more stuff i didnt post recently...
Day 4 The president of Younglife, Denny Ryberg, Flew into camp to spend a day at camp. I had the opportunity to meet him and even introduce him at the leader meeting to all the leaders of the students. He seemed like a nice guy and fairly personable. we've also had 2 photographers from Younglife come in to shoot stock photos of camp and students. they've been here a few days and will leave tonight I believe.
Post secrets –Rob our camp speaker, is doing a version of Post Secrets intermingled with Life Signs. It has been very shocking to see some things kids write, about what life is like back home. One student wrote “I am Tired of always being the Fat friend”… another wrote, “I still love you mom, even if you still hit me.” And another wrote, “I don’t want to keep having sex, but my boyfriend likes it and I’m afraid he will leave me if I tell him no.” Its such a fragile situation for these kids. Its so heartbreaking too.
We are excited for tonight, where students will be invited to take a very close look at life and make some choices about where they are going. I am also excited because next week I get to see friends from Marysville, as well as Kayla Anderson, who is leading a group from Spokane. Pray for us as a camp, that kids would be real about themselves and where they are going in life. Pray also for me, because tomorrow is boat day and I need the energy and strength to meet new leaders and kids as well as remember names! also pray i get a good nights sleep, because the Head Leaders may end up spending the night outside of cabins to keep kids from sneaking out. Go Gig Harbor!
Ps, no cougar sighting since the first one.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Blog
Its Day 6 of our first camp week at Malibu. This has been a nice change of pace. Day 4 and 5 for us as head leaders are extremely wild. On day 4 in the evening there is a lot of crowd control due to a carnival, opera, dance, and pool party. We got to bed no earlier than 1:00 am and had to wake up at 6 am to do a ropes course. Now this ropes course is work for us, because as an assignment team we are all in the ropes course helping kids through it. In fact I was in the trees for almost 6 hours yesterday. I actually had a lot of fun with the day, talking to kids, encouraging them, and celebrating with them. Then the rest of day 5 is spent organizing leaders so the work crew kids (high school kids who spend a month working here) can take the day off. Let’s just say I slept hard last night.
Joanna and Silas are doing very well. We got to spend time as a family swimming on day 4, but for the most part the past few days we haven’t gotten too much time together. Silas hasn’t tried escaping ever since the first night, to Joanna’s relief. Joanna is enjoying the opportunity to meet a lot of Adult Guests and talk with adults, as opposed to a 2 year old most the day. We are also working on babysitting for Silas so she has some peaceful time. Last night we had a party with all the adult guests, which included excellent food and good conversation.
Last night after an all camp quiet time (where each student spends 20minutes alone somewhere on the property), we had a few students out of cabins still, so we were searching for a few. I found one young guy, Fritz, who was hanging out on the rocks. As I was walking him back to his cabin, he turned to me and said, “I’ve decided to give my life back to Jesus.” He went on to say that he had always been looking for reasons to doubt, and decided that even though he will always have questions, he was ready to start on the path towards God. I was excited for him. His friends said that he was very quiet and closed off the past two years, but suddenly has been way open over the past couple days. Its great to see these students opening up and letting themselves feel life.
Its Day 6 of our first camp week at Malibu. This has been a nice change of pace. Day 4 and 5 for us as head leaders are extremely wild. On day 4 in the evening there is a lot of crowd control due to a carnival, opera, dance, and pool party. We got to bed no earlier than 1:00 am and had to wake up at 6 am to do a ropes course. Now this ropes course is work for us, because as an assignment team we are all in the ropes course helping kids through it. In fact I was in the trees for almost 6 hours yesterday. I actually had a lot of fun with the day, talking to kids, encouraging them, and celebrating with them. Then the rest of day 5 is spent organizing leaders so the work crew kids (high school kids who spend a month working here) can take the day off. Let’s just say I slept hard last night.
Joanna and Silas are doing very well. We got to spend time as a family swimming on day 4, but for the most part the past few days we haven’t gotten too much time together. Silas hasn’t tried escaping ever since the first night, to Joanna’s relief. Joanna is enjoying the opportunity to meet a lot of Adult Guests and talk with adults, as opposed to a 2 year old most the day. We are also working on babysitting for Silas so she has some peaceful time. Last night we had a party with all the adult guests, which included excellent food and good conversation.
Last night after an all camp quiet time (where each student spends 20minutes alone somewhere on the property), we had a few students out of cabins still, so we were searching for a few. I found one young guy, Fritz, who was hanging out on the rocks. As I was walking him back to his cabin, he turned to me and said, “I’ve decided to give my life back to Jesus.” He went on to say that he had always been looking for reasons to doubt, and decided that even though he will always have questions, he was ready to start on the path towards God. I was excited for him. His friends said that he was very quiet and closed off the past two years, but suddenly has been way open over the past couple days. Its great to see these students opening up and letting themselves feel life.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Camp, Christ, and Cougars
Ahoy! It is now day 3 of our first week at the Malibu Club. We are definitely adjusting to life here, even in 80+degree heat this first week.
Silas is adjusting so very well, the first day here, he was very reserved and didnt eat much. well that all changed day 2 when he ate all he could, ran around everywhere, and even tried to escape at night. we got settled into our room, in bedroom with a king size bed, so silas gets to sleep in a pack n play in the closet, a very large walk in closet. the first night we were here Ernie had a lot of meetings late into the night, so Joanna put Silas down, set up the baby monitor, and went upstairs in the Katana Lodge, and talked with parents. About 15 Minutes later one of the other members of the Assignment Team found Silas walking up the stairs looking for us. lets just say he is very stealthy, because no one could hear him through the monitor. so now we are enjoying making barriers outside his door to keep him sleeping!
