You Know It's The Last Days When...

You know it's the last few days of camp when....

• after going through the serving line, you get back to the table sandwich in hand & wonder what you have done with your plate (you discover it on the counter where you set it down)
• you fold the aluminum foil used to cover the sandwiches & try to decide whether it's a hat or a boat - it fits on your head perfectly and after testing it in the dish water you realize it also floats
• before the campers come into the dining room you look and see there are no cups on the table
• after the campers have come into the dining room, the song has been sung & the prayer is getting ready to be said, you realize there are no drinks on the table
• you just sit and stare.....
• you start a conversation with someone and 1/2 way through forget who or what you were discussing
• you realize that next week you can think in days and not in meals to be fixed (i.e. today is Thursday compared to today is scrambled eggs, bacon & cinnamon rolls)

Yes, the summer camping program is essentially over. Tomorrow is the last day. The campers who have come all summer (or most of the summer) will be sad when it's time to go home. We will be sad to see the camp season end. We love the opportunity the Lord has given us to minister to these children. We are thankful we can be His servants and show His love to the children. We pray that as they start back to school (some on Monday) they will be bold enough to stand up for Him.

The Beginning of the End...

Tomorrow is the start of the last week of camp. It is viewed with mixed emotions on my part.

Sorrow because it means the summer is almost over. Summer being over means school is starting. School starting means the campers will be thrust back into an environment in which they will be ridiculed for their beliefs.

Excitement because it means I'll be able to have a few days rest. Now I have to admit that after 2 days of rest, I'm ready for camp to start back up. I'm glad we're able to minister to the campers during the summer. I sometimes wish we could have a 2 day rest in the middle of the camping program.

Excitement also because we're able to start Bible Club back at the Girls Inc. Excitement because the Precepts Bible study with which we're involved will start back up - we're students.

Of course I'll still be in the office - my home away from home, as John refers to it. John will go back to the print shop. He has 5 orders waiting to be filled. We thank the Lord for these opportunities to serve Him.

My niece is planning on coming to camp this week. She is excited about it but is sure she'll miss her mother & sister. We pray she has a good time & that all the campers are kept safe this week. Her sister will probably come & spend one afternoon with her Aunt Kathy. I'm looking forward to that.

58+108=Family Night

The scrambled eggs, bacon & cinnamon rolls turned out wonderful. One little boy said that Bancroft's cinnamon rolls were the best and that was because they were homemade. Little does he know that we buy the canned cinnamon rolls from Save-A-Lot. They are good. This morning they were extra cinnamon-y. Lunch was taco salad and then pork barbecue for supper. Not too many pb&j sandwiches today. I did make a few more than yesterday.

Tomorrow morning is french toast for breakfast. Lunch is leftovers and the donated chips & cheese dip. Supper will be the family hot dog night. So far we have had 58 responses. Now the question is how many of those will actually stay and eat hot dogs? And how many others will just show up without having called ahead?

We have 9 children signed up to come to camp next week. We may end up with a few others before the week begins. Next week is only a day camp week...so it will be easier all around. 9 campers compared to 73 & day camp compared to night camp. I pray that next week the children will see staff as excited to be there as we were at the beginning of the summer. I also pray that my excitement about the chores to be completed after camp will not be greater than my excitement to be at camp. After camp chores such as cleaning the room beside the office more, going through the "room over the kitchen" as I call it, cleaning my house, etc.

108 mouths

Did you know that 108 mouths can...

• make a lot of loud noise
• consume a whole turkey and 2 turkey breasts
• be very quiet when the cabin inspection story is read
  
• consume 3 gallons of corn
• squeal LOUDLY when the cabin inspection winner is revealed
  
• consume almost 3 boxes of mashed potatoes
• squeal even MORE LOUDLY when the updated scores are revealed
  
• sound beautiful singing choruses before the meals

On top of the turkey, corn, mashed potatoes & salad, I made a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Nowhere near the 50+, I made for supper last night. Tomorrow morning is scrambled eggs & cinnamon rolls. John & I stayed in the dining room after supper and cracked 15 dozen eggs for breakfast. Tomorrow morning I will lay out about 200 cinnamon rolls and then bake them. I'm planning on getting to the dining room around 6:15-6:30 in the morning to work on that.

I remember when I was a counselor we referred to Wednesday as "hump day". That was because it took so long to get to Wednesday and then it went quickly after Wednesday. We pray that in these next 48 hours, which will go by so quickly, the children will realize there is a Savior who loves them so much more than any person on earth could ever love them. We pray they develop a personal relationship with Him or strengthen the one they've already developed.

