My favorite 25 hours of the year is always the Winter CILT Reunion. After being away from camp since the summer, all 120 CILTs are invited to come back to Tecumseh for one more day. They get to see their session, meet the kids from the other two groups, and see some of their favorite counselors.
I really can't put into words how much I love this time. It's so special to not only see these campers again, but to see them all at once and to cram as much camp into one day as possible. The anticipation leading up to this event is the best. Then it's even greater when the CILTies pull into the parking lot and burst out of their car.
I wish I could watch a video of the hour when everyone arrives. Old friends race across the driveway to each other. People are tackled in hugs. There are screams from CILT groups when they see someone new show up. There is just so much joy. It's incredible. Love fills the whole place.
If we could bottle up this friendship and kindness and fun it would be priceless. I was so happy to see Kelly and Maggie--the queens of keeping things professional. I loved seeing Kristen and Lauren attack their best friend Julia Plant.
It's the best for Smoon, Ellyn, Mike, Joey and I because we know all the kids from the summer. We race around calling them out by name and giving everyone hugs. I've been looking forward to this from the time all the CILTs left the Longhouse porch.
Everyone looks a little bit different then they did during the summer--no tan, long sleeves and pants, and longer hair-- but the friendships have only strengthened in the time apart. They've had mini-reunions, talked and texted, and made an effort to still be a part of one another's lives.
I'm so thankful that I've been able to stay in touch with so many of these kids this past semester. Girls like Julia, Kristen, Kinsella and Avery have knit themselves into the hearts and lives of Smooney and I. They mean the world to us and getting to spend a day with them is really the very best Christmas present.
They may be few in number, but CILT boys aren't lacking in spunk or enthusiasm. And they know how to do the sorority squat with the best of them.
Ellyn and I were reunited so you know that means plenty of daily pics. There's no one else in the world quite like Ellyn. Please notice the new Will Smith sweatshirt. (I think she's been wearing it every time I've seen her in the past month.)
Once all 100 CILTies showed up, we gathered for some Where The Wind Blows and introductions. We met with our small groups for the first time and then divided into four big groups for some activities. One of my goals for the weekend is always that not only will they see their old friends, but that they'll also get to know new people.
Rotation 1-- The group got a stack of Resident Counselor photos and had to name each person and list two facts about them. We love reading what they think of and remember about each of our co-counselors.
Rotation 2-- They had 25 minutes to play as many camp games as possible including Little Sally Walker, Mafia, Empire, Ant Tag and Ultimate Human.
Rotation 3-- They did a team building activity called Zoom by putting a large stack of mystery pictures in a specific order without seeing anyone's picture by their own.
Rotation 4-- They randomly chose a popular song, a camp topic and then re-wrote the words so they could perform their new version as a group.
Soaps and Smooney rewrote the words to Blank Space by Taylor Swift so that the counselors could have song too. It's pretty fantastic. Feel free to sing it right now wherever you are.
Nice to see you, where you been?
I love coming back to Camp T
Brova, Longhouse, way back then
Met you there & I thought
Oh my God, here's a bracelet!
Our friendships could really click
3 sessions went really quick
Braves & Blazers in the Riv
Don't forget about the Warriors
Ain't it funny how time flies
And I know you found me on Instagram
Let's be friends
Use hashtag CILT Reunion
Grab your Love Tank & my hand
I'll tag you in my pic at the end of the weekend
Now we're at the reunion
Lovin' life at camp again
You can tell me when it's over
But the fun was worth the pain
Had a wrist of friendship bracelets
But they gave me a rash
Cause you know I love Tecumseh
and we love Jesus!
Cause you're young and you're awkward
You take things way too far
Bet you think you're cool
Rollin' up in your own car
Hangin' out the window screaming'
To all your own CILT friends
But our hearts belong at Camp T
And that'll never change
So much of the weekend is planned with fun stuff but there is also plenty of time to just hang out with our friends. I'm thankful for all the dozens of little moments I had with CILTies this weekend to laugh or talk or dance or goof around.
Friday nights at Tecumseh are always themed for dinner-- costumes, singing and dancing the whole meal. It's a tradition that the reunion theme is always Would You Be My Friend If I Wore This? Camp people know how to throw together a great weird outfit.
I always find that I don't eat enough at the reunion dinner because I'm too busy singing along to Taylor Swift, High School Musical or to whatever music is blaring through the speakers.
Without contest, the best dancers at this reunion were the female counselors of the weekend. Maggie, Erin, Soaps, Smoon, Molly, Ellyn and I have endless dance moves and aren't afraid to sing at the top of our lungs.
They're also some of the very best counselors Tecumseh has ever seen. I'm so thankful that they all could be here this weekend.
