3.16 The one with 1000 words.

So I'm directing next week... and because of that this picture seems to capture the current "update"

3.15 a list of issues to pray for

Things to remember in your prayers:
Several of the staff are fighting illnesses, in perhaps a perfect storm these are also some of the new staff. So in a team ministry when one is struggling it ripples. So everyone is working a little harder.

Combine this with the fact that the summer staff is a little smaller this year and chores are a little larger and it's an endurance game to be sure.

Also we've got a huge group of great campers, who we love but are not short on challenges. Pray for wisdom and patience as we desk with them.

I'm beginning to get sore from being on my feet too long (happens every summer), it wasn't as quick to set in as wrangling but that's the first sign that I'm running low on fuel. And I've gotta direct next week...

Tomorrow we do the last rappelling for the week and we've got an all camp activity called the "amazing (g)race" which should be fairly awesome.

Breakfast comes soon and I need all the sleep I can get. Gnite my friends

3.14 Lake day! and prep for next week.

Today we went to the lake and swam, splashed and generally got sand (and a few ants) everywhere. The kids seemed to enjoy it and as I watched from the fire pit they also seemed to plop into bedtime a bit easier too.

I took the morning to do "directerly" things and spent the morning on the phone, texting, calling, and otherwise trying to tie up as many loose ends for next week as possible. But despite that I'm still showing a few gaps.

So... Please remember me/us in your prayers as I try to pull it together here. Last year I planned out a lot of things, many of which didn't work out but at least looked decent before camp started. This year... The pre-camp process (recruiting, coordinating schedules so we don't run into conflicts etc) has been very difficult to get done. At this point I'm doing what I can but I'm also trusting and praying that God provides what He has planned because I'm not entirely sure how it's going to work out.

And on that note... I'm going to bed. We've got a full day of activities planned tomorrow and the ropes don't set themselves up before breakfast.

3.13 the day of firsts

Today was the first day with campers living here. The first day I was rappelling crew instead of a wrangler. The first day I led night games for the summer. And in all cases it was a successful day.

We've got a fairly challenging group of kids this week in many ways. A handful of em are a bit hard to manage and many others are just hyper and push us because we're not into our stride yet. Pray that we can rise to the challenges.

It was a great day though. I hurt in peculiar places from hard work at things I don't do often, but it was fun and fulfilling.

However tomorrow is lake day (due to weather it was moved up to Tuesday) and I need my sleep.

-Nick
P.s. thank you from the depths of my soul for all of the support and encouragement yesterday, it was very powerful.

3.12 In which it gets real...

Fathers day. 

Once an easy, barely noteworthy, day. A day when I told my dad that he did a great job as a father and he tried to dodge the compliment (turns out I'm more like him than I knew back then). But saying my dad was a great father seemed almost as redundant as him saying that he loved us. It meant a great deal collectively, but in the moment it was such an obvious truth and so normal that it was routine. I remember many times rolling my eyes when dad would ask us "guess what?!" to which we'd inevitably roll our eyes and he'd say "I love you a whole bunch". 

I can clearly remember the last time I spoke to my father, a few days before he left for Minnesota. We talked about my decision to go back to college by way of Grace University, we talked about the things I'd been reading in the word lately and we got a little excited (or heated depending on who you ask) and didn't end the conversation on a complete resolution. He still wasn't sure I was making a completely informed decision and I was sick of trying to convince him that day. I figured I'd have a solid 8 months or so to make my point so we agreed to table it for a few weeks. I packed up my things, loaded my car, did a quick walk-through of the guest room and bathroom to make sure I didn't forget anything and then slipped out the side door to leave. As I was halfway to the driveway dad came bursting out of the door, quick-walked up to me and said "guess what I forgot?" I chuckled, gave him a hug and  he told me he loved me. Then I walked to my car and drove off. And the oddest thing was he stood on the front porch and watched me drive off... and the next time I saw him he was lying in a hospital bed in the Mayo Clinic, and even though I got to talk at him... we never had the privilege of speaking again. I don't even know if he heard us. 

