Overlap: "I gave it to Ellyn because they said to give it to someone cool."

It's Twin Day for the CILTies. After the girls woke up they each found someone to match with them and came up with some pretty impressive outfits especially with our limited wardrobes at camp.

Which twin is which? Livy and Maddie are looking more like Mary-Kate and Ashley than ever.

It was a very special morning at our All Camp chapel as we dedicated the Green Cathedral. They thanked the builders, the stone laying company, the maintenance men that built the stage, Susie Conrad who made the stained glass cross and the Kampen family who financed the chapel.

I love getting to be at dedications at camp-- there's something so special about giving our buildings and properties over to God for his work to be done here. The Kampen family requested a hymn to be sung near the end. My favorite line of the chorus was, "Make me a blessing. Out of my life, may Jesus shine." Mrs. Kampen is making sure that future generations of campers and counselors will continue to worship together here in this spot.

This morning the CILTs did a team-building activity called the Sherpa Walk. It's a favorite of the counselors, not only because it's an interesting activity to participate in, but because the debrief is such a rich conversation.

This summer we've been using a blog post from Kelle Hampton during this conversation that's so awesome. "Pick the right person to follow-- someone responsible, someone who is doing something that inspires you, someone who will teach you, support you and eventually stand behind you and celebrate when it's your turn to do it alone."

"Follow because you're passionate, follow because you believe in something and follow because you recognize your need for leadership and a good example."

"Following does not equal conformity. You can follow and still beautifully stand out and inspire. Following is not inferior to leadership. It is an active choice-- not a passive sitting by. Follow with gusto, knowing that by actively following, you are strengthening the collective force of leadership."

"Following a path that makes you feel alive still leaves footprints for people who walk behind you. Other ways to define following: supporting, pursuing, elevating someone else's work."

"There are times to lead and times to follow and we don't need to define ourselves as one or the other. Inspiring, helping and giving direction is a constant cycle. Leading or following roles arise from an awareness for what's needed in a situation and recognizing what gifts you have to offer."

"I don't want to tell the kids to be leaders. The world can't be full of just leaders, you know. I want to tell the kids to be themselves."

This group of CILTs has been remind me of a chapter I wrote about being a counselor a few years ago. "When I put on my blue staff polo and wooden name tag for my first staff meeting I had no idea I was actually suiting up for a twelve year journey. Being a counselor has taught me that their is potential in every kid, possibility in every conversation and that every new week of campers holds its own magic."

"What keeps me coming back summer after summer are all of the girls that have been the main characters of those seasons and the many that have become the main characters of my life."

"My summers are about blob time and Capture the Flag, eating corn dogs in the Party Room and making sure all ten girls get out the door in time for flagpole every morning. Nine weeks as a counselor are worth every bug bite, every short night of sleep and every repetitive time of singing M and Ms. It's all more than worth it because of the glimmering moments of hope and joy and love with my campers."

"Once I became a counselor I quickly learned that if you open yourself up to the possibility, you will be changed by these kids' stories. In late night talks on the porch, in cabin devotion circles, on benches of the Longhouse and when they sneak up on your bunk to whisper late at night, the life stories I have heard have filled my heart and changed the way I see the world."

"I could fill a library with the conversations these girls have shared. All of these talks, every single one was a gift.

"It is an honor when a girl trusts me enough to confide in me. I honestly never thought my life would look like this. I never thought that so many of the people I admire, stay in touch with, trust and have the most fun with would be younger than me. I never though I would be a counselor for so many years. But now I can't imagine anything better I could be doing."

"Someday I'll have to grow up and put away my blue polo and wooden name tag. I'll find another way to spend my summer instead of living out of plastic drawers, brainstorming new ideas for campfire and writing a stack of parent letters at the end of every session. But when that time comes I will miss this kind of life. I'll miss when we cried together, laughed together, sang in the Green Cathedral together, stood on our chairs to cheer together and held hands to pray together."