Welcome to Camp Swampy Rat ...when you leave, you will smell like a swampy rat. We had a nine hour van ride there. Nine hours. Eleven people, eleven seats, eleven hundred pounds of luggage. Here is the story of the ride to Camp Swampy Rat "in statuses."
1. "We're 2 hours into our trip. There are 5 middle school boys in this van. How many times have they farted and laughed about it SO FAR? If you guessed less than 20, you are wrong."
2. "Zebra F-301 pens are the only pens worth their salt."
3. "We're After Your Heart."
4. "What percentage of youth group relationships unfold on a 15-passenger van? I guess close to 75%."
5. "Dan just said, "Keep your gas to yourself." He's awesome."
6. "Lunch at Burger King, or as Madeline would say, "Booger King."
7. "Misty Edwards, "Waste My Life" on repeat."
Statuses from the rest of the week:
1. "Camp director said, "No kids by the lake at night." I said, "So they don't make out?" He said, "No, because of the gators." WHAT??"
2. "Just got pranked by the yellow team - GAME ON."
3. "Which is scarier? The 5 inch black spider nesting in the ceiling tile in our cabin? Or the can of Raid-turned-poisonous gas bomb when the cap broke off and it wouldn't stop spraying?"
4. "Precious to see old friends from Florida! Even better to see them dressed like this:"
5. "I miss Madeline so much, my guts are sore from it."
6. "5 fire ant bites on my right foot so far. I'm about to go postal."
7. "Lost my voice on the SECOND day. It was worth it - our team won the tug-of-war."
8. "This pond water is Tidy-Bowl blue. What's crazier? I got in."
9. "The Green Team's flag is done - there are some super creative dudes in the boy's cabin!"
10. "I can't wait to see the rap videos tonight! I'm so proud of our girls, who wrote it, storyboarded it, choreographed it, costumed it, and performed it. The tribal/battle theme is awesome!"
11. "Taco night - our cooks are AWESOME!!"
12. "So, the leaders MAY HAVE just spent some time in our meeting watching Youtube videos. "It's a double complete rainbow...just tell me what it means..."
13. "I had the supreme privilege of praying with a beautiful girl tonight - who decided to let Jesus be the boss of her life! She became a Christ-follower TONIGHT!"
14. "I'm super-thankful for my awesome cabin co-counselor, who reminds me an INCREDIBLE amount of my precious college roommate. We've laughed a lot."
15. "Difference # 540,538,450 between boys and girls. Our cabin smells like citrus-y soap and hairspray. Theirs smells like fart/foot/funk. Oh, and armpits."
16. "The Jolly Green Giants take second place in the boat race! Bam!"
17. "This year at camp, I learned the power of...deodorant."
18. "Superhero prom tonight - I think I'm going as the mean, green, clean, pristine, queen-of-hygiene, machine. Catchy huh?"
19. "Correction: for superhero night I am wearing an absolutely beautiful cape and mask that sweet Ginger sewed just for me! She is thoughtful and selfless with her time, and she made my cry in the middle of the cafeteria when she gave it to me."
20. "Every time we go into morning worship, and I hear my husband speak to these teenagers, I leave very proud and very much in love."
That gives you a good idea of what went on this week at Middle School Camp! I'm sure there will be a (more insightful, reflective) post or two to follow. In fact, one will be titled, "Even a bad trip makes a good story," and you'll be able to read about the most stressful, terrible beach-trip ever. And I would be remiss not to include some of the incredible teaching and life-changing truths we encountered. Oh, and rap videos.
Stay tuned!