By the end of clean up everyone was up on their feet dancing and singing with their friends.
I love these Session 1 girls and how much fun they have with one another.
In Young Life fashion, we have a couple up front games to let a few kids from each session compete. This game at dinner tested their knowledge of camp songs as they buzzed in to finish the song lyrics.
Then the 3 sessions got to compete in one of the most awkward and amazing games I've ever experienced. Basically they wove friendship bracelet string through every person in their group until they were all connected and then pulled the string back out again.
One of the things I love about the reunion is that everyone is constantly smiling. Everywhere you look friends are together and smiling and just happy. Almost all of them just finished finals yesterday, they've been looking forward to seeing these people and they're at the best place in the world. Life doesn't get much better than this.
Since it's almost Christmas we thought it was fitting that we have our own White Elephant Gift Exchange. They ended up going away with some pretty great stuff.
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
The 3 sessions all performed their cheers on stage and the counselors even did some of our old cheers.
Next we got to play my favorite game-- CILT Reunion Newlywed Game. Each session splits in half and sits on opposite sides of Kampen. Then they answer a series of questions and write down someone from their session for each one.
We played the Human Ladder game across the room.
The teams for that last game were based on the cabin the CILTs lived in for their two weeks at camp.
The Brova with Mike and Andy...
Abnaki with Arielle...
Hopi with Smooney...
Choctaw with me... It's pretty wild seeing all of my campers in one picture. I told Smooney I also just think about how I wrote a 3-page Parent Letter for each of those girls when I see them all together.
Soaps isn't a CILT counselor, but she wanted in on the fun too. So the "Soaps and Choctaw" selfie.
We had ice cream sundaes and then watched the CILT Reunion movie. Smooney put it together with all the pictures, videos and graduation songs from this summer. It's one of my favorite parts of the weekend because it brings back so many memories and makes summer feel like it's not that distant.
The CILT girls transitioned to Whitetail for the biggest slumber party ever. We could split up into four different cabins and all have our own bunks, but that would just be so awful. We'd much rather sleep on the floor packed in close and snuggled up with all of our CILTie friends.
We made a giant circle to do devotions together which is pretty surreal. It was so late already, but devotion conversations are some of the very best ones. I read them a bedtime story from Cold Tangerines as they fell asleep just like we do at camp.
Sunday was just as great as Saturday. We woke up at camp, which is always a fantastic thing, then we got to have baked oatmeal for breakfast. Next we moved over to Kampen for chapel. Peter and Christian played guitar for us and lead all of the music. Instead of a skit or a counselor talking, we had three different CILTs share part of their testimony. I loved seeing Seth, Maggie Kroeff and Colleen each have their turn on stage. These kids have huge hearts and their relationships with Christ have shaped their lives. I'm lucky to know them.
A lot of today was spent just hanging out with the people we love. Getting to be reunited like this is so special. I wish that there would have been a CILT Reunion when I was a CILT back in 2003. I would have loved to have been able to spend a weekend with Katie Quille, Krafty, Meg Wright, Sarah, Colleen, Kristen and Sarah Alley. Those people meant so much to me and really shaped my life back then.
The people gathered here this weekend are some of the best people I know. I didn't change Erin O'Farrell's name to Erin O'Awesome just for kicks. She really is one of the best people I know. And Maggie Shadid has been one of my very best friends since the day we met. I'm thankful for any time we get to spend together.
We also got to go on a very special field trip that I can't tell you about right now. There will be more details about that in the future. But on the way the Patagonia Paparazzi jumped out of the woods to take our picture. I think we'll be featured in their next catalogue.
Love Tanks are one of my favorite parts of the summer so of course they have to be part of the CILT Reunion too. Every kid and counselor gets a paper bag and then spends time writing notes to all the people they really love and care about.
This is such an intentional way we get to love one another. I love that at the reunion CILTs get to write to old friends and people they met the day before. They get to take home a whole bag of love notes that they can read whenever they need some encouragement or support. This is putting other people before ourselves and pointing them back to the person God made them to be.
It's easy to write notes to the CILTies. I wish I had time to write to them all. Girls like Kelly, Shannon, Cara, Tara, Gaby, Maggie, Erin and Brenna have made an effort to stay in touch with one another and with me this semester. I'm so thankful for each of them, their hearts and their quirkiness. They're so different from each other but I love that about them. I know that whether or not they work on Day Camp next summer we'll stay close.
Erin's crew of Oneida CILTs from this past summer.
All of the Catawba CILT ladies that shadowed Molly and her tiny Braves.
Mags and I have been trying to master this pose for years. I think we nailed it.
