Things got a little crazy today in the FBC. Abby Martin, a freshmen that I know really well, asked me earlier this week if I could help make friendship bracelets for her sister's upcoming mission trip. Her sister will be going to an orphanage in Romania and was assigned with bringing friendship bracelets. Abby knew the right person to talk to.
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I put a request for FBC help on the announcements and we had an incredible turn out. All our regulars showed up plus several new kids including Rut and Nick, who actually turned out to be great bracelet makers. We were a power house, cranking out tornado bracelets like nobody's business with Taylor Swift and One Direction singing in the background.
At the end of the day we finished a mound of 105 bright, colorful friendship bracelets. Small things with great love.
The rain cleared just as the kids showed up for Disney Wyld Life Club tonight. Who would've thought Disney would be so hard to dress up for? Still the guys arrived with plenty of enthusiasm.
I love these nights. Honestly, it gets a little stressful when I'm running around making sure we're ready to go or trying to get HS leaders organized. But then the kids show up and I'm just excited to get to hang out with these people for the next hour and a half.
I keep talking about how I can't wait for camp to start in just three weeks, which is absolutely true, but it's also going to be killer to leave these girls for a few months. They've become my people in the last two years and have such a big part of my heart. I'll miss visiting their lunch tables, saying hi to them in the hallway, meeting for bible study at the coffee spoon, playing at Wyld Life and hearing all of their stories. But I know we'll write letters this summer, they'll still text me their stories, we'll go to camp for a week and hopefully we'll find time for visits.
Did you know there are camps out East where kids stay for a month or the whole summer? I often think I'd go crazy at a place like that because I'm used to my campers switching every week or two. But I'd totally be a counselor for these crazies for a whole summer. (Want to know the trick for really fun pictures like this? Just stick out your arms and legs at really weird angles. Instant fun.)
I was having a hard time deciding what to dress up as for this club when I remembered Shelby's minion Halloween costume. I told the girls at lunch what I was going to wear and Brookie said she wanted to be a minion with me too. True, Despicable Me is not actually a Disney movie but it's in the same realm and we looked good-- I'm going to say it counts.
Kaylee was our Gru, Brooke even cut up a sweater for her scarf. I loved running around being silly with her all night, twinning in our overalls and goggles and finding her right beside me whenever I turned around. I can't wait for her to go to Wyld Life camp this summer, she's going to love every second of it.
We sang Disney classics tonight: Under the Sea, I'm A Believer, Hakuna Matata and A Whole New World. We ran around trying to fit on Aladdin's Magic Carpets before they all disappeared. A few pre-selected volunteers got to try the Simba launch, rocketing Disney animals across the room to where their teammate tried to catch them all in a bucket.
Most of the songs called for two characters to sing back and forth, Aladdin and Jasmine, Timone and Pumba, and I was impressed with the boys that stepped up to the plate.
Rock, Paper, Scissors became Jeanie, Ursula, Scar of course. When you won, the person you beat became one of your cheerleaders. Eventually after several intense matches, there were two last players. Kaylee threw Jeanie to beat Ben's Ursula and won the whole thing.
Do you remember how Snow White ate a poisoned apple? We had a poison apple of our own. Jake, Brooke and Chaise thought they were having a normal blind-folded caramel apple eating race, because that's normal right? While Brooke and Chaise worked on their caramel apples, Jake actually bit into a caramel covered onion.
When I've seen this game played before the person with the onion quits as soon as they realize what they're eating because it's so disgusting. Jake just pushed through the grossness and kept eating. I had to stop the game because I was afraid he'd get sick. He was a great sport and still had a smile on his face after he found out what had happened.
It's hard to judge the "success" of a club. Yes, we want it to be fun but I don't think we're just going for lots of smiles. I hope that what we're doing here is bigger than that.
Two girls told me when they left tonight, "I don't know where I'd be without Young Life." A girl wrote on Instagram "best wyld life club yet." Someone opened up to me tonight and shared something I never knew about her. A girl came back tonight for the second time and became friends with new people. Lori shared about strength in her Club talk and that "the secret of being content in every situation... I can do all of this through Christ who gives me strength." I think those things are clues that we're doing alright and God is doing big things here.
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