So, the last three weeks have been nuts, and subsequently, I have not updated this blog for the last three weeks. Sorry. But no worries, because tonight, here it is.
Highlights from the past three weeks:
- RAIN. Three weeks ago, when University Baptist and Christ Chapel were here, we saw more water than I think we'd seen all summer. We had to cancel afternoon activities several times, replacing them with card games and karaoke fun-time. Camp was muddy, to say the least. Fortunately, the kids had a blast anyways.
- Art Loop. On Saturday of University Baptist/Christ Chapel week, most of the staff went to Lone Tree's lakefront property to relax, eat marshmallows, and wakeboard. However, I stayed at the Ranch and spent the afternoon in Capitan, doing my laundry, drinking espresso from a nomadic barista in a coffee cart, and touring the local art galleries. As it turned out, Lincoln County was having an art festival that I didn't know about, and I got to go inside a bunch of galleries and artists' studios. Mega deal.
- Lauren's first flash flood. On the way back from the Art Loop, the creek at the end of the road to camp flooded (as it tends to do when in rains a lot). Fortunately, I got across before the water came, but I pulled over to watch it once I was on the camp-side of the wash. All I can say is that it was nuts; I'd never seen anything like it except on TV (it flooded the road and went five feet above the concrete in about five minutes). I took a ton of pictures, but I won't post them here, for the sake of my mom's well-being.
- MORE RAIN. It rained a lot over the two following weeks. God answers prayers.
- Sophie's Birthday. At some point over the past few weeks (I forget which week it was now...), Sophie Dirks (the camp director's younger daughter) turned ten. We had a lot of fun, decorating her pink vespa and wearing hot pink "I love Sophie" bandanas all day.
- Calvary. Calvary Chapel from Albuquerque were here this past week, and those kids are CRAZY. It was a good time, but there were 145 people at camp this week (we usually have between 100 and 120), so we were all stretched a little thin. Nonetheless, it was a crazy, fun, fast-paced week, and in the end, Calvary blessed the staff with super-cool T-shirts.
So that's just a taste of what's been going on around here since my last update. Here are some prayer requests:
- The kids. Continue to pray for the kids that have been here, that their Lone Tree experiences have impacted their lives in a positive way and that they don't forget what God has taught them here, as well as for the kids that haven't yet arrived, that God would prepare their hearts and minds for camp and everything He wants to show them here.
- The staff. We're in the home stretch. Pray that we would continue to encourage and invest in each other and that we would stay focused on God and grounded in Him. Pray that we would have energy to match these crazy campers who haven't been here for two months already.
- The people of Ruidoso. Lincoln County got a LOT of rain this weekend, and Ruidoso (the ski town about twenty miles up the road) saw more rain than it has in years. They had a lot of flash floods (I don't know if anyone was killed or hurt, but I know a lot of cars and mobile homes and trees were damaged), so pray for the people impacted by those, that God would somehow reveal Himself and His sovereignty in the midst of the craziness.
This week: Mundo de Fe arrives. (Mundo de Fe is a Spanish-speaking, Hispanic ministry from the Dallas/Fort Worth area.) It should be a crazy, rocking good time, complete with Spanish worship music. After that, it's just one more week and then back to Albuquerque. Crazy. (I guess time flies when you're disinfecting the dining hall.)
