taylor. Not counting the quartet of rookies, that totals up to twenty-eight combined camp years experienced.
    Anyway, we started out against Black in archery, which was good, since we needed some time to talk and jell as a group, figure out what our roles were, and come up with a catchy nickname. We left it open for later decision between Oxen and Bison, Black became the Dragons. I had a below-average day shooting, but we ended up beating Black, whose members included Andrew, Courtney, Madelyn and Jessica, by a score of 115-107. There was a lot of wind, accounting for the low scores. Red(they had a terrible time thinking up any sort of nickname, finally "Bloody Knives" was suggested, becoming "Daggers". Seriously, the Red Bloody Knives? For one thing, it's redundant. For another, it a church camp, people) lost to Green in volleyball, who were thinking superheroically, trying to decide if they would be the Hornets or the Lanterns. It was a described as a close, controversial game, decided by one point. White's Heat(led by Josh and Jorgi) topped Yellow's Barracudas, led by Matt and Shari, in cabbage ball by an 8-2 score.
   In BPG, Blue had Red in golf; there was a really weird scoring system used. We all shot a round as a team, and then picked our three best players from each side. They would shoot one hole, and the lowest aggregate score won. We sent out Daniel F, Marie K. and Taylor; they sent out Anne, Dylan and Hunter. We had six strokes, they had seven, and so we won our second event of the day. With nothing much else to do until lunch, we then sat around and talked for a while, at Daniel N.'s suggestion. Some confusion on the ping pong, but I think Black beat Yellow 10-9, and Green won Bible trivia over Yellow. "It was a little rough, kinda wasn't sure there, but we pulled it out, and it was good, it was fun." Ashton stated during lunch.
   In Worst/First that night, Red beat Yellow in volleyball, White beat Black 7-6 in cabbage ball, and Green was going up against Blue. With the Hornets/Lanterns holding sport choice, captain Ashton picked golf. A perk of having a friend on the other side: after some cajoling and begging, she switched it to the sport we were hoping for, ping pong. It began poorly for the Bison/Oxen, we dropped the first three games, but then rallied back tie it up, and then lead for a bit. The girls championship came down to best friends, Ash-Ashton, it was a battle, let me tell ya. Ash took the first game 11-8, then Ashton rallied to win the second. Somehow, her composure left her completely, and Ash won the girls' championship(for the second year in a row) 11-8, 9-11, 11-2. It was Ashton's first loss EVER in Tournament Challenge play, she noted. I got to see the first part of that match, but missed the ending because I was playing in the guys championship match, against Jacob. The score was 12-11, us, I knew that; but of course Tim had to emphasize the drama(this is, after all, SGYC ping pong), and that totally killed me. With the "helpful" encouragement(I know it was meant well, but it really was rattling) shouted at me, and knowing that everyone was watching me, I collapsed. It's a funny thing, I'm a very emotional, streaky player, that's probably why I never quite cracked that elite listing, settling for "really good". I've never in my life seen so much spin put on a toss serve, or one that travels eight inches high before falling down. I was smoked 11-4, 11-0, setting up a tiebreaker match between Daniel and  Jacob. Now maybe the same thing was happening to him or something, but it was intense. Daniel won the first game 11-9. Jacob won the second 12-10. With the match coming down to this last game, we were all biting our nails and frowning. It was stressful! To lighten the mood, I asked Drew to take a picture of Ash, Jed and I looked tense and worried. It worked, made a good posed-life picture, and like I was intending, loosened the air some. Maybe Daniel felt the energy change in the crowd, I'm not sure, but he was able to pull out the third game to win 11-9, 10-12, 11-7.
 
   Brother Larry's general session was about what godliness is, how we can live a righteous life, and how we can evaluate others' claims to be godly or not.  Miss Kathy's lesson was on how our worship should be rich, filled with meaning, then going over some of the elements of music, and motives for using certain musical devices, and touching a little bit on different styles, too.
   Jeff's sermon Tuesday night was of the "Thus saith the Lord" variety; I am very glad I am not a minister. Those sections would be incredibly nerve-wracking to teach on, extremely daunting and hazardous, seems like, saying what God said and only that, and not adding or taking anything away from it. The text was Ezekiel 18:24-32. He hates sin, but yet He allows it. He chooses to saves some people, but not all. Why? We don't really know, because we're just men. But in some way, even sin gives glory in some way to God, and he will use whatever He wants to in order than He be glorified. God wants us all to be saved, but He doesn't allow some to serve Him, because that wouldn't serve His purposes as well. We don't understand the full amount of his detestation, but neither can we comprehend his love for us, either. It was a lot to think about.

   Wednesday morning the general session was on James 1:18: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might become a kind of firstfruits of all he created" (NIV). We call ourselves "born-again Christians", everybody knows that. But what does really mean? Well, it means we've been regenerated, given new life, through the Holy Spirit's working. In our sins, we are all lost. Dead, rotting corpses. So putrid even the vultures and coyotes won't touch our carcasses. James was writing this letter to the Hebrews, I think; those who had converted from Judaism to Christianity, and they were getting persecuted. Not just from the Romans, either; but also from the fellow Jews. Things were pretty dark and terrible, and some were thinking, "Did God plan this, is He causing it? And if so....why am I following this Jesus? Why couldn't I just go back to the Old Covenant, and then things would be good again?" James is saying in response, "Yes, God did plan this. He's not really causing the pain, though, but He is allowing it to happen, to grow your faith and strengthen your trust in Him. He won't tempt us more than we can bear; there will always be a godly way to get through whatever comes at you." This regeneration, this new life, is the will of God. The cause of our sin is us wanting to follow our own will instead of His. It's a struggle; and we are always fighting this internal war. Just as we don't choose to be born, neither do we choose to be born again. It's all God's will that determines that, who He, in His mercy, elects to save, and who he chooses to leave unredeemed. Those saved should be unbelievably thankful, indescribably grateful. We believers, we're the tools God decides to use in order for his glory to be spread by allowing us to play a small role in bringing those other chosen people, whose times hasn't come to be changed yet, into a relationship of knowing and loving and obeying Him. Shouldn't we be doing our best to be the most mallable tools, shaped into whatever form the Maker crafts us into? And then shouldn't we, once we're formed, assist to get our jobs done as much as we can?

   These were the thoughts we chewed on as we went out for the Tourney Challenge. The Barracudas won a really low-scoring archery competition over the Hornets(they settled on that name) 85-73, The Heat was too much for the Dragons to face, they won in three sets 15-14, 13-15, 5-0. For the Bison(we settled on that name. Alliteration sounds good in sports, and with so many of us on our last journeys or close to it here, a little historical mascot seemed fitting), we had cabbage ball. None of us were particularly thrilled, except Marie. The rest of us knew we might actually have the right collection of talent to do well at it this year, though. Red picked to bat first, they got on the board with one run, but we stopped there. Our turn to bat. Ash led us off with a single, Jed slapped out a hit, and his courtesy runner, Drew, got safely to first. Marie flied out. I beat out a single, bases loaded. Eva sacrifices to give Ash time to score, tie game. Daniel pounds an RBI grounder, and then Callie hits into a fielder's choice. Second inning, tied at one-all(our second run didn't count for some reason). We get into a tight jam, but work our way out with Taylor's spectacular defensive skills. He's up first, and crushes that ball farther than any of us have ever seen...it goes clear through the picket fence!!! (You have to understand how heavy and dead a cabbage ball is to fully appreciate this accomplishment, but the fence is about two hundred, two-fifty feet away from home plate. And uphill.) The Bison stampede everything. We nearly got another run pushed across, but couldn't quite make it. Despite our best defensive efforts, they tie the game in the top of the third. Marie's up first for us. She grounds out to the pitcher. I ground out along the first-base line. Eva grounds out to the pitcher. End of the third inning. And..Brother Larry, did you say that's the end of the game??? But we're tied! Isn't there a way to break it or something? Oookkayy....in anxious suspense, for the outcome was to be determined later after a conference with Tim, we hit the river gravel/limestone pathway fro the tabernacle.
   At least we should be good on Bible trivia. But how good is Yellow this year? The Barracudas jumped out and bit off an early 1,900-1,300 lead, but we loped along and led after the first round 2,900-2,300. A 5,100-4,900 lead became a 5,300-5,100 score, Yellow leaped ahead on a Daily Double to take an 8,100-6,700 advantage. The Final Jeopardy answer: When the Prodigal Son returned, his father gave him three gifts, besides killing the fatted calf. name these three items. We got a crown, that was easy. A cloak was a little more disagreed on, but we all wrote that down. That left one thing....a few of us said sandals, but many others thought it was clothes in general. After an intense discussion, and with our time ticking, the majority won out and I penned down "Crown, cloak and new garments, for 4,500." It was...A) A cloak. B) A crown. C) Sandals....(!!!!) We lost 11,100-1,200, but that wasn't going to end our day sports-wise. An announcement from Tim was. The cabbage ball game that ended in a tie would NOT be replayed or continued, but would be called a tie, and each side would be given half a point. But that was okay, it was still a half-point better than we had before. But, an error in Ryan's math occurred on Tuesday's archery, and actually, upon review, Black had won, with 119 points to our 107. That dropped us from first to third with three events left.

