Am I the only one that notices the phenomenon of getting more sleep but being more tired some mornings? well, that's where I'm at today. I finally managed a solid 7.75 hours of sleep and dragging myself out of bed this morning was extremely difficult, hopefully I'll be fine once I get going but perhaps a power nap will be in order around lunchish.
Hmm lets see... the last 24 hours seem like they just flew by, most of the day was taken up with setting up each of our activities. so being a super good planner I decided to wait for a few hours and give the horses alll the time I could before we tied them up and saddled, the only problem with this is that my incredibly competent partner in crime is away from camp this weekend... and even though I had a good helper I also had about 4 of them that were very unsure of themselves with saddling and prepping horses... being well within the time limit quickly turned into being a half hour late for lunch, combine that with taking a ride out right after lunch and it was very typical of how the rest of the summer will go :).
After horses we did the staff tour of activities so we got to see the farm, archery, the drum circle and tomahawks (the most amazing of camp activities), today we're supposed to have time to do rappelling and the zip lines. As you may have noticed we've got a pretty epic set of stuff to do.
And last but not least, a short time ago there was a tornado that ripped through wheatland (one of the towns near here). Several buildings were obliterated and despite a lack of significant injury it did a fair bit of damage. Because of our proximity we have the opportunity to go make lunch for all the workers who are involved in repairs (which in these situations is a huge number), so most of the activity staff will be zipping out of here in about 45 minutes to go make sandwiches for a good chunk of the morning. In the meantime I get to sort of spin my wheels here and try to figure out a good time to feed horses and coordinate with 2 of my superiors on what the plan is for our section of activities today.
Anyway this is a pretty stick-to-the-facts sorta update but it IS an update, so that's progress yeah?
-Nick
p.s. I've been chewing on a few conversations from these first few days, so likely there will be a more philosophical/abstract update in the semi-near future.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Day 3. T-minus two days till kids.
Once again I woke up this morning with the sour taste of adrenaline in my mouth. I sat up and grabbed at my phone to see how much I had overslept... annnd I was 30 minutes before my alarm yet again. The only real change from the first 2 days of camp is that I was actually able to fall back asleep long enough to wake up solidly to the sound of my alarm going off. I rolled out of bed and walked down to the corral only to discover that between Ben (one of my "bosses") and Cassie (a wrangler while ack is on the road) there was very little left to do. I helped fill feed bags for later but then decided that rather than sitting around and trying to feel like I was doing something I'd rather come back to the big building and update y'all and drink the first coffee of the day. Thus... here I am.
The last 24 hours have been more peaceful than I expected, the day began with all of the horse staff taking our trail horses out to see if any of them have issues that we should know before we put campers on em. Thus far I think it's safe to say that not only has God provided us with the staff we need to make this work, He's also hooked us up with the horses that we need to be successful this season. His providence is fairly impressive.
In the afternoon I was pulled in to continue participation in staff training. Instead of a rehash of the lake of doom (still pretty epic), we turned around and took the staff out on a hike. We were given a destination from a tall overlook up on the camp plateau and told to go there, the only caveat was that whomever held the shovel of leadership (which was also the shovel of rattlesnake bane +3) was in charge of leading the procession, In a quite fun sequence we all had an opportunity to lead the hike and carry the weight of the shovel. it was enjoyable and I realized somewhere along this several hour roundabout hike that I'm really starting to like this assortment of (mostly) strangers.
Now for the crazy bullet list!
-car still won't start. pray for a cheap repair or a restoration of mechanical soundness. At very least I'll need a vehicle at the end of the season and right now I don't have a functional one.
-I got my 5 people for the prayer list, I'll pass em on to the director who'll be handling that side... if you want on that list feel free to check the other updates and shoot me a note, if not... no worries.
-I did manage to get my beginning of summer sunburn already. Despite using SPF 50 sunscreen as often as I remembered I've got some of that sapping my energy... pray that it fades into a tan so I don't have to do this twice.
