This Friday was the first time I wouldn't be going to a Closing Campfire with my campers and the rest of Tecumseh since May. It was weird. But even though I wasn't walking out to the OT in my unit tshirt and sitting on a bench with Choctaw, I still got to hang out with a group of CILT girls. I met up with Olivia, Ellie, Sam, Kate, Ashley and Grace, all Session 1 girls, for dinner at HTC. I hadn't seen some of the girls since they left the Longhouse at the beginning of the summer and it was a great reunion.
We told stories over dinner, listened to all three CILT graduation songs in my car, made Best Friend Necklaces-- Olivia even made one for Annabelle, told old stories and watched the end of the summer DVD that Wolfdancer and Ben Dehr created. It was such a campy night and just what I needed. I'm so thankful that these girls live close and that we'll see each other a lot this year.
Saturday morning I headed out the the Devoe's Barn for our first official Wyld Life Training Day. KCraig has got the ball rolling and we were all ready to get to work. A mix of Juniors, Seniors and adult leaders all gathered from 10 am to 6 pm to prepare for this year.
At the beginning everyone talked about what they were excited for. Over and over again they mentioned friendships, the Junior High kids, Young Life family and meeting new people. I love what we're about here. We tell our HS kids all the time that they are the culture creators-- there are so many more of them than us and they get to decide what this group will look like. In big and small ways they're making this a family where every one belongs. I'm so thankful for that.
We played camp games, brainstormed club themes for the year, took pictures for our banquet video, ate lunch together, planned out games/skits/songs/talks for clubs for first semester, filled up our schedules with contact work for the year and read Chapter 1 of The Story together. It was a very full day.
God- Thank you for this team of kids and adults that want to serve. Be with us this year as we laugh and play and sing and talk, may everything we do point back to you and your love. Thank you for the time and energy that these people will all give up and bless their work. Be with the kids of HSJH-- prepare their hearts for the good news that we'll share with them and this family that we want to invite them to be a part of. We're so excited for what is to come.
I got to eat dinner with my good friends Emily and Rachel later that night. I haven't seen them all summer and missed them a ton. One of the reasons I'm excited to be back in Indy is so that I can see them more often. Emily and I went to see the movie The Giver afterwards. I have always loved the book and the movie didn't disappoint. It was kind of crazy to see how they brought the story to life and I thought they did a great job.
Sunday morning I went to Northview with Molly, the first time I'd been there since camp started. The pastor is back from his sabbatical now and he did a sermon about using our unique gifts and talents to serve. He talked about how we are called to use the gifts and talents we've been given to contribute to the world around us.
I met up with Rachel and Maggie, from CILT Session 1, for lunch and I was reminded of just how lovely they are. These girls are beautiful examples of living life with purpose and passion. They're seniors this year and I'm so impressed with their positivity, their priorities, their friendship and their hopes. I'm excited to get to keep seeing them this year.
Tonight I headed back to Tecumseh's official pizza place, Mellow Mushroom, for one more camp dinner before every one heads back to school. Ellyn told us that we all had to come in our unit tshirts and we almost didn't let Odle and Erin sit with us when they didn't follow the rule. Luckily they're really fun so we made an exception this time.
We had to get ice cream afterwards and Odle's ice cream scoop rolled right off the cone and onto the floor. This would only happen to Odle.
A week after camp is over I'm thankful for reminders that camp never really ends. We might not have campers heading into what would be week 11, but we still have a whole lot of other great camp things like joy, friendships, faith, adventure, laughter, creativity and hope. We take camp into the "real world" with us and shine our light. We get to make the world around us a little more like Tecumseh all the time.
Today is Sarah Battaglia's birthday! She and Ben started the day in Chicago, where they live, but spontaneously decided to come down to Indy for the night. I met up with Ben and Sarah, Jack and Linda, and Mary Ellen just in time to walk to Graeter's for dessert. It was a short visit but I'm glad I got to see Sarah on her birthday.
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