   BUT, it wasn't a completely horrible awful no good very bad day, it was just the morning that seemed like that. We had general session still, and singing, and the talent share. Those were all good things. General session was a map of the playbook for how to live a righteous life, lots of sports terminology made this an easy lesson to grab hold of, and understand how much we ought to hunger for holiness.
   Miss Kathy's lesson today was about the message conveyed in our music, and some Scriptures got us started on thinking about that(Isaiah 12:5, 1 Corinthians 14:16), we should be skillfully preaching the Word, proclaiming God's glory! Just as the President doesn't ride to deliver a speech on a tricycle, neither should pagentry surround nothingness, if there isn't a message. Some discussion on poetic devices, like rhyme scheme, repetition and similies. A quick informal survey of music recently listened to was taken at lunch, and the titles were listed. Most of them I'd heard, but there were about 40% I'd never heard of. (Examples: In Christ Alone, Indian Outlaw, Mean, Days Go By, Tim McGraw(this confused her for a minute; til the girl who had said that had explained that it was a Taylor Swift song called Tim McGraw), Firework, and Call Me Maybe. All us guys chuckled when we heard that, Miss Kathy was wondering why. The girls provided a terrific story next hour. When she reached Call Me Maybe, she mentioned that all of us had chuckled, and was wondering why. Could anyone please explain what was so funny about that? So, in perfect harmony and pitch, without any rehearsal at all, from eight different states and two countries, launched into singing it. She was dumbfounded.) Anyway, all this was to prove a point: God gave everyone the ability to create beautiful things, which include music. But most of what the world does with that is to create shallow, empty tunes that mean nothing, they contain the nutrition of a Pop-Tart and last as long as a bubble. As believers, we're called to do so. much. more. 

  Miss Kathy asked me after class if I was going to do anything in the talent share tonight, I shook my head no. "Why not?" She sounded really disappointed. So, I tried to explain. My first year, I was used to singing and performing in front of people, because of being so involved with the drama group. I just wanted to see if I could sing in front of complete strangers. I mean, just coming here was an adventure, why not try to make it as memorable as I could? They seemed to like it. That second year, I had the right attitude about it, but I was in no way ready to bring a guitar out, that was a terrible decision. The third year, it was something from "The American Ideal", it was all "Lord, You've Blessed Me, Me, Me." Except it was actually "Long Black Train", but anyway, that was way, WAY off. That's why I didn't want to do anything solo the next year, and why I asked Sam to team up, and why I was part of the Jedites. I had done some long searching, lot of prayer, to understand what my role was to be this time. And what it was, was to stay in the background and let the younger kids shine. If I was asked to be part of a group, that would be fine, but nothing else visible. Jed recruited me for a choir he was building, and then Daniel asked me to help with a Spanish choir. So I agreed, those went really well. Sang tenor in Jed's choir with Daniel and Madelyn(yes, you read that right), the song was very familiar, but the title is escaping me. Jed was conducting, then the tenor section, Joe, Josh, Colton, Caleb W. and a few others were bass; Ash and Mary were altos, Amanda and a few others were sopranos. And there was also a harmony section, and Jessica was playing piano for us. For Daniel's choir, we did "Open the Eyes of My Heart" in Spanish. There was Daniel, Jed, Taylor, Ash, Suzanna and I; that was really neat to do. We probably said who knows what in our Ozarks/Mississippi accents, but the right intent was there.
   But that's enough, most of the time I was sitting and watching. There were skits, by Shari and Jorgi; and by Courtney, Miriam and Audrey; and some others, those were awesome. Miss Kathy started the show with a beautiful song on the piano, dedicated to her new family; Amanda, Colton, Jed and Jessica did a hilarious skit, Joe flailed around on Jed's guitar and terrified anyone who knew at least a little of how to play. After about eight minutes of agony and awkwardness, the amp "suddenly" wouldn't emit sound any longer...Huh...I wonder what causes that....thankfully, that was mercifully relieved by a bunch of corny jokes from Eva. A lot of them were actually funny, too, and not just corny; that was good. Miss Kathy, Ashton and Emily played a very nice cello/violin piece, and Courtney and Paige did their "Twelve Things of Camp" song. That was the talk of the town for the rest of the time, how hilarious that was, and where did you get those numbers? Are those actually for real the amount of times this happens? Things like that. It was really neat to watch, was special to see the reaction. And there was the - Wait, I can't tell that part yet!

   We were eating dinner, or trying to, anyway, with the butterflies and anticipation of the talent share coming up. Just an ordinary time, the dining hall was full of voices, dropped forks, and the clicking of paddle meeting ball. Somebody came in the front door, that's not to unusual, like if it was somebody brushing their teeth or something. But none of us have....long red hair!!! Could it be?! Yes, it was!!!! Terry was back, all was right with the world!!!! We didn't know what to do. Everyone hugged everyone else. We were laughing. We were crying. We were talking. We were taking pictures. The Cup Game broke out. Her husband was watching her dad for the day so she could come up for a flying visit, just in time to see the talent share, say hello to everyone, and then back on the road. But still - !
   So, I raced down to the tabernacle to find a place to set the card, out of sight, but yet still easy to get to. Everyone filed in, found their seats, and Tim got everyone quieted down and the opening prayer had been said. He nods over at me, and I walk over and get the card, hiding it behind my leg, and walk onto the stage.  I then call Ash up, she walks up and stands beside me. I then call on Terry, to hand her camera to Madelyn and come up to where we are. Startled, she does after a minute, and with the crowd's excited, curious realization of what's about to happen. I (more or less) get through the speech I had prepared, trying not to cry or anything stupid, I could only understand half my own words on the recorder's playback. We present the card, and she begins to examine it. She likes it. The two of us nod and a small grin appears, another project successfully completed. The audience loves the moment. We all exit the stage, kind of overwhelmed, and Tim officially begins the talent share.
   Anyway, what I was about to say was that Mrs Boyer had promised that if she could make it, she and Jed would do The Sovereign Grace Youth Camp Camp Song. And so he played, and she sang, and it was great.  An amazing way to close out the show, a short break, and then general session.

   Many churches meet on Wednesday nights. These are usually times of prayer or singing, with a bit of teaching and lots of fellowship. Occasionally, they're especially focused on prayer for a specific subject. Well, apparently many of the churches who had sent campers were praying for the time, that the Lord would bless it and work in a mighty way. There was something...different, in the air. I couldn't tell you what the sermon was on, because I was looking at something, searching for where this unusual thing might be. When finished, Jeff prayed, and...nobody moved. We were held captive. We felt very....small, and insignificant. And kind of scared. Everyone sat there in perfect silence, soon weeping could be heard. More sobbing followed, I couldn't say what happened for anyone else, but I felt something was being torn away, something vital, and life would never be the same. Some need, something, pride, maybe, I don't know. I starting crying, I could see others, too. This silence lasted for about twenty or twenty-five minutes, then Tim kind of shakily got to his feet and asked us to pick up our camp books, turn to "In Christ Alone".
   John says in Revelation that there were things which he saw that could not be spoken of. This was a happening of that same type. Staggering out the door, we slowly made our way back to the cabins. I bolted for the showers, my soul was just being wrenched by something, that I didn't understand, but knew was good. If anyone would have asked me how I was doing, assuming I could answer, I would have said "No. No, I'm not okay. I don't know what's going on, and I'm not okay now, but...I will be." Thankfully, no one asked me any questions like that. C.S. Lewis wrote in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" that Mr Beaver, when queried by the Pevensies on Aslan, answered them this way: "Safe? Of course he isn't safe! But he is good."