-Pray for the directors out here (we've got 4 on site right now) they carry a huge burden of responsibility and leadership and they're still learning the crew so in metaphysical terms they're a 27 pointed candle burning at all ends. (and there's a guy fiddling with a flamethrower who looks devious). Thus far they've been incredible in rolling with the punches and excelling at their calling. Pray for them that they do not falter as it will only get more difficult as the summer goes on.
In short camp has been pretty epic, I'm tired... but I'm still functioning at nearly 100%. It has been tough but I'm really loving it. Rations are adequate. (that's kinda a lie, the food is pretty good)
eccentrically yours,
Nick
The last 24 hours have been more peaceful than I expected, the day began with all of the horse staff taking our trail horses out to see if any of them have issues that we should know before we put campers on em. Thus far I think it's safe to say that not only has God provided us with the staff we need to make this work, He's also hooked us up with the horses that we need to be successful this season. His providence is fairly impressive.
In the afternoon I was pulled in to continue participation in staff training. Instead of a rehash of the lake of doom (still pretty epic), we turned around and took the staff out on a hike. We were given a destination from a tall overlook up on the camp plateau and told to go there, the only caveat was that whomever held the shovel of leadership (which was also the shovel of rattlesnake bane +3) was in charge of leading the procession, In a quite fun sequence we all had an opportunity to lead the hike and carry the weight of the shovel. it was enjoyable and I realized somewhere along this several hour roundabout hike that I'm really starting to like this assortment of (mostly) strangers.
Now for the crazy bullet list!
-car still won't start. pray for a cheap repair or a restoration of mechanical soundness. At very least I'll need a vehicle at the end of the season and right now I don't have a functional one.
-I got my 5 people for the prayer list, I'll pass em on to the director who'll be handling that side... if you want on that list feel free to check the other updates and shoot me a note, if not... no worries.
-I did manage to get my beginning of summer sunburn already. Despite using SPF 50 sunscreen as often as I remembered I've got some of that sapping my energy... pray that it fades into a tan so I don't have to do this twice.
-Pray for the directors out here (we've got 4 on site right now) they carry a huge burden of responsibility and leadership and they're still learning the crew so in metaphysical terms they're a 27 pointed candle burning at all ends. (and there's a guy fiddling with a flamethrower who looks devious). Thus far they've been incredible in rolling with the punches and excelling at their calling. Pray for them that they do not falter as it will only get more difficult as the summer goes on.
In short camp has been pretty epic, I'm tired... but I'm still functioning at nearly 100%. It has been tough but I'm really loving it. Rations are adequate. (that's kinda a lie, the food is pretty good)
eccentrically yours,
Nick
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Day 2. The disastrous green miracle.
Good morning! 3 days in a row? I'm almost as shocked as you are. Mostly because I'd have to be fully awake to be that shocked... thus... not yet.
Anyway, since I'm not sure how long it'll be before other things demand my time I'll hop right into it. Yesterday was an interesting day... we started the morning off playing a team-building game called the lake of doom! (yes, it does need the exclamation point) As you may or may not be aware, I am not usually a fan of these sorts of games, for instance I save a special sort of frustration just for the human knot. Despite this the lake of doom was fairly entertaining didn't involve getting arm-barred by flexible short people, and resulted in the world dying several times. (too be fair we did "save" it once or twice) Afterwards the discussion was pretty good and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the crew a bit better.
At this point we had lunch, and then killed about an hour watching the chaos of VBS wrapping up. Me and Keith are convinced that if you could bottle energy from kids (somewhat like monsters inc now that I think about it) we'd solve that whole looming crisis thing. anyway, mac and cheese was had and enjoyed by all.
After lunch is when the 'fun' began. In the theme of the day we continued on with a team building exercise... of a work project. At first glance this isn't a bad idea, sweat a bit on a mutual project and you tend to get along with each other yeah? but there were a few kinks that made it a wee bit more frustrating to me anyway. As another aspect of us lowly activity staff bonding was that our directors decided that they couldn't step in and run the project, a few of them were permitted to participate but were not allowed to lead in any significant tangible sense... this resulted in me working pretty hard to try and keep everyone busy and attempting to recreate a similar project last summer. needless to say it's not pretty... but it just might be graciously called functional.