It has been a year and a half later, and most days I can live confident in the fact that my Father is in the company of the savior that he loved far more than he did me and my siblings, or my mother. I can rest assured that I was blessed beyond measure to have 26 years of a wonderful dad, something many would consider akin to a fairy-tale. I can be proud of my father for being tough on his sons because he viewed his job as training us not to need him. A job he did well... and one that we needed far sooner than any of us expected. 

But days like today... When the whole country is told to appreciate fathers. None of those things are foremost in my mind. They're there to be sure... but they're overshadowed by the fact that it just hurts. It hurts to know my nephews joyfully greet their uncles and aunts, and ask about Oma (grandma in dutch tradition) but that they will never know their Opa. It hurts that my little sister doesn't have her daddy to call up on the phone and talk through the day with. It hurts that when I make a decision I'm always a bit uncertain because I haven't had the opportunity to run it by dad and answer his concerns and questions. It hurts to see my mother living the painful reality that "death do us part" is part of this journey too. And it hurts that I'll probably never hear the comparison "you're so like your dad" again. 

And so today... I'm skipping church and I'm going to taco johns for lunch. Not because that's anything special or significant. But because today... I'm not strong enough to get jokingly asked by clueless people if I called my dad, or to see the pitying looks of those in the know when this "should" be a day of joy. You have your joy and special fathers day service, I have no grudge whatsoever... But I'll take my pain and go eat tacos. And this afternoon when it's time to start a fresh week of camp. I'll do my best to put that away and work as hard as I can to do the best job I can. After all that's one of the many things my father taught me, and a lesson that he lived well. 

-Nick

3.11 A "guest" post

Coherency is in short supply and today is a tough day for me. So rather than stumbling through a post right now in going to highly recommend you go read this:

http://www.stpetersfireside.org/2014/06/fathers-day-superheroes-villains-meet/

An article written by my incredibly talented sister about father's day. I hope you enjoy it, I  know I sure did.

3.10 The best way to kill an audience is to stop delivering content... oops

As promised here's a more substantial update! When last we saw our hero the tail end of VBS was in sight. He was optimistic about the upcoming archery event and was filled with idle daydreams where tiny robin hood esqe children fired bows with extreme accuracy and glee. Sadly this was not the reality that greeted him. The day dawned bright as the two before, slightly warm but not uncomfortably so. But this day (wednesday) was not like his two older brothers, for wednesday possessed the gift of a cool northwesterly wind. And Wednesday did so enjoy using his gift upon the unprepared children who were chilly and in danger of being miserable at the archery range. But never fear! Our hero leapt to the challenge and through a combination of charisma and raw brute strength succeeded in entertaining the children by giving them rides on his back and racing them across the open field to keep them warm and happy.

Thursday was a day of training... training, and more training. and that afternoon we conducted our annual rite of passage to walk out to the cross and sign our names. (one of my favorite "new" traditions) And that was the easy part... from there we hiked (blindfolded) in partners for what seemed like quite a while, played 4-team tug-of-war and then hiked for another few miles to our eventual campsite for the night. As always the "adventure" of assembling our tents was a challenge and after adding some para-cord to one of the tents it was in good shape. The other tent sadly was missing a few of its posts so we made it into an impromptu A-frame by re-purposing four of the pole sections into large stakes and tying off the corners with another length of para cord. (I was really glad I remembered to bring a bundle of that stuff).

Many hot dogs were consumed, and in the morning even more bacon. Probably the best breakfast I've ever had at camp this year (if not ever) was eaten and thankfully we only had to hike to the top of a nearby hill to catch a ride back to camp.

Today we cleaned... and cleaned, and cleaned, and generally put the finishing touches on the camp in preparation for our big open-house tomorrow. The place looks great and it'll be fun to share it with everyone. We even hung the banners in the main hall straight! Which involved me scampering up a 20 foot ladder to hammer them into place... it was a terrifying process but they do look good (if I do say so myself).

And on that note... I need to make my sleeping quarters presentable to the public tomorrow, and perhaps help with a lil kitchen prep. So I should hit the hay.

Thanks to everyone that texted, emailed, and commented over the last few days wondering what was going on and extending prayers and encouragement. It was greatly appreciated and made a few days of growth into something good.

-Nick