   We have never felt the Lord working quite that close ever before. Many of the preachers had seen that maybe once or twice in their entire lives. Trying to get some grip on what we just went through, being men and boys, we kept our thoughts to ourselves, and talked about baseball and action movies. Jed and I kept the little kids in check, with Caleb, Dylan, and Josh assisting.  After about an hour or a little more of this, we heard some news: That Shari and Jorgi had become children of God. Then, news of others, too: Grayson. Maddie J. I don't know who all else, but at least eleven souls were rescued that night.

   "But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as a shield." Psalms 5:11-12(NIV). This was our attitude with the new morning and God's new mercies, wonderful, indescribable joyfulness and thanksgiving.
   Appropriately, the sermon in the morning general session was about faith. Keep the commandments. Trust and obey, that's all we do. We need to purge ourselves of the idols in our hearts, and let Jesus walk in us, take us over, giving all we have to Him. Many say, "Pray this prayer, and you can live however you want for the rest of your life and you'll be saved". This Get Out of Hell Free card is known as "Easy Believism", which can lead to a lifestyle of "Carnal Christianity", a lifestyle of the world, with no differences visible. With those perimeters, anyone can be a fantastic salesman, "Here, you want to avoid eternal torment and agony? Repeat what I say, and you're all good." Those are false conversions. Real conversions, true conversions, are a struggle, a fight, that we gain ground, then retreat, then gain some more ground in. The chief purpose of salvation is not to escape hell. The chief purpose of salvation is God's glory, to relinquish sin and worship Christ more fully, leaving our chains behind and accepting the lowly role of slave.

   Those leaders, we knew that what happened out on the playing fields didn't matter coming in. Now, everyone knew that. But still, if we were given a spirit of competition, that needs an outlet...well....shouldn't we take advantage of that gift and use our leisure time as fully involved as we can, to show some of our appreciation and gratitude back to the One who gave it to us? Our thinking, anyway.
   Green beat Black in ping pong fifteen games to five; Red beat Yellow in volleyball 15-8, 15-5; and Blue and White had cabbage ball. It didn't start out too well, two ground balls and a line drive right to the shortstop. And then the Heat got two runs in their half of the inning. In the second, the Bison charged. Taylor doubled, Marie K. singled, Rachel sacrificed, Jed got a hit, Daniel F. crushed a two-RBI triple, Drew and Ash each singled, Eva, Wesley and Taylor all got RBI singles, and we'd scored seven runs in one inning. I came in from second to pitch for Daniel, I wasn't that good, but I did throw two strikeouts. White couldn't score(More of Taylor's defense, including a catch doing a handstand), Drew scored Daniel, and Ash hit the electric line hanging over the field six times in one inning tossing the ball back to me. Blue won it in three innings 8-2, we had eleven hits to White's five. Red topped Yellow in volleyball 15-11, 15-5, Green destroyed Black fifteen games to five, that brought up the BPG after the second Worst/First. We got into a 1-4 hole to start with, but then when the guys' games came up, we slowly crawled up, took the lead, and never looked back. Ash won the girls' championship over Bailey 11-6, 11-6, Daniel won the guys' final by dispatching Caelin two games to one.

   Group sessions were a little sad, knowing this would be the last one, but it was another good time of practical teaching. We get the bare outline of what it means to live a godly life in Scripture, since most of the specifics are learned along the journey. The holy person is humble, lacking any overwrought sense of self, and convinced that whatever God can use for His glory is His doing, and not theirs. An arrogant, proud person cannot be holy(see the Pharisees, for example), instead, we're to have the same attitude as the Prodigal Son on his return. Then there were some ideas given on the stages of walking in holiness: the first step is humility; the second step ministry. This is a servant, a slave tending to the master's needs. We each have different gifts, and we need to use them well, every child of God is given some way to serve others, we should be looking for those opportunities daily, hourly, even, sometimes. The third stage is love; we often tend to overlook the faults of those we care about, and gloss over the good qualities in people we dislike. That isn't godly. We have to expose the faults of those we love in a kindly, gentle manner, because 1 John 4:16 says that if we don't, we're hypocrites. And in those rare cases when gentleness isn't needed, well, tread on the sin or the error harshly, trample it to death. God didn't walk softly on David's sin, nor after the Fall, nor during the Flood. The fourth stage of godliness is knowing the things we ought to stay away from; that's pretty self-explanatory and obvious.
   The sermon that night was from 1 Corinthians 6:8-11, on the dangers of apostasy, and at the same time assurances of true belief and repentance. Faith may slow, stumble, lose its' grip, but it's always moving forward, most of the time we don't see this because of how small chunks are taken each day, we only realize this growth as jumps and starts. This is a real problem and issue, that some professing Christians are unsaved, so it should be taken seriously. If you can sin without feeling chastened, then you are not a child of God.

   Those of us into stats had figured out something: Blue was a half-point behind Green and we had one event to go. If the Hornets could beat the Dragons, they'd win the TC title outright. If they tied and we lost, they would still win. If they tied and we won our volleyball game, then it would be another Bible trivia match to settle it. If they lost and we won; we would be the champs.
   Really, though: why would we have to wait until Thursday evening to get to play volleyball? (This was a source of irritation all week.) It started out well, we built up a large lead i n the first set over the Barracudas, had a lot of good teamwork going on. I had the last serve in the rotation, it turned out, and I served three straight points to close out the set 15-2. Switching sides, the ground was harder, more limestone poking up in front, and the sand/kitty litter mix was doing weird things from being churned up so much and being damp from the rain earlier. And Yellow's players also knew how to play volleyball, too. They were fantastic this set, and we made all kinds of errors and mistakes, they won the second set 15-10. It didn't count, but Ash destroyed the ball on one serve, gearing up for the upcoming volleyball season, trying to get her jump serve back into practice. It darted down, slammed into the dirt about a foot past the end line, and kept going. And going. And going. And still rolling. It was picked up all the way at the other end of the tabernacle(About 300 feet away, at least). Reswitching to the more tabernacle side, the first few points swung back and forth, but with a goal to achieve(and a little re-use of the "Sharkbait!" rally call), we were able to pull it out. We have a 13-7 lead, it's my turn to serve. I've had some terrible clunkers, those are out of my system now. A few skimmers, that mostly dropped the right way. And a few great ones. I am two points away from the end of my life as a camper, all the memories in Challenge events and wonderful relationships with all my previous teammates. Yeah. And not only is it your last chance to win the Challenge, but you actually have a shot to really do it this time. Just do your part, and hope for some help. These and a lot of other thoughts were going through my mind, I was strangely detached, somehow calm. Kind of in the zone. I let the ball go, swing my left arm in an arc, going with an underhand delivery this time. The sphere flies off my wrist, it's completely dead, no spin at all. Clearing the net, it plummets Earthward, catching them off-guard. Shari tries to make an attempt at digging it, but it falls three inches in front of her at her feet. One. more. point. Another deadspin serve, dropping like a boulder. Exact same place on the court. Shari tries to dive to get it, but the ball meets the sand just out of her reach. That's it. The game is over, and we'd won 15-2, 10-15, 15-7.
   White and Red join us after a while,l their archery competition had ended, and we swat the ball back and forth, talk, and use Dylan's head as a target. (It wasn't our fault, we weren't aiming at him or anything, it was just like a magnet or something.) We'd all been really strict with Jed all week, keeping him from hurting himself. He helped the best he could, until either he couldn't go on any more or we told him to sit. We tried to make him sit out of volleyball, but he wouldn't listen, he was bound and determined to to play, it was his last year, the last event, and we needed everyone who was available if we were going to try to win. Sighing and giving up, knowing that when he backs into something that stubbornly there's no hope in changing his course, we said he could play. With monitoring. He was doing okay all throughout the first set, and flying everywhere in the second set. A little tired in the third, but then, we all were, and our service aces kept the pace somewhat light. It was kind of eerie, really, so many moments had been deja vu-type things, or reminded me of stories, but I was hoping never to have to re-live that scene. But...here it was, God had it worked out this way. I was getting tired of swatting, went to get my shoes on to watch the end of the cabbage ball game. Jed's curled up into a ball, screaming from the pain. This is bad. Robin and Andrew get him inside, and then the tabernacle doors are sealed off. Meanwhile, the few of us who are paying attention start to panic, most other people are still playing volleyball. Having one of your best friends be in that much agony is awful, it's terrifying. Trying to keep his girlfriend from going into hysterics, when she's almost a sister to you, that makes it even more of a challenge. Not knowing what else to do, really; Colton and I pray. A lot. And then otherwise just kind of stand there, trying to answer Amanda's questions, and wishing we knew the answers. We decide to go for Jessica, tell her the news immediately, instead of hearing it second-hand from someone else. I have never seen one out in a baseball game take so long. The game ends, an 8-6 Black victory, we tell her what happened. Then we just...hang on and pray, try to remember that however this turns out, it was God's plan, and His will be done.