Mass Chaos

Today can be said it was different. We started off different...biscuits & gravy for breakfast instead of the pancakes we usually have on Tuesday. Spaghetti for lunch...we have sometimes had that Monday for lunch...for day camp only weeks. The reason for the biscuits & gravy this morning is because John is going to cook a turkey for lunch tomorrow. He'll have to have it in the oven by 5 a.m. He's cooking a whole turkey & two breasts. So we decided it would be easier to have pancakes for breakfast. They just require the griddle...and not the ovens.

As John was preparing the turkeys this evening, I had to keep going down to the house to get different spices of which we were running low at the dining room. The campers were in the field between our house & the dining room. They were playing this game which looked like mass chaos. They were running here & there. Some were sitting out but then would be able to get back in the game a little later. But they were having a blast...or so seemed to be. The one thing we have learned is if the game seems like mass confusion the children like it much better than one that seems neat & tidy.

Shortly before lunch today a mother called. She wondered if it would be okay if "they" came out & interviewed her child today. Well come to find out her child was a Shriner's child. He has had several surgeries which Shriners has taken care of. Apparently they were in the area today & wanted to interview him. A local television station came out also. I thought I overheard him say he thought he would be on the news tonight. Unfortunately we won't get to see the interview because of our scheduling. Maybe some of you will recognize the camp when you see the interview. They asked to get some footage of him, his siblings & some cousins playing ball so we let them do that for the first part of their rest time.

Monday's Coming!!!

When we left camp on Friday, we had 71 signed up to come to camp this week. About 18 of those 71 are day campers. Some of these are being sent courtesy of a lady who works with children who come from "disadvantaged" situations. I say "disadvantaged" because they might have the latest and coolest gadget but they don't have parents who love them or the Lord. Also their parents are busy buying the latest and coolest gadgets for their children (& sometimes drugs, alcohol & who knows what else for themselves) that they don't have the money to truly take care of their families (health insurance, clothing, etc). Most of these children will be coming at a reduced cost if any. I pray that these children will see that serving the Lord is far better than serving our selfish desires.

My sister made it home safely from Japan. I was able to see her this morning at the library. Actually she came to camp to see me last night but John & I had already left for the funeral of the lady who died earlier in the week. It was good to see her. Hopefully we will be able to dine together tomorrow at our parents' home.

The balloons & fireworks are tonight. They signal the end of Fun Fest. We're not even going to go. There is always so much traffic. And then there are people everywhere. You can't go anywhere without bumping into someone.

John was able to mow and weedeat around our house this afternoon. I am almost finished with the laundry. I am glad we didn't have any plans for today. I'm getting ready to vacuum the living room floor. It hasn't been vacuumed since camp started. It will feel good to get that done. It has been good to just bum around here and get things done.

John also starts on a new medication tonight. Hopefully this will help his headaches. His CT scan came back positive. The one side effect of this new to him medication is insomnia. I'm praying that doesn't happen for him. Although most of the people who have reported that say it just lasts for a week or two. Then they feel so much better.

Overnight

Tonight is the optional overnight stay for the day campers. Since we have so few this week and they are all returning campers, we are not having the parent night tomorrow. So we served the picnic hot dog supper this evening. For dessert we built a fire in the fireplace and the campers were able to make s'mores. They seemed to enjoy that.

Next week is becoming a bigger and bigger week. Parents keep calling to ask if there's room. We are excited for all the children with whom we'll be able to share the truths of God's Word next week. We pray they see staff devoted to serving the Lord and not our own selfish desires.

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord

Camp is going great this week. We ended up with 5 campers. One little boy who came last week is back. His mother is in the hospital after developing some complications from surgery she had had last week. This very active little boy is staying with his grandmother. She called Sunday evening and wondered if we would have room for her grandson to come this week. He came. One of the other staff families have a son so they asked him to be a camper this week also - just so T. wouldn't be the only boy camper this week. It doesn't take long to prepare food for 5 campers. Now next week will be a different story. We're expecting somewhere near 50. Many of the campers are returning because they have heard we are having a real, live cowboy next week.

John spent this morning and then part of the afternoon at the hospital. A friend of John's was admitted Sunday evening. We went yesterday evening. The outlook wasn't good. They said she only had 24-48 hours to live - but that was between her and God. This morning she was having a fine tube inserted into her carotid artery to look at her heart and a few other organs. When John went back after lunch, he was allowed to visit her. As he was holding her hand and praying for her, she was welcomed into Heaven and looked upon our Savior's face for the first time. She was only 48.

Sunday morning routine

Our usual Sunday morning leave home to get to church time is about 7:45 a.m. We go to an adult only Bible Study (a.k.a. Sunday School) hour at 8:30. Since we teach a children's class at 11, I like to get to church before our first hour to get my classroom set up. That includes making sure I have enough copies of coloring sheets, necessary supplies for the craft if there is one, the memory verse written on the board, etc. We aim to get to church at 8 a.m. The man who makes the coffee for the Bible Study hours discovered we arrived that early so asked us if we would stop at the kitchen and take the coffee down to the classrooms. We agreed. So we have quite a busy morning.

