Kid's Camp 2012

"And where would I be without You... I'd be packing my bags when I need to stay. I'd be chasin' every breeze that blows my way. I'd be building my kingdom just to watch it fade away. It's true. That's me without you." -TobyMac

We had some awesome songs at kid's camp this year! I've been walking around my house for the past couple of days singing to myself, and doing the motions. Why don't adults put motions to their songs more? It's so fun!

I spent a week with 13 of the most amazing girls. Every moment was a gift from God. Sure there were times I was exhausted, stressed, tired, frustrated, but the good far outweighed the bad. I have never felt so useful in all my life. I felt like I was making a difference sharing God's love with these girls; to me the highest calling that Jesus gives.

For an entire week, I listened to these girls opening up their hearts to me. I heard their pain; I even saw it in their eyes a few times. I was able to literally put my arms around them and show them that someone is there with them. They are not alone. God loves them.

For a couple girls, my heart is still breaking for what they have been through. They are in my prayers. Every night I would lie awake in my bed, waiting for sleep to come. It usually took me a couple hours to drift off. Once my adrenalin is running, and believe me, it ran at camp, it's hard for me to calm down and sleep. I knew when I got back I would be extremely tired. Each night I rested for about 4 or 5 hours. For the couple hours it took me to relax, I would go around the room and pray for each girl in their bunk. God would bring all different things to mind that had happened throughout the day, and I would spend time interceding for these girls. Since I have been home, there are a few I still feel burdened to pray for.

On Monday we arrived at the camp full of excitement and confusion. This was a first time for me as a cabin coach. I had been going as a camper for over 10 years; however, it's been 13 years since I've been there. I had a learning experience this year; I hope to go back next year as a seasoned pro! I never experienced camp through the eyes of a coach until this past week. What a difference! I'm tempted to believe I actually got more out of it then they did.

I got this out of the coach's handbook which I read from cover to cover. I wanted to be prepared in all ways before I took part. "The first purpose for Kids’ Camp is to provide a safe and fun environment for kids while they have an opportunity to be exposed to truth and observe first hand, adults and other kids who have a Passion for the Truth in their lives.

The second purpose is to give kids the opportunity to respond to the truth by experiencing Christ through salvation, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, both physical and spiritual healing and the manifestation of spiritual gifts and knowledge in their lives.

The final purpose is to give kids a place to develop new relationships with other kids and adults who will have the potential to become lifelong friends/support."

What a big responsibility, huh? These girls were looking to us cabin coaches as the example of what it means to follow God. This happens in so many more places than just camp. It's a lifestyle. There are always little pairs of eyes watching your life. Make sure what they're watching is advantageous!

Now kid's camp is not all about spiritual things. We spend a large part of our day playing games, swimming, eating junk food, and wandering around the campus hanging out. The days are PACKED full of activity. There is actually very little downtime. I had one hour to myself each day while the kids were in the tabernacle watching the camp videos of the day and playing silly games.

During free time the girls can choose to play on the inflatables, visit the rock wall, play in the tubes and slides (similar to McDonald's play land), miniature golf, play carpet ball or octoball, or watch a movie in air conditioning. My girls were always on the inflatables racing each other through the obstacle course. (In truth, I think that's where the cute "staff" boys hung out, and they wanted a glimpse.)

During our one hour of swim time, the girls could do the zipline, jump on the blob, or go down the water slide. I think the lines were always shortest on the zipline. To give you some facts about this campground, for us to walk to the swim beach, it's a half mile away. So for my girls to go swimming, we had to walk literally a mile. By the end of the day, I think we were all walking between 10 and 15 miles a day.

Not only did I have 13 girls to take care of, I had an alien, named Mia, I was responsible for. Being a mother, you would not believe how many times I would end up holding something and I had no idea where it came from. I was the dump spot that they knew they could count on. There were a few times at the end of the night I would have a girl approach me and ask for something out of my pocket. I would always be able to pull it out, yet many times I had no memory of how it got there. A true mother, I am.

WATER! Worth more to everyone than any gemstones you could possibly find. The week we were there, the temperature was over 100° every day. It even got as high as 108° one day. We had to be extra careful, and I was constantly pushing the girls to drink water, and get wet. There were several water spigots throughout the camp and a few sprinklers just to help keep us all hydrated.

Every day we would compete in two different sporting events. Each cabin is part of a larger super team with 4 or 5 other cabins. All the super teams would play against each other individually as cabins. Points are awarded for almost everything you do at camp. The winning super team at the end of the week earns a medal for every girl or boy.