   We(Me, Amanda, Jessica, Colton, Andrew and Marie D) keep an eye on Jed during the service, then walk slowly up the road to the dining hall. It was slow going. But it was our job, somehow, part of what our duty was this week; and in a way, fulfilling some of the commandment to "Take care of the sick and the orphans among you". Rosie the cat was out for her nightly stroll, we spot her, Jed says something about how cute she is, tries to call her. The rest of us look at each other. Then, one of the most unbelievable displays of love I have ever seen took place.
   A couple of us start to go after the cat, since he wanted to pet her. Amanda waves us back. Now, she detests cats, can't stand them, the only one on the planet she remotely likes is Jessica's, and she torments her every chance she gets. But she goes over to where Rosie is hiding, drops down onto the ground to fish under the car, calling for her. Rosie comes over  to her, and Amandy walks back to us, cuddling Rosie and whispering calming things. She hands her to Jed, who holds her for a while and lets us scratch her. She had a very good purr, loud and pleasant, calming. Our group gathered there needed that. I love animals, being around them, learning from them, interacting with them, as their lives intersect with ours. I've heard many stories of how God uses animals to accomplish His plans, but I've never seen that happen quite like that before. It was incredible, an extremely well timed gift of mercy.

   We eventually make it to the dining hall, Jess and Marie go off to sign books and fellowship, while the four of us stay on nursing duty, and our books go around the room without us, being passed around from person to person.
   Every year there seems to be a phrase or a saying that becomes a catchphrase, you just hear it everywhere. One year, it was use of the word "y'all", another year everything was "Dude!" "...Really?" was another. This year, it was a little different, and accompanied by a facial expression, even. (The "..Really?" had a questioning smirk, but that's not as personal.) It was said with a distressed frown: "...but you're coming back as a counselor next year, though, right? Please?" There was about seventy people there, totaling everyone, and I think I head that question from about thirty people. My answer? "I don't know. I'd like to. There's a lot that goes into the process, though; I guess we'll just see if it's what God wants, whether it's His will or not."
   But, anyway, although incredibly weak, Jed was getting back to normal, I helped him get to the cabin, where he crashed immediately, then came back to the dining hall, finish signing people's books and talking with friends. It was a sober enjoyment, sad, but acceptable. I tried to play Tim in ping pong, and was whipped terribly. That was good, it was the way things should be. And so was hearing that a couple guys broke a window trying to play football in the cabin. That cemented the assurance that things would keep going just like normal, that God would continue to work and bless this generation coming up, and that they would find their own friendships, create new tales and pass down our legends. And it made an interesting and fitting bookend to my time here. First night in the cabins, a football broke a light bulb. Last night, a football wipes out a windowpane. In between, so much joy, so much learning, so many friendships and lessons learned. Such a focus on Christ.

   And so we come to the final day. Tim leads devotions, then the mega-size cinnamon rolls that mean it's time to go. We were honored as the winning team, and then the receipients of the Heart of a Servant Award are announced. Cleaning, then time to reflect, think about what happened. Free time, kind of. I go down to the volleyball court, I think; I don't really remember, had a lot on my mind. "Follow Love", that FFH song; was sung a lot. I had thought about playing it for talent share, but...that would too depressing. We play volleyball for a while, I set a last stick of spearmint on The Gum Tree, and then, all too soon...it's time to leave. I said my goodbyes slowly and reluctantly, and I met Jake and Ashton's parents, and also Ash's mom. Then, we headed through the gate, onto the dirt road, and into the rolling countryside along the highway. Dan was driving us, it was a good drive, with Owl City and Diamond Rio on his Pandora, of course had to grab a couple energy drinks at the gas station, it's a tradition of our youth group. But really, it was a little sad. But, I knew that they, the campers who will come, and it, the structure and focus of the camp, was in very Good hands.

                                            # # #

(Breakdown of Challenge standings)

Blue Bison                        5.5 points
Green Hornets                  5    points
Black Dragons                  5    points
White Heat                       3    points
Red Daggers                    2.5 points
Yellow Barracudas           2   points

(Overall standings from 2008-2012, out of 39 contests)

Black         20 wins, '11 champs
Blue           20.5 wins, '09, '12 champs
Green        21 wins
Red           16.5 wins, '10 champs
White        11 wins
Yellow      20 wins, '08 champs.
The only color I was never on was Yellow, I was Red-Green-Black-White-Blue, in order.

(CAMP BOOK SIGNINGS)
When your book is literally written on from from cover to back cover, even the outsides of those pages, and when you read these types of messages, you feel really loved. Kind of amazing what can happen from agreeing to a dare, isn't it?

"To bad this is your last year! :/ Matt

It was good to see you this year again! See you Sunday! :) SMILE Marie

Dud you're awesome! Colton

Wesley C! The LORD saved me and 10 others this week. God bless! Keep me in your prayers bud. I loved seeing you all these years, keep in touch. I'm only a phone call away! - Shari

Hey Wesley, it was nice to see you! 8-) Alexa

Hey Wes sorry I couldn't be here all week. Hope you had an awesome and God-glorifying week. Derek Gibson

Wesley, so glad I got to see you again this year! - Ashton

Wesley, I had an awesome time. Your awesome! Hope to see you next year. Audrey B.

Hey Wesley, Hope you had a great week! Good luck this fall in college! Daniel Freeland

Wesley, Keep trusting. Keep seeking. The Lord Jesus is with you. I will keep on praying for you brother and I will keep in contact with you as you move into a new phase of life. May Jesus bless you and keep you. Daniel

Wes, it was great to see you again! I'm gonna miss you, man! You're a great friend. Joe Paxton P.S. The smart observer will notice that this was signed in ink! I finally got a pen!

Had a wonderful time. Can't wait for next year! - Kaitlin G.

Hey Wesley! It was so nice to get to see you and talk with you in person this week. You are in my prayers. Hope college life goes well. Your friend, Jess

You Rock! I'll miss u next year! DREW =)

Wesley - I hope your last year at camp was great! I'll miss you next year. :( Hope you had a blessed week! - Paige

Wesley - My dear friend and brother in Christ! Man your song be a new song in Christ. Col. 3:16 Kathy Biebout

Go Blue! Eva Sadowski

Dear Wesley, you are so awesome and cool! great to meet you and hope to see you next year. From Rachel!