We do our class promotion the first Sunday of August. Today the children got the papers announcing promotion day. They were all excited. All summer they have been disappointed that they are still dismissed as the K class. We're in first grade now they say. I asked the children's director if I could have some postcards. I would like to send a postcard to all my students telling them I've enjoyed having them in my class this year. I also like to send a welcome class note to the ones coming up to my class.

Our lesson in the K class today was on Peter being released from prison. That is one of my favorite stories. I love Rhoda. She was so excited she left Peter knocking at the door. Some of the stories the children have never heard but today's story they had. They were excited to let me know what happened. Kind of stole my thunder...but I am glad they are excited about telling what Jesus has done.

Camp starts bright and early tomorrow morning. This is a day camp only week. As far as I know we still have only 3 signed up to come. I guess Fun Fest being this week is keeping them from committing. We hope and pray more sign up to come. Regardless the 3 will have an excellent week.

Birthday Celebration

Today was birthday celebration day for the niece who will turn 5. She ran to the car to greet us proudly showing off her newly painted fingernails & toenails - she was barefoot. She had painted them herself and also accidentally painted her thumb. I think she was quite proud of her painted thumb. Her dress was a pink plaid. "Aunt Kathy, this doesn't look like pink but that is the color it is," she said.

We took the kitty cat cake inside and the rest of the groupies started arriving. Grandparents from both sides of the family, her paternal great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins & honorary grandparents. The birthday girl became very wound up and twirled all around the living room to speak to everyone.

Her favorite color is purple so the tablecloth was a plastic purple. Paper plates which had happy birthday on them were used for the dinnerware. Lunch consisted of grilled hot dogs, chips, potato salad, watermelon, soft drinks, tea, lemonade, three cakes - the kitty cat cake which we made, a blackberry cobbler which she had also requested and then a carrot cake for her father who will celebrate his birthday in a few days - and 5 different kinds of ice cream. I hope I haven't left anything out. There was quite a feast.

We all sat in our normal places except the birthday girl had a request that her papaw sit beside her - she didn't want him to feel left out. (Usually a great-uncle sits beside her). The older sister decided she could eat 2 hot dogs. Her father gave her 1/2 hot dog for her second. She regretted it afterwards because she had a tummy ache. But became quite alert when it was time to open the presents.

Upon opening each present the birthday girl exclaimed, "oh this is what I always wanted" and then would proceed to use that gift. Her daddy or older sister would have to remind her she had more presents. I sat beside the sister and would hear, "oh that is what I want for my birthday" or "I hope I get that for my birthday". Hopefully I will remember some of those things come the next groupie gathering.

Little brother woke up after the presents had been opened so he became the center of attention. Neither girl minded because they were so busy playing with all the new toys, coloring in the new coloring books and trying to figure out all the stickers in the new sticker books.

After birthday celebration we went to John's parents and gathered summer and zucchini squash from their garden and also a few beets to take back to my mother. We took some of the squash and all the beets to my mother. John helped her move some boxes from the attic down to another sister's bedroom. She will be coming home on her home ministry assignment in a few days. Then went back up to birthday girl's home to deliver some squash up there. Their squash has been attacked by beetles. They were excited to get the squash. Little brother was up for another feeding so I sat and talked to him.

We are now at home. I'm doing a few loads of wash before bed. Tomorrow will be church. And then Monday will start another week of camp.

Fun Fest

Today being the last day of this week's camp and also the start of Fun Fest, we weren't sure how many campers would leave early. We had 4 that left early to make it in time for Fun Fest activities. 1 was going to ride on a float in the Fun Fest parade. The other 3 were going to run in the Crazy Mile race. Their mother came to get them right after lunch. She wanted them to be able to sleep a little before running this evening. We prepared hot dogs to feed 80+/- but I don't think that many stayed to eat.

Tomorrow is my niece's 5th birthday celebration. Uncle John is going to make a kitty cat cake for her. We have found a devil's food cake mix that doesn't contain red 40 - she doesn't handle red 40 too well. We will use that with a white icing.

Monday starts a week of only day camp. As of right now we only have 3 campers signed up to come - I think that is because of Fun Fest. We hope and pray that more sign up. Although this could mean a week of rest for the counselors. They could alternate staying with the campers. Also odd jobs will be able to be done.

Thank You Lord for the opportunities we have to share you with these children. Please let them see You reflected in our lives.

The Week is Coming to an End...