The favorite game of all the girls was noodle lacrosse. I was even fortunate enough to be able to participate. For the most part coaches are just there to cheer the girls on; they usually stay out of the games. This time we all got involved! The point of the game was to fold your pool noodle in half, holding onto the ball in the center. You had to run to your goal box, and while standing on the outer edge, try to get the ball in the goal. The fun part, whoever has the ball in their possession, the other team gets to beat on them with their noodles. This was SO MUCH FUN! If it wasn't almost 110° outside, I would have enjoyed it even more. My lungs were burning!

Spending a week at camp was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, but also one of the hardest. You are with these girls 23 hours out of the day. You get one hour off, to call home, shower, or just nap. It's all about sacrifice. We're talking getting up in the morning, no matter if you feel like it or not, because you have 13 girls who are depending on you. Nothing is done because you "feel" like it, or because you "want" to. It's all about doing what needs to be done.

You listen to arguing and complaining, but you must stay positive. No matter how much you want to whine with the girls, you have to keep their outlook upbeat. Nothing would have gotten done if we all just sat down and had a pity party because of how we felt. We were training these girls for the future. There are always days when you have responsibilities that you don't want to do. We want to be women who rise up to the challenge, not women who fall down and break when trouble comes our way.

Every morning we would spend a couple hours in church. Some of my girls loved this; some of my girls disliked it. It was all about perspective. I could see the love some of the girls had for God and it spilled over into their worship, prayer time, and life. They were excited about all things! The ones, who had a tendency toward complaining, seemed to get bored easily during the service. They had adopted a negative attitude and it showed.

Austin and Suzie did a phenomenal job of keeping the kids attention! They were the comic relief of the service. The theme was Expedition Possible. Our speakers took a trip into the mountains while we looked on.

On Tuesday, we talked about preserves. God not only saves us from things, He saves us for things!

On Wednesday, we talked about the Israelite’s and God’s protection with the cloud and fire. God is constantly watching over us and will protect us from the enemy, the devil. During our evening response time, we made bracelets. The first bead on the bracelet is yellow, which represents us. Then there is God, the white and red beads, representing the cloud for day and the fire by night. Last there is our enemy the black bead. As long as you have God in the middle of things, the enemy can’t get to you. I thought this was a really neat object lesson the kids could understand.

Finally, on Thursday we discussed God providing for us. Every day we would have cabin devotions together, and on Thursday I led the discussion. The girls got so excited talking about all the miracles God does for us. I listened to example after example of God coming through for these girls. It was so exciting for me to see their enthusiasm.

"You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.” Matthew 21:22

It's RED! He was all the kids favorite. Red had a huge crush on Suzie, and Suzie seemed to be just as fond of him.

I thought it was so great to see and hear the kid's reaction to ventriloquism. It was never explained on stage, and most of my girls had no idea how it worked. One girl asked me, "How do we hear him talk when he doesn't have a microphone?" When I told her, Ms. Gail did the talking for him; she corrected me and said that Ms. Gail's mouth never moves.

I asked Gabriel about Red when we got back home, and he thought the man in the sound booth at the back of the room spoke for Red. I was amazed that none of them had seen a dummy, or been explained to how it worked.

At the beginning of the week, we were all strangers, by the end we were a family. I love those girls. My heart will be theirs forever. God, please bless each and every one of them today. Send someone to give them a big hug from me. Thank you for the opportunity I had of getting to know each girl. I am so glad I was obedient to you. You work all things out for good!

To be continued... I still have a couple more things I want to share with you! God is so good!

Expedition Possible
Worthless? Or Worthy?
Now What?

Expedition Possible

"Through you I can do anything. I can do all things. 'Cause it's you who gives me strength. Nothing is impossible!" -Planetshakers

Way back in March of this year, I was asked by our children's pastor if I would be willing to attend kid's camp with the elementary aged girls from our church. My first thought was, "NO WAY!" I absolutely, positively did not want to go. That is way out of my comfort zone.

I believe it takes a big person to admit this, but I get homesick. When I was a kid, I would cry myself to sleep if I stayed over at a friend's house. The first month I was married, I missed my house and my mom so much I would cry. Now, I hate to leave my husband behind. I am a true homebody. I have a great sense of adventure, but I have to push myself if that adventure happens to take place overnight. Weird, huh?

For months I thought about kid's camp and prayed about it. No matter how hard I tried to come up with a reason that I couldn't go, it was always selfish. I just didn't want to.

It wasn't until the last possible day, it was phrased to me for the final time, "You don't want to go to kid's camp, do you?" God has changed me so much over the past couple of years. I am a new person. I couldn't bring myself to say what my flesh desired. I half whispered, half spoke, "I will go."

It's been an emotional roller coaster since then. I knew without a doubt what God wanted me to do. But that doesn't mean I didn't have little nagging thoughts and questions.

When it came down to it, I was so glad when the day for kid's camp finally came. I was sick and tired of talking about it with my kids, thinking about it when I was alone, questioning my mom (the previous year's coach) about it. I just wanted to go and get it over with. I knew God would show up. I just wanted to get the show on the road.

