A good joke

Often times at camp, tables are dismissed for lunch after they can tell a joke funny enough to make me or the Program Assistant laugh. Fortunately for campers, I love bad jokes. Just adore them. One week during the Talent Show, the MC provided an abundance of hilarious jokes. I would like to share some with you. :)

The Mighty Winds

Summer camp has come and gone and boy am I exhausted! I hope to post more pictures, videos and stories in the near future. But for now, I have one adventure that just can't wait! Last night we had a great big storm come through with some pretty high winds. As I drove into camp, I saw a kayak on the other side of the pond, so I hopped into another kayak and went out to retrieve it. On my way back, I found the third kayak and another canoe clear up by the road! Apparently, they wanted to explore greener pastures. I drug them back to the shore.

When I called Julie to see what she was up to, she said she was at the Bird Blind taking pictures because it had flipped over! Crazy!! The bird blind, a small building, was upside down. So, we went over to watch Gay flip it back right side up. Enjoy the video!

Camp starts next week

In 7 days and 4 hours and 7 minutes, counselors will be arriving for the first day of Orientation. At that point, camp does not stop until July 12. As the summer staff, our days will consist of campfires, swimming, games and worship. We will eat, play and live together. We will be family, friends, support, co-conspirators and exhausted. Over 300 campers pass through our care.

During Orientation, my job is to teach the counselors how to do the very best job they can. We prepare for emergencies and pray they never happen. We play all sorts of games and tell lots of stories. We learn the camp schedule and way of life and get better at building one-match fires. The most important thing we will do next week is get to know each other. Happy counselors mean happy campers. Happy campers means a happy program director. :)

We will have the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with over 300 campers in a matter of 6 weeks. This is a huge deal! This is how we are going to change the world. Please pray for all of us as we embark on this great adventure. We'll see you on the other side. :)

From the other side of the radio . . .

I am a huge fan of AM & FM, KCII. (1380 and 106.1, respectively). I listen to it every morning, I submit Camp programs for their Community Calendar and I enter to win all of their contests. I have their number in my phone in case I need to know weather, news or cancellations and I use it to tell time. (They go off air at 11:00 p.m., that's how I know it's time to go to bed.) I love this radio station. It is my connection to the outside world.

On Tuesday, Mary Lou said, "I was supposed to go into KCII tomorrow for an interview about camp, but I have another meeting . . ."
"YES!!" I said before she even had a chance to ask if I could replace her. Oh my goodness! I GET TO BE ON THE RADIO!! ON KCII! Yeah. so excited!!

So, on Wednesday morning at 8:55, I was in the office of KCII, ready for my interview. I got to meet Ben, my favorite DJ and after a little chit chat and a microphone chat, we were taping! He asked great questions and I answered as best I could. I didn't say anything I wish I could take back, but there are several things that I wish I could have added in there. However, I would say it was a successful radio premeir. You can go here to listen to the interview!

(If that doesn't work, go to: www.kciiradio.com and click on "Today's News" on the upper left side. From there, click on Thursday, May 22, 2008 and scroll down to "Washington Page" and there I am!)

**Bonus points to the first person to name the song and artist that I stole my subject line from.**

One Happy Camper

Current status:
Pigtails in my hair.
Super old jeans with permanent campfire stains.
Made for camp Chaco sandals.
Smelling like Campfire.
Tummy full of food made over an open fire.

I am one happy camper! Today was practice camp day in the office. For staff meeting, Juanita (camp cook) and I tried out 4 different campfire recipies. Let me just say, they were amazing! It's been almost a year since I've eaten a meal made entirely over a campfire. I wish everyone could experience this at least once a month! There is something really quite wonderful about being forced to slow down and cook over a fire. There is no speeding it up or just microwaving it to get it done faster. Some how everything tastes better when made over a camp fire. Plus, the smell just lingers and lingers. I can't wait for summer!

The Determined Dandelion

I really like the dandelion. I think this started when I was just a child and left to play by the side of the soccer field as my brother's team was coached by my mom and dad. My friend and I would gather dandelions and then color all over ourselves, stray soccer balls, bikes, or whatever we could find. They make a really great squishy sound! Later in the summer when the brilliant yellow had magically transformed into the white seeds, no dandelion was safe! We'd pick every fluffy flower in sight and blow their seeds as far as we could. I'm sure those in charge of lawn care cringed every time they saw us coming.