The turkeys that John fixed for lunch turned out wonderful - as I knew they would. He got them in the oven at 5 this morning. They were finished with enough time to let them cool a little before having to carve them. This evening we had sloppy joes for supper. Out of 55 people there were only a handful that did not eat the sloppy joes. Several of them asked what a sloppy joe was. John discovered the best way to describe it was to say it was like a chili bun. I think some of the ones that didn't eat a sloppy joe tonight were loving the fact that they had a choice in what they could eat. If they said they didn't want a certain thing they didn't have to eat it. Exercising some independence.

The mud pit & slip & slide were this evening. We watched a little of the mud pit activities. I took some pictures on my cell phone but am having difficulty getting them sent to the parents I wanted to send them to. Oh well maybe I'll go to those campers & ask how to send the picture to their parents. They could probably tell me or better yet send the picture for me :)

The campers will go home tomorrow - some will come back next week, some will come back next summer. We pray they have matured in their faith - whether it be coming one step closer to accepting Christ as their Savior, accepting Christ as their Savior or growing in their relationship with Him.

Wednesday

Today has been a typical Wednesday. Started the morning to discover that one camper did not want to come back. This evening we had a little girl with a tummy ache. I think she may have been missing her mommy & daddy a little bit. Earlier in the day, the campers did the bucking barrel. One little girl was so excited. She couldn't wait until her turn. Finally her turn came. She enjoyed the first few bucks and then got a little scared. When she got off the barrel, she said, "that was weird. I think I might have been a little scared."

All the campers are having a great time. They are all wearing down though. One little girl almost didn't make it through supper without falling asleep. Hopefully they will sleep tonight. The activities director joked that instead of an evening activity and store, he would just have chapel & then send the campers to the cabins to go to bed. We all thought that was a great idea. But I think he decided to do the activity. There were a few campers who were still full of energy.

John is fixing turkey for lunch tomorrow. He has a whole turkey and a turkey breast. He prepared them this evening. He is planning on getting up at 4 a.m. and going up to the dining room to start cooking them. I'll join him about 6.30. We're having scrambled eggs with bacon, cinnamon rolls, fruit (if I remember to stick it out) and cereal. I cracked 8 dozen eggs this evening and stuck them in a container in the cooler. That is one less thing to have to do in the morning. John will scramble the eggs and I will cook the cinnamon rolls. They won't be that hard. The hardest part of the cinnamon rolls is removing them from the can. The campers love the cinnamon rolls though.

If you happen to be in the area, come by & see all the activity going on. We'll even let you stay & enjoy a meal with us.

I know my Redeemer lives

Today was the funeral for the king of pop. Fortunately I was not able to watch the event. During my daily activities - getting the cereal & applesauce ready while John fixed the pancakes, both plain & chocolate chip, for breakfast, answering the phone, helping parents register children, calling parents to let them know their child's Bible had been found - I would find myself starting to think about the funeral & then I would start rejoicing that my KING is not dead. He is alive & loves me. I am very thankful that my entrance into heaven is not based on a lottery system. I am thankful that I can share & am commanded to share this good news with whom I come into contact. I pray that this is seen in my life.

Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our Glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

On the down hill side.

I have been on an emotional roller coaster today. I think it's because we've just passed the 1/2 way point. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - the light where I can satisfy the selfish desires with which I've been struggling. These are things being done on a weekday such as: taking a long afternoon nap, fixing a meal at home, being able to eat in the quiet of my home, becoming a hermit & not leaving my house for a week, etc. But then I think about the children here at camp. Some have looked forward to camp all year. Some for just a few weeks. I pray they see the Lord modeled in my life...and that my selfishness doesn't get in His way.

A friend came this evening to get her child so I walked down to the chapel with her. The child had had lots of fun. She gave her mother the clover flowers she had picked for her and then talked all the way back to the car about her day. Another little boy at the chapel was throwing a fit for his mother. He was sitting on the ground saying his stomach hurt. The look in his eye was this was just for attention. I think he didn't want to go home. I think he wanted to stay the night.

Tomorrow eyes all over the world will be glued to their tv sets hoping to hear some news of the loss of one of their heroes. We pray we turn the campers' hearts to their greatest HERO. The One who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their sins.

How time flies!

I looked at the calendar today & realized that we have now had more weeks of 2009 summer camp than are left. Where has the summer gone? In just a little over a month the public schools will be starting. We pray each camper will take what they have learned this summer and share it with their friends at school.

This week we had 14 on the list. One little girl, who is signed up to come all summer, has bronchitis. She is staying home to get better. Today four campers - siblings/cousins - did not come. One had been up all night with his stomach bothering him. In the process of him being up all night, the rest of the family was up all night also. All children were kept home to rest. The family ended up in the emergency room at some point and the sick camper is being scheduled for an emergency appendectomy.

The counselors are tired. One has been to see the doctor.

As you can see, all counselors & "all summer" campers are wearing down. Pray with us that rest is received this weekend. We know it will be hard with all the celebrations going on. Thank you for praying with us and for us!