Winter Camp '09

This past weekend was our youth ministry's Winter Camp. We had a great time on the ridiculous tubing hill and the drive over the pass provided enough memories and inside jokes to last for a long time. The best part however, was seeing the kids engaging God in worship and praying for each other. The last night, after service we were packing up and getting ready to head back over the mountain and I started to feel a tickle in my throat. So now I am fighting a pretty bad cold. I am thankful that it waited until we were done with camp to come on.
The speaker for the camp was Roosevelt Hunter who really connected with the kids. On Sunday morning, he spoke at New Life in the Main Services and absolutely KILLED it! I think the funniest thing he said was in regard to Jesus not being white or black but in the middle: "He was white enough to get into the dignified places but dark enough to eat chicken with the brothas on the weekend."
Roosevelt is dealing with cancer and if you read this, say a prayer for him and his family as they go through it.
Here are some inside jokes from the weekend, you probably won't get any of them but I put them on here for posterity.
Fly Away
Busting Grumpys
"No, I have coffee."
T-Shirt
"Uh, they have good coffee there."
"Ees on dee paper, ees close enough"
"I don't know anything about trailers...I don't know anything about guys either."

The Design with garlic and butter

There is something about being on a river when it is early and light is low. When the sun peeks sideways through the evergreens, cedars, hemlocks and pines. When the spray from the water rises to cool your face. When it's quiet except for the sound of the river. When if you didn't know better, you might think you were the first human ever to lay eyes on this scene. To get away from your cell phone and just to be away. I remember getting away a couple of years ago. A couple of us got out and took our 4x4s as far as we could push them. Then we loaded up our packs and hiked in the rest of the grueling way. Hiking past old growth logs that were pushing through the soil when Columbus shoved off, and waterfalls you could measure in football fields. Wanting to quit but pushing on because the reward, we were sure, was "just over that next ridge." We made it to the shore just before nightfall, enough time to set up camp and get some freeze dried dinner hydrated. We wriggled into our sleeping bags and drifted off, our minds occupied with the morning's quarry. About 5am we woke without an alarm and got our gear on. We pushed off into the water in search of anything that swims. We caught our share of beautiful little brook trout and as we made our way around the lake I stopped and found a big flat boulder to lie down on. The July sun was hot even way up in the mountains. I managed to nap a little bit even though every chipmunk in the brush had me reaching for my bear spray. We stayed up there for 2 nights. I remember thinking as we were making the trip back down, that the entire world could have ended and I would not have even known.
I think the reason that being out in nature is such a refreshing thing is that nature, in most cases, is still how God designed it. The trees, the water, the air, the mountains are untouched by human hands. A small glimpse into the mind of God. His design for our planet is still intact and nature continues on the same as it has since He spoke it into existence. Something about that resonates with me and makes me want to go and experience the unspoiled. I'm not going to lie to you; if I can experience a few of those unspoiled brook trout on the end of my fly rod and pan fried with a little garlic and butter, it makes the design seem a little sweeter.