Hey Wes, glad to have you with us at camp again this year. Awesome hangin w/you! Josh

Wesley, Hope you had a great week at camp! It was good to get to know you! Abbey

Now I feel like I should write you a really long note. Hm. I look forward to seeing you every year, and I'm gonna miss you. Thanks for starting the Monday status awards =) They really brighten up the day. Madelyn D. PS: Keep Courtney in line. ;)

Wesley, I'm really going to miss you. You've been an AWESOME friend no matter what and I'm sad you can't come to camp next year. - Bennett Cox

Wesley! You are one of the sweetest guys I know! It was so good to see you again and I hope I get to next year. (Never mind, your last year :( I'll miss you) - Jorgi PS I'm sad you didn't sing in the talent show this year :(

Hope you had a good time! Dylan

(Caleb Wilson's signature)

Wesley, Hey, made it! Well, for half a day...Glad I was able to see you as a camper at least one more time! I've got to say, I've watched you grow from a shy, slightly awkward "newbie" to a strong, graceful, caring young man...and it has been my pleasure to observe and get to know you! Continue to seek Him! By his Grace, Your cabin mommy, Terry Boyer '12

Wesley, there's no room left! :) Thanks for making my first year so much fun! - Laura

hey Wes, camp is awesome! Other than that, I don't have anything to say. Your sister, Courtney

Wesley, I have been so blessed to visit with you and experience your gentle, respectful spirit. I truly hope to see you at camp in the future. May you serve the LORD with massive devotion and true humility in what the LORD calls you to do! He is worthy!!!! He is exalted!!!! P.S. Thanks for sharing your story about your first year at camp! Pastor Ryan Butler Phil 1:9

hey great to see you again JB

Wesley! :) Oh my gosh! Where to start?! It's been so great to finally meet you in person. We have had the best chats and I'm sooo happy to have been able to hang out. :) No, I haven't seen any rose gardens, but the volleyball planted a little one on my arms. :P haha. The buffalo are kinda like cows ;) just scarier. I love your version of Fireflies, it was awesome to read that in your actual writing! I'm gonna miss you but hopefully see you next year! Your little sis, Manda

What's up Wesley! It was awesome hangin with you again. Have fun at college, and trust in the Lord always! God is Great! Love you man, and God Bless! - Andrew Ashe

I will write my sentiments on the back - because there's no room anywhere else! You are a great friend and I love coming to camp and having fun with you. I hope this time has blessed you! - Ashland GO BISON!"

CAMP: Part IV, 2011

   http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/07/camp-part-i-2008.html - Part I

http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-ii-2009.html - Part II

http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/08/camp-part-iii-2010.html - Part III

   In July 2010, I began doing some extra writing for a website, besides the stuff for the paper.

   It was kinda like this: My dad was reading the news one morning, and he spotted an ad from the sports website, saying that they were interested in finding students to help with stories and pictures, video and stuff, as part of a new program they were trying out.
   They had a statewide coverage area, and with that much territory to cover, they couldn't be everywhere at once. So, they were looking for volunteers to help them out. Students, specifically, both to get them involved in news production and also as sort of a training/evaluation program for the company, to hopefully grow future employees.
   Anyway, I called the guy, asking for more info, and that's how I became part of the Student Mojo(Mobile Journalist) program of OKBlitz.com.

   It was incredibly helpful, all the criticism I received from the staff, found lots of ways to improve my writing skills, and tell the story better, in a clearer way. I was the most consistent contributor of the two dozen or so in the program, sent them about two stories a week, on average. About forty or forty-five were published on the site, and I even had a few be linked up to the site's Facebook and Twitter pages, getting even more pageviews than it already was.
   Of course, I was still the main sportswriter for the Free Lance, those went together nicely, I survived football season and then made it through basketball, too, without too many people getting mad at me.

   In January, Dad's work, the local electric cooperative, was holding its annual essay contest for HS juniors, and he thought I should enter. One small problem: I'd never written an essay in my life, really; and I knew next to nothing about energy effieciency. Let me tell ya, that was a HARD task! Went through about five drafts in three days, actually. Then I forgot about it, that I even entered, until one day in March Dad said that I was picked as one of the six winners from East Central.
   My prize? An all-expenses-paid trip to....WASHINGTON, D.C.!!!!! With about eighty total strangers. I kinda had mixed emotions about it. It was neat, and a huge honor, that among all the thousands of kids who entered the contest, I was in the group that won, one of the best writers in the state, but seriously, I would be, like, 2000 miles away from home. And in a (very big) city. It would be kinda neat to be able to see all that history and stuff up close, though....

   In April, we packed up for a ride to Columbia, Missouri, for only the second family vacation I can remember us all going on. Dad had some training deal for work that he needed to complete, and so he figured we may as well just all come with him.
   We saw a lot of incredibly pretty scenery(but then, we were in my favorite state in the country, so...), went to some neat parks, toured Fantastic Caverns, and explored a lot of downtown Columbia on foot, including the campus of the University of Missouri. And we took a LOT of pictures. It was an interesting time, but we realized why we don't do that sort of thing more often: It's stressful and tiring. And Dad got horribly sick with an infection on the way back home.

   During that week, those of us going on the Youth Tour trip started talking on Facebook, the lady in charge(Jennifer, soon to be known to all as Spike Mama), started a group, and we began learning about each other, sharing what we were hoping to see. (I was looking forward to the Smithsonians, the Newseum, and the Lincoln Memorial, particularly. Best response ever to that question, from a girl out in the Panhandle: "I get to meet actual living breathing PEOPLE!!!" We also answered the important questions of: 1) Where you from(town and co-op)? 2) Where you think you might go for college? 3) What you gonna study? 4) Sooners or Cowboys?

   I also began the Random Status of the Week Awards in April, because there were a handful of people who's posts were so outlandish, so crazy, or so interesting that I felt they just had to receive some type of recognition. So one Monday I just began giving out my own, starting with this status: "I hate shoes." With some over-the-top hype(I felt incredibly stupid marketing the honor so hard, but I knew if this was going to be successful, people had to want to earn it. And ya know what? It worked! About every two weeks or so somebody says "I want to win that award of yours some day!") About a year and a half of almost uninterrupted ceremonies, and I've collected about eighty or eighty-five classics. Hoping to compile them up into a coffee table or magazine rack type of book someday.

   By March or so, thoughts were starting to turn to camp, and planning talent share ideas. As a youth group, we toyed with the idea of doing something all together, but that was scrapped pretty quickly. However, me and Sam started in on working on a song together. First step: Figure out which of the half-dozen we were considering to use.  Second step: Learn to play it. Third step: Practice together to get the timing down right. Fourth step: Figure out how to split the lyrics.

   Much to our entire state's thrilled shock and surprise, the Oklahoma City Thunder not only made it to the NBA playoffs, but then advanced all the way to the Western Conference finals before falling in six games. However, it was still a huge accomplishment, especially since it was such a quick turnaround from atrocious to awesome. And smoking the Lakers in the first round didn't hurt, either.

   We got to D.C, slightly nervous and scared, but excited. Our parents? Well, they were just nervous. It was an amazing trip, and it will definitely earn a post of it's own. The Smithsonians were awesome, the Newseum spectacular, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials amazing. Arlington Cemetery...never been anywhere like that. I stood on the grounds of Mount Vernon. I visited Ford's Theater. I met a ton of great people, like Agatha, Alicia, Aubrey, Bailey G, Bailey R, Brandi, Caleb B, Chance, Charlie R, Chrystal, Katie, Lorene, Maty, Morgan B, Ravi, Ryan, Tauri, Tre, Trent, and many, many others. And all the awesome counselors, too: among them, Andrea and Woogie, Ron, Jim and Amber, and Spike Mama and Ben.

   That was an amazing time. Unfortunately, it had to end. A lot of us have still kept in contact, though; we attend the same colleges, and talk and visit each other often. two days after we got home, I found out the website was closing down. I went into panicky retriever mode, and managed to save copies of about forty of  my stories that were published. It hurt, though.
   And then two weeks later, just before we left, our dog Sport died. We'd had him since I was six years old, he was a member of the family, more so than any of the other animals we'd had. The backyard still seems so empty without him there...an Australian Shepherd-sized hole in everything.

   So it was with a heavy(and worried) heart that I departed for Conway from the church Monday morning. I also had a phone interview with the editor of a magazine to get done(it didn't work out, which was probably better. More of this story can be found in the March post "Thoughts on Writing".http://www.anotherloveroftheblade.blogspot.com/2012/03/thoughts-on-writing.html And I discovered that mocha Rockstar is terrible for your nerves. I can handle caffeine well, and I was literally shaking. Of course, some of that was anxiety, some was excitement, some was sadness and grief,  some was worry, but then I found out later than even without those things, it was still too much.