Annd now to the fun part (forgive me if I rush, ben got here and It's almost time to focus on other things). When I went to go move my car yesterday it wouldn't start. Despite several mechanically inclined folks we were unable to get it going, best guess is that the starter is keeling over. I drove 4+ hours yesterday and it ran fine, got me here, turned it off, and now it's dead. We might do a bit of repairs on it but then again I might be without a car at the end of this thing... So please be praying about that.
off I go! since I got cut short I might try posting in the evening tonight but we'll see...2 days in and i'm already hangin on in awe of the ride.
-Nick
p.s. I still need 2 more prayer partners who want email updates, if you'd like to be one and havn't already emailed me shoot me a note at noegema(at)gmail(dot)com
Anyway, since I'm not sure how long it'll be before other things demand my time I'll hop right into it. Yesterday was an interesting day... we started the morning off playing a team-building game called the lake of doom! (yes, it does need the exclamation point) As you may or may not be aware, I am not usually a fan of these sorts of games, for instance I save a special sort of frustration just for the human knot. Despite this the lake of doom was fairly entertaining didn't involve getting arm-barred by flexible short people, and resulted in the world dying several times. (too be fair we did "save" it once or twice) Afterwards the discussion was pretty good and I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know the crew a bit better.
At this point we had lunch, and then killed about an hour watching the chaos of VBS wrapping up. Me and Keith are convinced that if you could bottle energy from kids (somewhat like monsters inc now that I think about it) we'd solve that whole looming crisis thing. anyway, mac and cheese was had and enjoyed by all.
After lunch is when the 'fun' began. In the theme of the day we continued on with a team building exercise... of a work project. At first glance this isn't a bad idea, sweat a bit on a mutual project and you tend to get along with each other yeah? but there were a few kinks that made it a wee bit more frustrating to me anyway. As another aspect of us lowly activity staff bonding was that our directors decided that they couldn't step in and run the project, a few of them were permitted to participate but were not allowed to lead in any significant tangible sense... this resulted in me working pretty hard to try and keep everyone busy and attempting to recreate a similar project last summer. needless to say it's not pretty... but it just might be graciously called functional.
Annd now to the fun part (forgive me if I rush, ben got here and It's almost time to focus on other things). When I went to go move my car yesterday it wouldn't start. Despite several mechanically inclined folks we were unable to get it going, best guess is that the starter is keeling over. I drove 4+ hours yesterday and it ran fine, got me here, turned it off, and now it's dead. We might do a bit of repairs on it but then again I might be without a car at the end of this thing... So please be praying about that.
off I go! since I got cut short I might try posting in the evening tonight but we'll see...2 days in and i'm already hangin on in awe of the ride.
-Nick
p.s. I still need 2 more prayer partners who want email updates, if you'd like to be one and havn't already emailed me shoot me a note at noegema(at)gmail(dot)com
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Day 1. oh sleeplessness we meet again...
Today is a new day, It turns out that even though my brain is catching up to the idea that camp is happening my body is doing just fine with the idea. Despite being extremely hyped up by seeing friends and staying up late I also popped out of bed about an hour before my alarm. I decided to take this unforseen opportunity to give ya'll an update. (ya'll being the two people that might actually read this).
So, if yesterday is all you read about camp then you might be a little confused about what I'm actually doing this summer. I am working with Adventures in Christian Kamping for the next two months and will be doing a variety of things including wrangling, dishes, cleaning, and who knows what else. We deal with kids of all ages but the largest majority are in the 11-15 range if I remember right.
It also is interesting to discover that other than the "senior staff" aka the tibbs and the bennetts, it appears that I'm the only activity staff that could swing coming back this year. What that means is we get to train a whole new batch of semi-experienced people and see what a whole summer with them looks like. To some this might be an exercise in insanity, but I was reminded yesterday that about this time last year a) I was a stranger to this place too, and b) God had (and has) been working to bring the people He wants here far before we even started worrying about it.
Annd since I've kinda run out of things to talk about right this second, I'll make a bullet list of things that you might care about.
-One of the activities directors asked me for 5 email addresses of prayer supporters so they can get updated prayer requests from her perspective. If you'd like to be on this list then shoot me an email via noegema(at)gmail(dot)com.