One of my earliest reasons for not going had to do with a really close friend of mine. I've never liked the term best friend because it seems so exclusive. It's like there are losers, and only one winner. I am all about fairness, and I have so many friends that I love. So when I say close, I mean, this woman is very dear to my heart. My friend was scheduled to have a baby delivered via C-section the morning I was leaving. I did not want to miss this. By the time I would get home from camp, the baby would already be a week old. I struggled with that and for a while, I used this as my reason for staying home.

When I finally agreed to go, I put my heart into it. I no longer looked for things to keep me home, I just resolved to try and forget about them. I constantly reminded my friend that she would need to give birth the weekend prior. I was speaking in faith.

The morning of camp arrived, and I had a stomach ache. My nerves were extremely sensitive. I was worried and anxious. I rolled over in bed, did half a cry to my husband, and whined, "I can't do this! I don't want to go." To which he responded, "I got a text in the middle of the night, and Cynthia (my friend) had her baby."

I just started crying. God is so good! He knew how much I wanted to be there for that new little baby. I quickly got ready and went to the hospital at 7:30am. I was probably their first visitor. After seeing that little baby, I was pumped for camp. I knew without a doubt that God had appointed this week for me. I was definitely going to do my part and show up. "Through you I can do anything! 'Cause it's you who gives me strength."

From the minute we arrived, I felt fully capable. All the things that I wondered about myself, were the old me. God has changed me so much! I literally could weep at the difference He's made in my life. I used to be the most fearful, anxious woman I had ever met. I can barely see that woman anymore.

I am confident. That is the difference God makes in a life. I feel like I could do anything. And this week I did. I was stretched thin past my normal limits, but I didn't break. I was exhausted, but I held it together still. Nothing is impossible. The theme of camp this year was so appropriate for me, "Expedition Possible."

There will be more to come later... I might take an entire week to tell about Kid's camp. My cup was overflowing last week; I have so many blessings from God that I can't wait to share with you.

"Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26

Kid's Camp 2012
Worthless? Or Worthy?
Now What?

Kid Scavenger Hunt

Here's a new twist on scavenger hunting. The kids really enjoyed doing a movie/ book hunt. We didn't use this as a competition, but you certainly could. Before we left, we the adults, came up with an extensive list of books and movies. We tried to choose mostly books that have been made into movies.

Our list in no particular order:

Bridge to Terabithia
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Jumanji
Zathura
Night at the Museum
How to Eat Fried Worms
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The Secret Garden
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little
Series of Unfortunate Events
Firehouse Dog
Super Mario Bros.
Chronicles of Narnia
Nim's Island
Inkheart
Tom Sawyer
City of Ember
Nancy Drew
Journey to the Center of the Earth

Once we were in the car driving away, we let the kids take turns choosing a movie/book from the list. They had to come up with something we could get to represent it. It could be purchased, or it could just be a free brochure, business card, or pamphlet. The place we went was totally up to them. The only thing we stipulated was that they had to choose completely different places, and they must give us a reason why they chose that item or place for that particular movie/book.

We set a time limit and took turns until time was up. In the end we drove around to many places I wouldn't have even thought to visit. It was a lot of fun to see what places and items the kids associated with the movies we've been watching, and the books we've been reading.

Here are a couple examples of what the kids chose:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
(Bought at a drug store)


Firehouse Dog
(We visited a fire station.)


Nancy Drew
(Given to us at the police station.)


Chronicles of Narnia
(One of the local schools)


A Series of Unfortunate Events
(An eye doctor in the city)


The Secret Garden
(A flower shop)


Super Mario Bros.
(Purchased at a different grocery store)


Happy Hunting!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I was on my way out the door to my book study I'm doing with some friends, when Zechariah stopped me.

"Mommy, I wanna go with you."

"Aww... honey, you can't. I'm going out for coffee with my friends." I figured this would settle things.

"We'll, I'm your friend, Mommy. Member?" He asked with a question, his eyes pleading with me to take him along.

What do you say to that?

I explained to him, "Tonight, Daddy really needs you to be his friend." That seemed to settle it for him. He was happy to stay home.

Batik

Last week was quite the adventure to say the least. On Monday we celebrated International Fest with the kids and decided to find an African craft. We chose to try doing Batik. This is a wax-resist dyeing technique. Similar to tie-dye, a favorite of our family. I think that's why we were excited about this project.

Our first attempt was done the traditional way with wax, lots of wax. So much wax, in fact, we didn't know what to do with it.

We slaved in the sun working on our project for several hours, delicately handing the wax being very careful not to burn ourselves. I thought the effect was beautiful! We were left with a one of a kind, burgundy sheet, a.k.a. our new tablecloth for picnics.

