Thursday -- Isolation

Isolation was our theme for Thursday…

The morning started as usual, breakfast at 8.30 am followed by the morning wake up. We played a game to start the day called: “I Want to Be Your Pretty Pretty Princess.”

I got 3 guys to come forward. Ian, Jeff, and Alex. Basically, the game entails all three gentleman placing a tierra on their heads and saying into the microphone: “I Want to Be Your Pretty Pretty Princess.” This segment of the game ended in a tie.

To settle the tie, each contestant was asked to sing a Disney channel princess song. For Ian it was “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. He brought the audience to their feet with cheers. Jeff sang “Tale as Old as Time” from Beauty and the Beast. Might I interject: Belle is my favorite Princess of all time. When she walks down the stairs in her gold dress, I had never wanted to be cartoon character so bad in all my life. Alex sang “Part of your World” from Little Mermaid. Ian was by far the best, in fact, he was really the only one that sang, earning him the title “Pretty, Prettiest, Princess” and the right to wear the crown the rest of the day.

The band led in a great set of worship and Natalie started off the day with a short lesson about her 8^th grade isolation during lunch. D-Groups were really kind of fun. We discussed some different ways that we isolate ourselves behind technology, business, and pain. We looked at how busy our day was and how that affected our relationships. Understanding that God desires us to have authentic relationships with each other opened up our eyes to the various ways that we sabotage ourselves from true friendship.

Lunch was a real high point…Grilled Cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Just before free time we had D-group games. One game was inverted capture the flag, where you plant the flag instead of stealing it. All my balloons with sand broke so that one fell through. We ended up playing a gigantic game of pull up with yours truly providing the musical accompaniment. I started with “Should have been a Cowboy,” followed by some Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Elton John, Romans 16, Superhero, and Green Day. I should go on Idol. I would so totally beat up on Archie.

During free time, Ed Mies and I challenged Josh and Cody to a game of horse shoes. I had seen Ed throw before, and I was fairly confident in my own ability as well. Ed and I came out fast scoring the first 7 points of the match. Cody and Josh were reeling at this time. Then, pulling off an upset only duplicated by the ’80 US Olympic hockey team, Josh and Cody began firing on all cylinders to simply demolish us. The score (21-17) was only that close because on our last toss Ed got a double ringer. It was humiliating. They went on to beat us again taking the best of 3 series. Cody is a phenomenal horse shoe pitcher (which is just another thing he is great at) and Josh complimented him well.

In lew of my humiliating defeat, I headed off to the disc golf course in search of the boys. Ian had made it a goal of his to shoot low enough to actually keep track of his score. This was accomplished. However, as I walked up, 4 of my guys were busy throwing rocks up in this tree. Ian had gotten his disc stuck about 40 ft up in a pine tree. After a little coaxing, and a sore arm, the disc came free and he accomplished his goal. The rest seemed to do OK (Nate was 3 under and Flickinger was 2 over).

Supper was good too…spaghetti and bread. I sat with Caleb, Ian, Ed, Jacob, Austin, and Justin.

The night session was really powerful. Cody did great talking about the woman at the well of John 4. During one part of his message he challenged the kids to go to the panels and pray for one of the injuries so we could heal as a community. It was very moving.

During Youth Group time we lifted each other up in prayer…literally. We were each lifted up by the group both physically and spiritually. When the person reached shoulder height, the predetermined person would start praying. It worked perfect.

The whole camp went on a night hike to the tubing hill. The stars were out, the moon was bright, and it was the most peaceful place I could have imagined: except that we had 80 Jr. Highers there. After 30 minutes of laughing, giggling, farting, and yelling. I laid it down. I told them in 3 months they would be wondering why God does not feel close. They would wonder that for the same reason they could not do the simple task of looking up and letting God speak. They were so concerned with what was going on around them, they were unable to look up. They were unable to unplug the phone, Internet, tv, or game boy to focus on God. Our lives get so busy that we miss God. To find God in the little things is to find true joy. To see him in a flower, the smile of a baby, or a sunrise, is to be constantly reminded of his goodness.