I have a different appreciation for the dandelion these days. Even though the lawn was just mowed today, I can almost guarantee that there will be one or two dandelions popping up in the yard tomorrow. They are one determined flower. God created them to grow, bloom beautiful yellow, become fluffy, spread its seeds and die. And there is nothing you can do to stop them! Oh people try; they mow, they fertilize, they use weed killer, they pluck them out by the roots. But somehow the dandelions always come back. Instead of seeing a freshly manicured lawn as hostile territory, the dandelion seems to view it as a welcome stage for it to do what God has created it to do.

There are times that I could learn a little determination from the dandy dandelion.

Prayer Partner Letter

Greetings! It is so wonderful to see, smell, hear, touch and even taste this spring weather! In case you have not noticed yet, I love spring. Absolutely love it! It doesn’t hurt that I first came into this world in spring, but my love for this season is rooted in so much more. To me, spring brings a promise. You can see it in the gardens with their new growth; you can see it in the animals and their new homes and new babies! Spring means something wonderful is coming. Here at camp, one of the wonderful things that comes after spring is summer camp! Registrations for kids’ camp come in daily and plans for each camp are quickly falling into place.

A new program that is coming up is Mommy & Me. This will be a morning for stay-at-home moms or dads to bring their child who is not yet in school and enjoy camp together. There will be time for playing together and separately. If you know anyone who might be interested in this, have them contact the camp!

Another program in special need of your prayers is Family Camp. The weekend (August 1-3) is designed to be a time for families to reconnect with each other in the presence of God. There are many forces, pressures and unseen obstacles fighting against our families. This weekend can be a vacation from all of those negatives and a chance to build up the positives. We’ve had some trouble getting it off the ground due to low registrations. If every one of our 17 supporting churches would send one family to Family Camp, we would be full!! Earlier this year, I asked some of the Prayer Partners to pray for snow for Winter Fest. God provided snow and then some! Let’s see what happens when we pray for families!

What has been happening:
· Fundraising for Shepherd’s Inn. This will continue until all the funds have been donated or pledged.
· Crooked Creek hosted a Mennonite Mission Network retreat. It was wonderful to have this group at camp!
· Lots of calling and asking for help and volunteers; we have all of our pastors for summer camp and still need a couple more volunteers to lead crafts, be a nurse and lead nature!
· Registering campers every day and preparing the buildings and grounds for summer.

What will be happening:
· Continued planning for camp.
· Summer registration.
· Mommy & Me on May 15, 2008
· Family Camp on August 1-3, 2008.

We give praise to God:
· For an abundance of blessings, in both big and small packages.
· For the opportunities to experience nature and see God’s fingerprints.
· For the groups that use our facilities.
· For providing for our needs in ways beyond our own imagination.
· For excitement of upcoming summer camp.

We would like prayers for:
· Guest groups that come to use our facilities: that they would encounter God and grow closer to Him.
· The year round staff. Pray that we continue to serve all of God’s people with the gifts that we were given.
· Fundraising for the Shepherd’s Inn. This facility will be a wonderful place for pastors, small groups and individuals to spend time away from busy lives and allow them to focus on what God is doing in their life. However, 100% of the funds must be pledged or donated before construction can begin.
· The summer staff; pray that the missing pieces would fall into place. We still need a nurse, craft leaders and nature leaders.
· Summer registration. Please pray that our summer brochure would reach the right people and that God will make a way for them to come to summer camp!
· Family Camp. Please pray that one family from each of our supporting churches will come to Family Camp.
· Finances for May. There aren’t many guest groups and we have several open weekends. Cash flow will be a challenge for this month.


We continue to pray that God will bless you for what you are doing to advance God’s Kingdom here at camp. We want you to be encouraged and know that we can see the fingerprints of God here. We believe this is because we have your prayer support for each event and group. We believe in the power of your prayers and know that God is protecting us.


In Christ’s Name,

“Be joyful always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess. 5:16-18

If you would like to become a Prayer Partner, please email ccccamp@iowatelecom.net.