   It seems like every year there's some crisis to one of our camp family members...in 2009, besides rebuilding after the fire and everything, Miss Kathy's husband died, and her entire family was extremely impacted by that. We were praying hard for the Butlers. In 2010, it was Tim and his tumor. We prayed hard for him and his family. In 2011, the owner of the campground passed away, so things were a little uncertain again. Would we have camp held this year? Would this be the final year? And the even worse crisis this year:  Jed's health. It started out as chest pain after working out, but it just wouldn't go away. And it kept getting worse. So he went to doctor after doctor, had test after test, and basically, they weren't sure what was wrong. Just before camp, he was medically cleared to attend, as long as he stayed out of strenuous exertion. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

   The guys coming were me, Caleb W, Dylan, and Josh, and Bennett, who would be a rookie. Son of Steven, our youth pastor, he was in seventh grade, and we tried hard to include him, knowing how hard it was to be an alien in the group, not even anywhere close to the fringe. The girls(much more talkative than we were on the way up, like always) were Corinne, Justine, Marie, Sam and Suzanna, and new kids Courtney(my little sister) and one of her best friends, (Dylan's little sister) Paige. The three rookies had heard every story in the book from all of us, starting with Josh and I's misadventure to start camp life off, and then to the traditions(The Gum Tree, candy stampedes, cabbage ball, etc) and quick autobiographical sketches of most everyone who was going to be there, and a handful of sketches of people who weren't able to make it. Courtney had a camp story to tell even before the trip started....

   You see, the theme this year was Mythical Character, and that's just a leetle hard to think up anything to do. So Sam(our go-to authority when imagination and/or creativity are needed) thought up the idea that we should just all buy a bunch of plain gray T-shirts and then spray-paint them with "GBC Youth 2011" on the front. We had the spray-painting get-together the Friday before, and let them dry until Sunday morning, where we picked them up during church.
   It was really fun. And there was music, which was good, and then a game of touch football. two-touch, about five-on-five or so, in the back yard between the main building and the youth building. I was the pass rusher(Odd, how I always end up in that position in these pickup games, since I'm 5'4' and barely a hundred pounds. But, anyway, somehow I can slip past linemen into the quarterback's face and force hurried throws.)  So the ball is snapped on some ordinary play, I go charging like a rhino for Josh, who's looking for an open receiver. Sam tries to block me, I dodge off to the side, escaping her. Courtney, who's at tight end on this play, comes over to help Sam. My side-skip totally got both of them, and Courtney barrels full-speed into her own teammate. In the collision, I get knocked down, too, and Josh has made about a five-yard run on the other side of the field. But anyway, my necklace that I was wearing snapped. Which was kinda annoying, it was a good one. Plain and simple and masculine. I mean, it was made of nails. Anyway, we're kind of surprised by that. After teasing CJ for being such a little sister and breaking things, Sam takes a look at it and puts in in her pocket. (One of her hobbies is making/repairing jewelry. She fixed it over the weekend, and actually, I'm wearing that same necklace right this second. That's not important to this story, though)
   But the lasting effect from that game, the moment everyone remembers, is that not only did Courtney completely flatten her friend and her brother and snap her brother's necklace, but she also earned her nickname of "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat", because she plays football just like Hobbes. Oh, and she also gave herself a shiner the size of a small continient, right on her left eye. No big deal, she's just about to head for the most exciting event of her life in three days.
   Needless to say, she's never lived that one down yet. And that's why in all the pictures she has an enormous black eye. Of course she said I gave it to her, which maybe I did, but if she hadn't been so clumsy she wouldn't have tackled the wrong person, right? And everyone at camp thought it was a hilarious story.

   Counselor-wise, things were mostly the same: Tim was back, Brother Larry was still here, Tom H. and Daniel N. were there, too. This guy from St Louis named Braxton was also a counselor, and Joe M. was the newest member of the camper-to-counselor group. And there was Terry, Janet, Robin and Mrs Minner, Miss Kathy was going to be there, but she couldn't come at the last minute with a new grandchild being born. Another familiar face in a new role, and another camper-turned-counselor, was Pippa, Joe's fiancee. Mostly the same faces, yeah, but there was a different tone coloring this week all throughout, Jojo said it was kind of like "a changing of the guard from the old generation to the new." I agreed with her, we were both part of the bridge between the generations of Daniel-Nathan-Cody-Jake-Ray-Olivia and Matt-Ash-Colton-Shari. It was an odd feeling.

   The camp pastor was a guy named Ryan, he had been a camper a long time ago, and he is Miss Kathy's son. Also, his wife and two-year-old son were there, too, and so Mandy, his wife, asked her sister Jo to help babysit. Some of the neat family threads that run through the camp.
   Anyway, his series of sermons that he taught on were about the fruits of the Spirit, and how we, as slaves/servants of Christ, should act, what our identities should be, in order to reflect the most glory possible back to Him. Very convicting, and very good. And, he recorded them for later use, and then uploaded them to a website called SermonAudio, relistened to several of those sermons again. This first sermon was on our identities in Christ. Got me to thinking, "What exactly is my identity found in?" Well, it wasn't exactly a comforting answer. It was found in my job as a sportswriter. Thankfully, though somewhat painfully, once I realized this, God moved that out of the way so I could focus on serving Him in a more clearer way. (Again, it's in "Thoughts on Writing".)
   Brother Larry's group sessions all week were focused on how to live a practical life of godliness, what that looked like. Very useful and good messages.

   I was elected captain of my Tourney Challenge team, White, Tuesday morning. For unfortunately honest reasons, we became known as the Cubs. Going in, I realized that most of my friends, and the people I'd looked up to as leaders, were gone now, and it was my turn to step up to the plate and set the example for the younger kids to follow. But being elected team captain, that really drove that point home for me. It's historically a slot given to the oldest guy, and hopefully there'll be another older guy or girl to help with the team-leading. In an awesome twist of of roster-building, I had Matt and Ash both as teammates. Two of my best camp friends, good athletes, great senses of humor, and also fellow strategy lovers. We needed every one of those qualities, they happily took roles of assistants, though they didn't like that title.
   Besides the three of us, we had fellow Tulsans Bennett, Marie, Paige, Sam, and Suzanna; Ash's little siblings Austin and Alexa; Bethany(another repeat teammate), and Joe P. As far as chemistry went, ours was awesome. Somehow, I'm not quite sure how, given that I was the leader with the backup I had, not to mention Daniel F, Jed, Josh, Ashton, Madelyn and Shari on the other five teams and all their competetiveness, the Tourney Challenge as a whole was a much more laid-back affair. We all wanted to win and everything, and that was the goal of the week, but at the same time, we also had a good grasp of how unimportant it was in the big picture.
   Anyway, like I said, our team chemistry was amazing. And that was good, because we needed something to go right. Because honestly, as a group, though we had some fantastic players, we weren't really that athletic, or even very good. Like, at all. Actually, to be perfectly honest, we were awful.

   Again, Ultimate wasn't an official sport, but with Miss Kathy's grandchild being born, and the fact that she was always in charge of the bows and everything, archery was thrown out from the list. In its place, we overwhelmingly passed a motion to re-elect Ultimate as its' replacement, the second choice, with far, far fewer votes, was horseshoes, followed by basketball, soccer, and touch football. So, anyway, that's how we wound up playing UF. Black(called the Thunder this year) beat Blue(yet AGAIN competing as the Angels) in Frisbee, Red(the Devils) lost to Green(the Bulldogs) in volleyball, and White and Yellow(the 'Jackets) went to the grassy field to play cabbage ball.
   Both sides got one hit in the first inning, but after that momentum went south. Yellow picked out four straight singles, and followed that up by a grand slam, to take the lead 5-0. We were able to string some hits together, and took a 6-5 edge going into the third inning. The 'Jackets stung us, in true softball fashion, with seven runs, and the best we could answer with was two, so Yellow got on the dining hall scoreboard first with the 12-8 win.
   In BPG, Green beat Blue in golf, Yellow kept right up with them by winning Bible trivia over Black 8,600-7,900, and we had(insert evil gleeful laughter here) ping pong, against Red. Now, I'm not great or anything, but I can usually hold my own, and I play a lot. Matt is one of the best players at camp, and Ash is very good. And we found out something: Alexa not only learned her talent at sports from her big sister, but also her drive to win. It was still way closer than it should have been, but we pulled it out with eleven games to their ten, and getting ourselves a mark on the board.
   In the Worst/First that night, Blue chose Green in cabbage ball and promptly lost 10-9, and Red wanted payback for us beating them, so they picked us in Ultimate.(Two of the three best sports back-to-back? We were pumped.) Yellow and Black went at it again, this time in volleyball, Yellow was victorious in that contest.
   The drought last summer was awful; no rain for literally months, and something like thirty-eight consecutive days above 100 degrees. It hadn't been quite so bad in the Ozarks, but it was still VERY hot and very dry. What little grass there was still in the ground was trampled and slick as ice, it was hard to run on. And HOT. These were the conditions of the field, we were playing this year best of three games, each to five. Marie didn't want to play, she took over the photographer position for both teams, so we had one less player to work with. The Devils scored four straight touchdowns, I caught a pass in the end zone to get us on the scoreboard, but then Red struck back to win the first game 5-1. Each side sent out their second team for the next game, it went back and forth, but quick thinking resulting in a game full of screen passes(to make up for our lack of height) led to sibling success, Ash and Alexa led White in the 5-3 win, tying it at one game apiece. Game 3 began with two red scores, and then a medical time-out interrupted play after Sam passed out due to a combo of heart and asthma. She sat out for a while, but stubbornly re-entered and right off threw a touchdown to Matt. Red scored, Ash tossed a score to Sam, and then Bennett threw to Matt, but we still lost 5-3, two games to one, with a total scorecount of 12-9.