Unfortunately there arent any children Silas' age, save one of the property staffs children. So he likes to try and follow the older boys around, which it doesnt seem they mind too much. He also has been swimming great! Thanks to a floaty swimsuit provided by the Hubers, Silas was able to swim without Joanna having to hold him, 4 laps around the pool! He has also loved the Clubs, we think he feels right at home during a Younglife Club.
Joanna is adjusting well also, observing the different families interacting and enjoying being with some of the folks up here. We are really enjoying the Kanata Lodge, which really does feel like hotel accomodations! Joanna is also trying to adjust to just following Silas around, instead of always staying busy running around at home. and the 2nd night here she and another wife saw a cougar walk through the frisbee gold course behind the lodge! slightly freaked them out, but fortunately they are secure and the property has folks on staff to deal with these types of sightings.
Ernie is really enjoying being a Head Leader. doing this job you get to interact with the 335+ leaders and students each week. Remembering names is slightly difficult, but he is getting better at it. It has been so exciting though, getting to see all the students having fun and feeling free. of course being a head leaders, you get to deal with the students who are a little too "free", aka PURPLE. ha, boys are blue, girls are pink... dont make purple, thats the saying we have here. there are a few "couples" who dont seem to mind stretching the rules so far. oi.
During the second night while keeping kids inside the camp for the night he got to talk to a student who was trying to smoke outside the designated area. turns out the student was ashamed and didnt want his girlfriend to find him, but was still having difficulty dealing with the loss of his Grandmother, whom he described as the most perfect person around. Ernie talked with him for a while, and was able to relate after losing his grandma a few years ago. they talked for some time, the boy was in tears for a while, but all Ernie could really do was sympathize and let him know he was praying for him.
Its tough not having all the answers and being able to fix all the problems in an instant, but we suppose that is just part of life on this earth, but we do have the opportunity to point students toward a God who does know the answers and is able to walk us through our pains.
I suppose our biggest prayer request right now would be for Joanna and Silas to keep getting to know more people, and for Ernie to have enough energy (staying up past 1230am is a normal day)
and for the cougar to keep its distance...
Silas is adjusting so very well, the first day here, he was very reserved and didnt eat much. well that all changed day 2 when he ate all he could, ran around everywhere, and even tried to escape at night. we got settled into our room, in bedroom with a king size bed, so silas gets to sleep in a pack n play in the closet, a very large walk in closet. the first night we were here Ernie had a lot of meetings late into the night, so Joanna put Silas down, set up the baby monitor, and went upstairs in the Katana Lodge, and talked with parents. About 15 Minutes later one of the other members of the Assignment Team found Silas walking up the stairs looking for us. lets just say he is very stealthy, because no one could hear him through the monitor. so now we are enjoying making barriers outside his door to keep him sleeping!
Unfortunately there arent any children Silas' age, save one of the property staffs children. So he likes to try and follow the older boys around, which it doesnt seem they mind too much. He also has been swimming great! Thanks to a floaty swimsuit provided by the Hubers, Silas was able to swim without Joanna having to hold him, 4 laps around the pool! He has also loved the Clubs, we think he feels right at home during a Younglife Club.
Joanna is adjusting well also, observing the different families interacting and enjoying being with some of the folks up here. We are really enjoying the Kanata Lodge, which really does feel like hotel accomodations! Joanna is also trying to adjust to just following Silas around, instead of always staying busy running around at home. and the 2nd night here she and another wife saw a cougar walk through the frisbee gold course behind the lodge! slightly freaked them out, but fortunately they are secure and the property has folks on staff to deal with these types of sightings.
Ernie is really enjoying being a Head Leader. doing this job you get to interact with the 335+ leaders and students each week. Remembering names is slightly difficult, but he is getting better at it. It has been so exciting though, getting to see all the students having fun and feeling free. of course being a head leaders, you get to deal with the students who are a little too "free", aka PURPLE. ha, boys are blue, girls are pink... dont make purple, thats the saying we have here. there are a few "couples" who dont seem to mind stretching the rules so far. oi.
During the second night while keeping kids inside the camp for the night he got to talk to a student who was trying to smoke outside the designated area. turns out the student was ashamed and didnt want his girlfriend to find him, but was still having difficulty dealing with the loss of his Grandmother, whom he described as the most perfect person around. Ernie talked with him for a while, and was able to relate after losing his grandma a few years ago. they talked for some time, the boy was in tears for a while, but all Ernie could really do was sympathize and let him know he was praying for him.
Its tough not having all the answers and being able to fix all the problems in an instant, but we suppose that is just part of life on this earth, but we do have the opportunity to point students toward a God who does know the answers and is able to walk us through our pains.
I suppose our biggest prayer request right now would be for Joanna and Silas to keep getting to know more people, and for Ernie to have enough energy (staying up past 1230am is a normal day)
and for the cougar to keep its distance...
Sunday, July 18, 2010
t-minus 5 days
well here is the first post! we are almost ready to leave... not. so much to do and get ready for, but we are so excited to go to Younglife's Malibu Club in British Columbia, Canada, for 3 weeks! check back over the next few weeks and we will be posting about our adventures on our Assignment at Malibu.
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