Day 6. Ready or not!

I want to you remember something for me. Remember when you were a child and you played the inevitable game of hide and seek? The growing sense of trepidation as the seeker counted down and then the acceptance that you better make wherever you're at work when they hollered "ready or not, here I come!" remember that? Now take that feeling and stretch it out for at least a few days and you're emotionally prepared for the beginning of camp season. What we have now is what we've got, no more time for fixing or prep, ready or not here we go.

That having been said I don't know a single person out here who isn't absolutely floored about this process, it's finally here, today we get to see in no uncertain terms that God has prepped us and this place in ways that we were completely unaware of until now.

On the topic of good enough keep the zipline project in your prayers, despite the engineering involved in making it safe we're still having problems with ironing out the kinks so we can get a kid consistantly over to the other side, wind speed, ambient temp, and such things are causing a great deal of minor adjustments and I'm  not 100% sure as to the status of it today. If we don't get it done this week that's not the end of the world but it could be a very powerful tool/experience and we'd love to have it in our arsenal as soon as possible.

Since I last updated we have also grown from the core activity staff (which will be around the entire summer) into a large barbarian horde of about 3x as many people. I'm always encouraged and surprised at the diversity of people God calls to this place, we've got a few small kids running around, a few gray heads (or bald heads) who are counselors, and everything in between. Despite the differences in every case all of the staff I've talked to (I'm a talker so it's a pretty good chunk of em) share a few things in common that I'll expound upon very briefly. (because breakfast dishes are approaching and today's my day for that)

They are as follows:
1) We've all sacrificed something to be here. Everyone has soemthing whether it's our time, finances, opportunities, vacations, or connections with family, friends, or simply just time away from our typical areas we've all put something on the line to be here.
2) The call. It might be christianese to say it like that, but what I mean is that we've all felt a tangible pressure and prompting that this is where we should be during this time. For many the reasons why are unknown, and even for those that have an impression of why we're all eager to see how it plays out.
3) The passion. From the youngest CIT (counselor in training) to the executive director we're all excited about this arena and are eager to see the mighty work that has begun unfold in front of our eyes.

I encourage you to look at that list if you're struggling with where you're at right now and think pretty seriously about where those things might line up in your own life. If you know the call and have the passion then don't be afraid of the risk, I've never seen God ask for sacrifice without Him returning a blessing tenfold. If you are thinking about a call but aren't sure that it's your passion you should look back and find the times when you are your best self, odds are those times are linked to your passion. And finally if you know your gifts and are growing them the best you can where you're at, you're prepared to sacrifice whatever you need but are spinning your wheels without a call... hang on. Last time I was in that place (about 18 months ago) I got a call from ACK and started my first whirlwind with these folks. As I enter my second summer here I've never been happier, I've never been more fulfilled and I certainly am at my best in this time and place. May you find that as well.

Nick
p.s. also if you find yourself very interested in this story as it unfolds then maybe we should talk about you getting involved in this ministry next summer, even if you can only give a few days for a work project, or if you can spare a week to help us out we'd love to get you involved in what God has given us out here.