   Of course the singing was great, like every year, this time besides the camp version of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and "In Christ Alone" there were a bunch of good theological, though impossible to sing, musty hymns no one had ever heard of.
   The dance went well. For some reason we couldn't figure out, it was held in the tabernacle again, though it wasn't raining. Numbered up for partners in the Virginia Reel again, take a wild guess who happened to be standing across from me. Ash and I just rolled our eyes, grinned, and ran with it. Then came the Gay Gordon and another dance, I can't remember for sure, but I think I danced with Jojo and Marie. Then the box-and-square with Eva, looking around, it was interesting to see the couples. Dylan(who hates to dance and always wishes he could get out of it) was with Paige, keeping an eye on his little sister, Bennett and Courtney were trying to figure out how to step correctly, Sam was dancing with Jed and Jon, and Josh(who also hates the dancing) was with Suzanna(who does enjoy it).
   Fun, lighthearted times.

   For Wednesday's UVC section, there were several sibling battles, Brittany's Blue Angels topped Stan's Red Devils in cabbage ball 10-3, Black beat Yellow in volleyball(again), and for me and Courtney, it was just like at home, tossing the Frisbee around, except for the facts that we actually had teammates, and that the neighbor's pit bull won't chase us. Anyway, the tangle between the Bulldogs and Cubs began, and it was a fight. On the opening serve, Bennett crashed into a guy and fell hard, getting a massive headache and nearing blacking out, we almost thought he might have gotten a concussion. So, he was out. Marie was sitting out again, and Suzanna had decided that she'd be more helpful on the sidelines.(For those keeping track, that leaves us with about eight players.) I helped out with both our scores in the first game, catching a throw from Sam and then firing the disc to Ash, but we lost that game 5-2.
    The second game started with the second teams, Courtney got a little overheated halfway through and was replaced(to her displeasure) by captain Jon M. Sam passed out again, worse this time, and Matt was feeling a little under the weather, too; so we seriously had some player issues, and were subbing in and out almost like hockey. It worked well enough for us to win that game, though, and it went into overtime. Green sent out a quintet of rested guys over 6'2', while we had a worn-out three-girl, two-guy lineup, tallest of us at maybe 5'8'. we tried hard, but we lost 2-1 gamecount, with a scorecount of 8-4.
    In BPG, Black narrowly edged Red in golf 539-551, Yellow beat Blue in ping pong, and Green and White headed down the path for Bible trivia against each other. White had a large lead at one point, both sides risked it all in Final Jeopardy, on this question: Samson used these, in this amount, to destroy the fields and crops of the Phillistines. Both sides said foxes, but only Green said 300, so they stayed unbeaten, and had a real chance to be the first-ever undefeated team in Tourney Chalenge going into the final day.
   After talent share and the general session that night, a long discussion on player safety was chewed over in the boys outer left cabin between me, Matt, Jed, and Jon, and it was worked out that whether Red or White had first pick in Worst/First, we'd play each other in volleyball, which meant shade.

   The talent share was a pretty good one, a magic show by the Henrys was one of the best parts. Tim's juggling was entertaining, and all the forty or so girls sang together, that was really neat to hear. Jed recruited me, Jon, Sam and Eva to do "In Christ Alone" with him, we were the Jedites. That went well.
  Mine and Sam's song...not so much. It was a great idea, and we both learned it and everything, we just needed more practice time together than we had. She was nervous playing before people and thought she might forget the words, and I was worried about her worrying so much. We had Josh film it for playback for future musical endeavors, if you wanted to watch you can find the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSlJVR3_FiA&feature=g-upl
   Also, Jed and his mom wrote up "The SGYC Camp Song", a hilarious ode to everything that can, does, and should happen during the week. That brought the house down.

   One of the things about it that made the week feel so odd was the sudden appearance of new people. Of the 66 campers, 24 were there for the first time. And with extremely low numbers registered two weeks away, at the last minute the rules were tweaked: For this one time, ANYONE twelve years old was allowed, not just those twelve-year-olds who fell inside the cutoff date. Much of these rookies were little brothers and sisters. Courtney, Paige, Alexa, the Freelands' little brother Caleb, the Henrys' brother (or cousin) Christian. And non-related people, too, like this kid named Josh Owens that we never could remember his name. Or Drew Brashers, he wore these shiny aviator sunglasses and sang "Amazing Grace" in the talent share. (And played guitar, I tuned it by mistake while practicing.) And Bennett. he, ah...well, he kept the other guys in stitches, and mortified us who knew him. Yeah. Anyway, the cabin story became an official legend by then, Marshall was telling some of the new kids about it, Josh and I listen like we haven't heard it in forever, kinda smiling. "That was us." when he's finished. "Seriously? That was you guys???"
   I'd been practicing ping pong, me and Courtney played each other most days on this oversized card table. I guess the smaller surface helped; I beat Matt, Jon, and then won back to back over Jed. That should have told me something wasn't right, but I ignored that miniscule thought. Just thought it was the virus beginning to spread.

   Red won the coin flip for first pick in Thursday's Worst/First, so we headed down to the volleyball court. Blue and Green went to play cabbage ball, and an exception was made to the rules to allow Black and Yellow to play ping pong in the air conditioning.
  Volleyball is traditionally thought of as a girls' sport, so it was hardly a surprise that we were led by Ash, Sam, Alexa and Bethany, for the most part. With the interesting rally cry of "Sharkbait!" before every serve, we Cubs held even and even led for a little while. Then reality caught up with us and things went downhill pretty fast. The Devils won in two sets 15-8, 15-8. Weird happenings in history: To go along with Ash's cannon shot serve that landed in the path in 2008, or our mutual target practice at each other, this year Austin broke the fence while chasing down a runaway ball, and Sam crushed a serve that stopped halfway along the tabernacle(about 100-200 feet away). The Angels triumphed over the Bulldogs 9-6, squashing a last-inning comeback bid and ruining the chances for an undefeated week. And the Thunder won a tight ping pong match twelve games to ten.
   The volleyball match between Blue and White was irrelevant to the final standings. Black and Green were slated to play cabbage ball, each side had five points. Thus the title, prizes and bragging rights hinged on both cabbage ball and the Red-Yellow UF game. If Red won, then the winner of the cabbage ball game took the championship outright. If Yellow won, however, it would go into a tiebreaker system developed to avoid another emergency Bible trivia match like the one the year before.

   Besides the sicknesses and everything, we were losing people for other reasons as well: Rhen had to go home to take care of his sister due to a family illness, and the Wrights left for vacation, so we lost two more campers and a counselor there. And then, during the guys singing, Eva gashed her eye open going down the waterslide, Mrs Minner and Lizzie rushed her to the nearest hospital to get that looked at and stitched up.

   Still with the cry of "Sharkbait!" ringing, we astounded ourselves with how easily we won the first set, the score was 15-5. White's hopes dimmed quickly in the second set played out, Blue snuck up on us and took it 15-12. With the third game actually counting for something, our nerves got to us and we fell apart, dropping the third set 10-1. Yellow had won Ultimate 2-0 gamecount, scorecount 10-4, which meant they would be in a tiebreaker against Black, who won the cabbage ball game in jaw-dropping fashion, with a 21-1 score. Green players I interviewed couldn't figure out how they could play so well all week and then completely fall apart the next day. Anyway, the tiebreaker was mysteriously untangled, and Black emerged as this year's champs. But that didn't really mean anything, considering what happened right before that....