-Pray for me today, my body and spirit have decided that i only needed 5.5 hours of sleep last night... and rumor has it we've got a full day planned. pray for supernatural amounts of energy.
-Despite the potential narcissism here, pray for me. That I won't get in the way of what God is doing and that I will say the right things at the right time, instead of my usual tendency to say the wrong thing at the worst time.
Well there you have it. A second post in as many days.... how long can this last?! stick around, we'll find out together.
Nick
So, if yesterday is all you read about camp then you might be a little confused about what I'm actually doing this summer. I am working with Adventures in Christian Kamping for the next two months and will be doing a variety of things including wrangling, dishes, cleaning, and who knows what else. We deal with kids of all ages but the largest majority are in the 11-15 range if I remember right.
It also is interesting to discover that other than the "senior staff" aka the tibbs and the bennetts, it appears that I'm the only activity staff that could swing coming back this year. What that means is we get to train a whole new batch of semi-experienced people and see what a whole summer with them looks like. To some this might be an exercise in insanity, but I was reminded yesterday that about this time last year a) I was a stranger to this place too, and b) God had (and has) been working to bring the people He wants here far before we even started worrying about it.
Annd since I've kinda run out of things to talk about right this second, I'll make a bullet list of things that you might care about.
-One of the activities directors asked me for 5 email addresses of prayer supporters so they can get updated prayer requests from her perspective. If you'd like to be on this list then shoot me an email via noegema(at)gmail(dot)com.
-Pray for me today, my body and spirit have decided that i only needed 5.5 hours of sleep last night... and rumor has it we've got a full day planned. pray for supernatural amounts of energy.
-Despite the potential narcissism here, pray for me. That I won't get in the way of what God is doing and that I will say the right things at the right time, instead of my usual tendency to say the wrong thing at the worst time.
Well there you have it. A second post in as many days.... how long can this last?! stick around, we'll find out together.
Nick
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
The Camp Chronicles Day1/2
I was a bit surprised this morning to discover just how fast 60+ days can go flying by. Despite having a countdown on my phone telling me how many days remain I still feel like camp was a long ways away.. and then teleported right next to me.
This year I'm in an interesting place... normally I'd be leaving a job that I'm ready to move on from, or I'd be within the midst of an academic year that allows for summer camps quite admirably.This year, I'm taking some time away from a job that I love to do camp, something I both love and feel an urgency to be a part of. Because of the cramped time available to me for prep this will have to be short but I wanted to let you all know that this is where my updates will be posted. And since today is the first day of camp I'll post my version of my support letter. here goes...
Dear Friends,
In a few short hours (yes I procrastinated) I'll be departing to be a part of another summer with Adventures in Christian Kamping, despite their oddly spelled name they are an incredible organization dedicated to the high calling of christian summer camps. This will be my second year working with them and I'm very confident that God has begun a mighty work this year and I am incredibly excited to be a part of that.
I'm writing this and distributing it to ask for your support. First and foremost I desperately crave your prayers. About a decade ago when I was first getting into camp ministry a mentor of mine told me "at camp we run on prayer and caffeine and the caffeine is optional." and I have found this to be incredibly true. So please pray, I can only do my job effectively by the grace of God and the support of the church.
What about money? you may be asking, seems like everyone needs money to do these things... I was convicted this year that I should be able to pay my own way this summer before I could consider going to camp, so right now any financial burden of having a severely reduced income for 2 months will land solely on my shoulders, I do not expect anyone to give financially and am prepared to bear that burden alone. However if you feel led to give please do! you can go to http://www.wyoack.org/apps/donations/ and donate there. Do not feel like I am holding you hostage or attempting to guilt donations in any way, if you feel led please give. If you cannot give financially for any reason please pray, because I'm going regardless and prayer is priceless.
If you want to know my stories or perspective I encourage you to check out my blog at http://nquadrant.blogspot.com/ where I'll do my best to post regular updates.
I appreciate your time reading all of this and I'm glad you're along for this adventure even if it is "merely" in spirit.
God Bless!
Nick
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