My friend Smoon is the best. My first memory of her is from when we were sitting in Kampen her first night as a Pathfinder in Teton with me. Now we're leading our second CILT reunion together and closer than ever. She gets me-- from binge watching Gilmore Girls to mandatory Chipotle and knowing when I need someone to help scoop ice cream. She's one of the kindest and most intentional people I've ever known.
One really cool part of this weekend was getting to know people in a small group setting. Every counselor had 11 kids that they met with four different times. Each person got their own turn to answer a couple questions and then get asked questions by the rest of the group. We wanted CILTs to really have the chance to get to know people of other sessions. Team Joey...
Team Maggie
Team Erin O'Awesome
Team Molly
Team Mike Jones
Team Sarah Wright
Team Soaps
Team Ellyn (in her natural habitat of the craft closet)
Team Smooney
I also would have loved to be in a small group with Erin, Maggie and Smooney. Or with Olivia Davis and Annabelle. Yep, those would be pretty spectacular groups too.
I introduced the CILTs to the YL game SAVAGE WOMAN and they ripped each other apart LIKE SAVAGES.
Then the day started to wind down as we headed to lunch and then packed up our stuff.
Smoon and I had taped all these signs just the day before and it seemed cruel we had to take them down already.
Session 3
Session 1
Session 2
In the last hour of the reunion we give the CILTs their phones back so they can take hundreds of pictures together. That's not an exaggeration.
Maggie was by far the most popular name this weekend with 6 members of the team.
I loved getting to hang out with Alana this weekend. I want gumption and enthusiasm like hers when I grow up.
Shanztherapper is my homie and she makes sure we always take fun pictures and not just a basic one.
Maggie Danaher is an old soul and I hope that I'm friends with her for many years to come.
I love time with Gaby and Cara and how they both are just so good at being with people. They're perfectly content to just sit and talk and be with their friends.
This summer on our hike to the Gish we took a picture just like this on the top of the hill. I think it's just as cute the second time around.
Brenna is that person that is positive no matter what and could easily befriend any one. Klaire is so kind and I loved getting to see her again.
Adare, Mary Kate and Maggie Madro are easily three of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I don't think I've ever heard any of them say an unkind word.
Josie is always energetic and I'm so excited to see her at the YL Pacers game next month. Rachel and Maggie are two girls that I have so much respect for and I really admire their faith.
Avery Tudor flew here all the way from Texas and thank goodness because it wouldn't have been nearly as fun without here. Ashley, or Shley, always has a smile on her face and I always love being around her.
Best Friend Necklaces were a random craft creation in the middle of last summer with Smooney, Arielle and Ellyn. I'm really trying to get them to take off just like wolf shirts and potholder headbands, so I've been having YL, camp and HSJH girls make them all semester and giving them to random friends. Everyone is welcome to join the Best Friend Necklace Club. I was happy to see so many of these beaded beauties all weekend.
Megan and Mallory wanted to be here so badly this weekend that they paid for their own round trip flights from Colorado. If that doesn't tell you how much camp means to them I don't know what will.
I wish that I could have Molly, Maggie, Erin and Smooney in my life every single day. They make me a better person. I love Devon and the way that she is so passionate about life.
Olivia Davis is a gem and we've really got to figure out how to hang out more since we live so close. I've got so much respect for Cara and think she's pretty fantastic.
I love that these Session 1 girls got to leave the reunion together and kept hanging out for another day. If only camp friends could be home friends too so this could happen all the time.
Molly Henry is the bomb. She knows how to have fun, how to get REALLY excited, and how to make a normal day feel like a party. Love this friend.
Olivia Kinsella has got a huge chunk of my heart. I love this little bug and think the world of her.
Did you know Session 2 had three sets of twins? The Johnsons, the Sarahs and the Happs. (We've got a matching pic of this from the summer too.)
But the twin set isn't really complete without Julia Plant in the mix.
These five girls taught Smooney and I so much about love and being there for one another.
Julia Plant is one of the greatest people you will ever meet in this world. Bless her sweet soul.
Kelly and I actually first met when she was a Brave in my friend's cabin years ago. But it was this summer in Choctaw when we hit it off and grew so close. She's impacted me more than she knows and I'm such a fan of hers.
Kate Flynn may be quiet at first, but then you realize that this girl has so many wise and thoughtful things to say. I'm always happy to spend time with her.
Jenna Crawford is one of the girls that I got to know so much better this weekend. I'm so glad that she was in my small group and that we got to spend time together.
After waiting for this weekend for months I can't believe it's over already. I'm so thankful that all of these CILTies that made the effort to be here and for the counselors that volunteered their time. These 25 hours were overflowing with all of my favorite things and I couldn't be happier. Maybe we'll just have to have a second reunion for the CILTs of 2014.
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