After the wax was applied, and the dye had soaked in and dried, it was time to remove the cans of wax. We literally filled two 10 oz. cans with wax that we painted on. This was no picnic. I tried EVERYTHING (iron, boiling water, etc.) to get the wax out of the tablecloth. I worked on it for two days! In the end we were left with a straight burgundy sheet with a thin coat of wax completely covering it. With great emotional difficulty, this "tablecloth" went into the trashcan.

Phase two... the next couple of days we tried again with a different technique. I'm not about to believe that I can't do something. I was determined to complete a work of art we could use on our picnics.

This time wax NEVER entered the equation. We used a glue paste, a more kid friendly, and Amanda friendly application process. I saw the suggestion of using blue gel glue, but found that to be too expensive for the area we wanted to work with. It's about $3 a bottle, and I'm fairly certain I would have needed at least 3 bottles.

The glue paste was made with a ratio of 1:1 of water and flour. I ended up using 1 ½ cup of water to 1 ½ cup of flour. Next time I will probably use the suggested 2 tsp. of Alum. I didn't have any on hand, and wasn't up for a trip to the grocery store. Alum is supposed to make the mixture more resistant to the paint.

To make it easier to apply, I put it in an empty ketchup bottle I had purchased at Wal-Mart. It came in a set of two for $2. I think in the end, it was actually more difficult for their kid hands. A paint brush would have done the trick nicely.

We worked on our project outside. I didn't want a big mess to clean up. Under our sheet, I put a $1 plastic tablecloth. After we applied all our art, I let the glue paste dry for the rest of that day, and even overnight. The glue seems to dry to the touch very quickly, but it also cracked and easily peeled off the sheet. The parts I left alone and didn't touch overnight didn't peel off as much the next day. I think the key is NOT touching it. I also believe the alum might have helped for this. (I don't know that for a fact though since I've never used it.)

I really wanted to keep it simple and use Rit dye, however since the glue comes off with water, it would have defeated the entire purpose. We watered down acrylic paint, and very carefully painted our cloth. The ratio for that was ¼ cup of water to 1 tablespoon of paint. I was worried the sheet was going to come out really crisp, but it feels exactly as it should. The colors of the paint aren't as crisp and bright since we watered it down, but I think they are still very beautiful.

Next time, I might try doing two sheets at once. Instead of using a cheap plastic table cloth, I might put another sheet to soak up the paint. I loved how it looked. The way the watered down paint had soaked into the under cloth was simply beautiful to me. You can get two different finished products for the time of one!

Here's a few of our finished squares.

I really liked how the finished product turned out. Next time I might try on a smaller scale using the gel glue to see if I get brighter white lines. I do still really like the look that we achieved even if you can't clearly see the design. It's much more subtle, but very artistic. I think the kids were really proud of the different designs we came up with.

Together it made a one-of-a-kind work of art!

Billboards

A word from Gabriel...

Basically humans are like a billboard.

Mrs. Heil, my teacher, tells us to be good to show other kids how to be good. So that makes us like a billboard, like other people are reading it.

You want to be a great billboard, not a bad billboard.

It’s like setting an example for other kids. Maybe grownups too.
1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity."

(All of this is a message that Gabe wanted me to share for him. It was even his idea for the pictures. All I did was snap the photos.)

Happy Father's Day!

Don't you love to celebrate the lives of those closest to you? I will take any excuse to show honor and bestow love upon my family. They all mean so much to me!

I have a wonderful father to call my own. He is a man of God full of integrity, perseverance, and worthy to be loved.

I have a brother who sets an example of what it means to be a great dad. He puts his daughter's needs above his own, and has a servant's heart.

My husband has loved my children and earned their respect.

Ariel says, "I think he's very smart and he always plays games with me."

Gabriel says, "He's a great father to have because he protects us."

Zechariah says, "He lets me watch him play games with lava. He cooks us pizza. He lets us buy chocolate pop tarts."

This year for Father's day we had a special day set aside for Titus the week before. We spent all day in the kitchen preparing a 5-course dinner for him. He loves food, so we figured this was a perfect gift!

We put all our heads together and named our restaurant, "The Captain." Our motto was, "You keep our family boat afloat!" The kids enjoyed coming up with things to fit our theme.

We had a menu sitting at Titus' seat so he could anticipate all the tasty delights we were serving.


Tuna Boats We made a tuna salad with cucumbers, stuffed it into some small red, orange, and yellow sweet peppers that we cut in half for the boat, and we added a pita bread sail.

The entertainment for the evening was a trip to our basement to watch an original play written and performed by Gabriel & Ariel using our Shadow Puppet Theater.

To top it all off, we made Titus some homemade oatmeal crème pie cookies, his favorite.

"A righteous man who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons (and daughter) after him." Proverbs 20:7 (NASB)