   It was after volleyball, and before general session. We were killing time out on the volleyball court, just swatting it around. I go over to put my shoes back on, I finish tying one shoelace when I realized the noise level had lessened. Like, a lot. I looked around to figure out why, and they're standing around Jed, who's lying collapsed in the sand/kitty litter mix, motionless.
   Naturally, the rest of us do two things: Pray, and panic. A couple people got him inside and stabilized, the rest of us tried to remember that this was just a more extreme example of the fact that God's in control and that it would work out however was most pleasing for Him. The next twenty minutes the tabernacle was full of hurried prayers, anxious thoughts and tightly reined emotions. We knew this could happen, that's why we kept tabs on how he was doing all week, but we just didn't think it would happen.
   I know sports and games aren't important, and that "It's only a game", yeah. But I didn't fully understand that saying until that evening, with one of my best friends, for all we knew, might be having a heart attack or dying or something. It was terrifying.
   I know from the halfhearted attempt at note-taking(I gave up after twenty minutes) that Ryan's sermon was about dealing rightly with anger, but I'm not sure anyone heard it. I know I didn't.

   But, anyway, the general session finally ended, and we could see that Jed was recovering slowly, and we heard that Eva's accident wasn't anywhere near as bad as they thought, she was on the way back now, with only some stitches. Very joyfully, and with relieved exhaustion, the bittersweet time of book-signing had come. And with it, a last run on the snack bar, ping pong, and conversations with friends.
    I was treasuring every moment. One of the perks that came with being an older person was that when Daniel rounded up the last people about eleven, he just sort of grinned and told us to come in whenever we were ready. So Jon, Dylan and Josh played ping pong for about two hours, and I talked with the Freelands, Hankinses and Mimi until midnight, when Mrs Boyer chased us all out of the dining hall. Amid perfunctory complaints, we obeyed, and so the last full day of the week ended, technically, about midnight, but us guys kept talking for about another hour before we were finally told to shut up for good.
 
 Leaving, it was sadder than usual. Whatever that generation passing was, all those memories and stories and everything, was now ending for good, only to be kept alive through legends. The new kids, they'd write their own history of their years at the campground called Beth-Eden. And of those of us in the bridge, we weren't sure if we'd return next year or not, if we'd be able to, with the changing future and things like that, entering college, getting jobs.
   Our trio of rookies LOVED the experience, as we knew they would, and rattled off camp stories to whoever would listen every chance they got for the next seven months. The virus that was being passed around took about two or three weeks to get over and leave, most people went immediately to sleep on the ride home.
   The Gum Tree had its' own plaque now, the pool was renovated, there was a lot of other things that made us hopeful for the future of SGYC, and confident that Christ would still work through the camp in the years ahead, maybe even more than He already had. And nothing was psychically broken or destroyed.
 
   Knowing....everything that happened this week, what it would lead to over the next year, would I change any of it? I don't really I think I would....there were some very high points, and quite a few very low places. A lot of stress, of the "pull-your-hair-out, I'm-at-the-end-of-my-rope-here, God; use-whatever this-mess-is-leading-into-to-grow-my-walk-closer-to-You, and shine-Your-glory-and-let-us-be-witnesses-for You" variety. Those things needed to happen to get us ready for life out there, tough as they were, I knew, we all did, that there was a good reason behind them, and good would come from it.

                                                   # # #
(TOURNAMENT CHALLENGE STANDINGS)
(Out of eight contests)

Black Thunder                              Six points
Yellow Jackets                             Six points
Green Bulldogs                             Five points
Red Devils                                   Three points
Blue Angels                                 Two points
White Cubs                                 One point.

(CAMP BOOK SIGNINGS)

"Hey! I hope you had a great time and learn a lot as I did. Hope to see you next year. Anne

(Scratched out) Wesley, did you know that your name is spelled w- [That was one of the first things I noticed. There's always some typo or another...] Wes, loved talking to you a bit this week. You're an awesome guy! - Jo

Hey It was good to see you again! Colton

Wesley, It was fun to see you again, and you rocked the talent show. Hope to see you again next year. Joe Paxton P.S. Got a pen?

It was great to have you at camp! Suzanna

Wesley, you are amazing at singing plus playing the guitar. come back next year! Brittany

Wesley - Hope you had an amazing year! Hope you learned something from Brother Ryan and Brother Dean! In Christ, Daniel Freeland

Wesley, Since you didn't take any notes on the sermons...and I know you keep notes in your head - I guess I'll go ahead and impart some wisdom to you! If you see a buffalo and you really wanna go and pet it...Don't approach it - you'll regret it! Ooohhh....yeah, yeah.... Seriously, I truly enjoy spending time with you each year! You are a guy to be around and impress me more and more...hope this doesn't make you too proud! :O just kidding! You are one of the most humble people I've ever known! Love you, Wesley! By His Grace, Miss Terry :)

Wesley! You are so sweet! I loved that you sang in the talent share! You were awesome and it was a great song choice! :) Hope to see you next year! Shelby Henry

Hey Wes, good job on the guitar this yr. Keep up the hard work! Your brother in Christ, Josh F.

Wesley, you are so fun and considerate. I hope you have had a great week and that you have learned a lot and grown more in Christ. Grace and peace, Elizabeth Martin

WESLEY! My main man! Stay sweet! You Rock the guitar. See you next year Wes! Shari

Dear Wesley, I'm really glad you could come again this year! your talent was really awesome! loved the song you sang! I think you have an amazing voice! glad you were on my team this year. Bethany

See ya in OK. :) p.s. White Rules!! :) In Christ, Samara

Wesley, So glad you came to camp! thanks for singing every year! It's a blessing! I hope you were richly blessed by the teaching! - Ashton Brown

Wesley, It's practically a priviledge(sp?) to be associated with you - you have such a reputation for exellence at this camp...and everywhere else, for that matter! Keep seeking the LORD and serving Him. I pray that you were blessed this week by His Word! Justine Mueller

Wesley, I greatly enjoyed spending time with you this week. I sincerely pray that God has blessed you this week! Keep praying and seeking the Lord concerning His will for your life. Our God is so faithful! God richly bless you brother. Daniel N.

Great to see you again this week Wes! - Marshall

Wesley! Thanks you for being you! Continue to search the Scriptures and trust in the Lord! Braxton Hodgin

Wesley! It was great to seeing you again! And meeting your family(you have a great sister, treat her well :) ) Keep in touch!! :) Madelyn D.

Wesley, I really appreciate your friendship. it's been great talking w/you! Maybe we'll be on the same team next year! - Ashland

Had fun w/you this yr. We're the most holy team cuz we lost w/grace. - Bennett

Hey wes it was fun getting to know the pepole you've talked about so much it help alot thanks for being such a good brother courtney

(Dylan Steeley's signature)

Glad we were on the same team! Matt

Your awesome dude it was nice meeting you. you were a beast in Ultimate Frisby. - Caelin Weaver

Westley, Glad I could see you at camp again this year. No more Black Panthers, though! Hope to see ya next year. Keep in touch! :) Eva Sadowski

Hey. It was really fun being on your team! I had so much fun getting to know you! Alexa :)

Wesley, I'm so glad you came to camp again! have a wonderful year. In Christ, Lauren Wright

Hi person, boy person. Vania

Wesley, I'm so glad you were able to come this year  It was good to see you. I hope you learned a lot this week. May God bless, In Christ, Maggie Jane

Wesley! I love you! I'm so glad you sang on talent night! I absolutely love your sweet spirit! - Jojo - P.S. See ya next year!

What's up man?! It was awesome hearin you and the other girl sing last night. Keep up the great work. I hope to see you next time Andrew Ashe

Wesley, it was awesome hanging out! AND I didn't break any strings!(Much farther down the page) yo this week was EPIC! c ya next year! Jon Lange

hope you had an awesome week. I'm going to beat you in ping-pong next time. :) caleb

See you next year maby Austin Hankins

hey man hope to see you next year. In Christ, Jed

(Marie Dugas' signature)

Keep singin' Wes, it's awesome! Joe"