Life--seriously!

Well, in keeping with the New Posting Policy, I will now attempt to give you some idea of what's going on in my life (in case you happen to have some strange desire to know).

So, camps were incredible. Incredibly exhausting, but nonetheless a wonderful experience. All of them were learning experiences (some more than others), and all of them were a blast.

The other counselors were amazing. I can think of only one other time in my life when I have had the opportunity to become so close to a group of people by working together for a relatively short anount of time. The other counselors hepled me do my job while doing their own, and pushed me in my spiritual growth as well. So Lindsay, Joey, Erin, Angela, Carmen, Dominique, Jessica, Lisa, Megan, Caleb D., Caleb Q., John, Nick, and Tom: thank you. It was a privilege working with all of you.

The first week was debate camp, which meant that I spent two weeks trying to help kids learn about something which they already knew more about than I did. Still, I think it worked out all right, since I was able to give them some sort of common sense advice and refer them to better instructors than I for questions I coudn't answer. Rachel and Rachel, you guys did an amazing job.

After debate came the camp that, coincidentally, turned out to be my favorite: journalism. They were learning about things I knew something about, there were fewer of them to watch (only 14 guys in the entire camp!), and they were just all-around great kids. The guys who were in the wing I co-counseled with Caleb D. ended up winning the best newpaper award and the overall point competition. The only bad point about that week was something that would have been very funny if it weren't for the fact that it made a few people temporarily upset with us. Throughout the week, we had newsworthy events taking place for the kids to practice writing articles on. These included a drive-by shooting and a hostage situation. The last scenario was one of the counselors (Nick) falling from the second floor in Founders' and going to the hospital. Of course, we couldn't have him actually fall, so he laid down on the floor while everyone was in the dining hall for supper. They got a makeup artist to put some fake blood behind his head and make his arm look as if it was broken. Well, apparently the makeup artist did a little bit too good of a job. Some of the kids weren't sure whether it was real or not, until the ambulance came, and most of them were convinced he had really fallen. Well, anyway, some of them were pretty traumatized, but I think they all forgave us in the end.

OK, well that's a summary of the first half of the summer; I may write another post on the second half later. For now I'm home, enjoying family, good food, and sleep. We have some friends who are missionaries staying with us for a few days, and it's good to see them again. And I've been doing all sorts of things with my brothers; today they were calling me a "Virginian" because my feet are soft (I couldn't take the black pavement barefooted in the 100+ degree weather). Oh, and did I mention the food? The other day we had some of my dad's ultra-amazing burgers, and Sunday we had his unparalleled bbq pulled pork sandwiches along with roasted corn on the cob, followed by some incredibly delicious fresh watermelon. Anyway, I'm feeling very spoiled, but I'm also starting to get excited about getting back to school. Almost.