Friday, June 27, 2008

It's Friday? REALLY????

I've never seen a week move so fast. We say that all the time but WOW, this zipped on by. The kids have done great. We've had a fantastic time. It's sad to pack up the vans this morning, but I know they're looking forward to seeing their own rooms and seeing their family again. No one is home sick, but there's nothing like home.

See you about 3:00 today.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

OMC

The Group

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Halfway...

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last full day. It seems like we just got here. For me it seems like it's flying (the 2 hour nap I got today helped, thank you leaders). We've done camp here so much, I know all the mechanics of it, eating, schedule, dorm, freetime, tracks, etc. So, nothing is suprising about that. God is suprising, always is.

God's gotten my attention this week, and it sounds like he's gotten the attention of others as well. Tonight I read the story of Jesus healing the man born blind, and how after his conversion he just dropped and worshiped... I've needed more drop and worship days. Days filled with one on one conversations with God. No frilly church talk prayin'... but "Hey God, here's my heart..." prayin' . I'm thinking you'll see some changes in your kids. Please help your kids keep the fire burning. How?

Instead of the normal "was camp fun? did you eat alot? did you ever shower?" kind of questions... Well OK, you can ask the shower question and solve that. THEN ask new questions:

  1. What did you learn about Jesus this week?
  2. Did God say any stuff to you this week?
  3. Tell me about the songs you learned.
  4. How did you grow in your faith at camp?
  5. How can I help you to stay excited about the things you learned at camp?
  6. Where is your quiet time book? I hear it's got more stuff to do at home.
(yeah, the book is cool encourage them to use it)

Chris <><

Wednesday Photos

The kids during quiet time...



I know this looks posed, but this is all natural...

Of course, this is NOT posed...

Madison in one of her tracks--archery.

Derrick in one of his tracks--soccer.

My goal was to have at least one photo of every kid in a track activity. Logistically, that is impossible with so many kids with us this year. They have activities spread to all 4 corners of this campus! However, I do have photos of all the kids. I've also been shooting footage with a high-def video camera--I'll figure out some way to share that with folks. That camera is new so I'm still on the learning-curve with it--but should be able to make something that you can view on the computer.

The kids are great this year--especially given how many we have. They've had a blast. After they sleep through Saturday and wake up Sunday AM, I'm sure you will be hearing all the stories.

--Ted

PS: Chris was wrong about the fall-asleep time on Monday night. It was 3:30AM for the boys. Tuesday night, on the other hand, was 8-14 seconds after their heads' hit the pillow.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Pictures:

Here's the main directory for pictures: (see password info below)
http://pvsbc.shutterfly.com
Instead of using the password supplied in the handouts, we are using the generic password to access all PVS events. (This password given out at the meeting will not work.) If you do not know the ‘general’ PVS password, please contact Ted via e-mail and he will give you the password. Sorry for the confusion. However, in the long run it will actually help because there will not be different passwords for different events. This password will allow you to see photographs from all PVS events.
Here is Ted’s E-Mail: tbuckenham@nwga-cac.org

Meanwhile, here are some pics!









More pictures will follow...

We'll have more up close pics up tonight... but these will give you an idea of what Celebration is like at Centrikid...






























There's almost 600 folks here.... plus the ONE.

They do make me laugh... even at 6:30 AM

Yeah we got a bigger bunch at camp, a little harder to settle in and settle down, but by 12:30 they were pretty much passed out. They're all up now... some talking in a low sleepy voice, others all "YAY MORNING YAY CAMP." At this point I'm somewhere in the middle.

I awoke this morning at 6:30, well before my 6:50 alarm. (we have late breakfast, so we can afford a couple more winks in the morning). As I stumbled out of my room, I glared down the hallway... what did I see? A young man, fully dressed, back pack firmly on his shoulder, standing tall (all 4 feet), the sun beams passing by his roomate's heads (who are peering out the door) and illuminating him as he stands, heroic.. awake. I swear I heard the Superman theme playing softly. "Derrick?" I said, "Why are you up and dressed??" (I didn't say it as much as barely mumble it at the top of my 6:31 voice) "HE GOT UP THINKING IT WAS 7:30," said one of his sidekicks, still just poking their noggins out of the doorway. "I didn't know what time it was, so I got up and I'm ready to go!" said Derrick.

I laughed, quietly thanked God for the awesomness of kids, then told em to chill out. "DUDE, we coulda slept," came from the Dormroom of Justice as I walked down to the shower. They do make me laugh...

Addendum... 4 guys just walked in. I won't say who it was. I will if you ask me later. "DUDE MR. CHRIS, THIS PLACE IS HAUNTED." Sure that A) ghosts don't exist and B) they don't like mornings... I said, "What?" "I took this picture last night of 3 guys in our room," said Ghostbuster 1 "There's an arm from another guy in the picture I SWEAR." Ready to get my proton pack to capture the spectre, I gazed at the pic. Apparently Ghostbuster 4 had his arm around the shoulder of Ghostbuster 3 in the picture, a cover from the bed stuck out just a bit to hide his arm, just showing the hand. "SEE THERE'S ANOTHER PERSON IN THE ROOM." Said Ghostbuster 1 and 2. Now they're trying to prove there was no mystery green towel or cover or something to cover the arm... none are getting coffee this morning.

It's gonna be a fun day :-D

Monday, June 23, 2008

Arrival...

We're here. There is buzzing, chattering, and questions about how fitted sheets work as we settle in the guys dorm. I don't know what's happening in the girls dorm. Probably talking about makeup, emotions and puppies. My wife will kill me for that.

Anyway we're here. God has protected us already, especially our luggage. Thanks to Scotty Hancock and Paw Paw for driving our luggage up here. We'll be updating here quite often.
Lights....
Camera....
....

Sunday, June 22, 2008

It's that time again... and here we go


HEY MY HAIR??

I guess it's coming off at 5:00 tonight. I can't wait to hit the buses and get on the road... or get on the buses and hit the road... or .. well you know. It's going to be an exciting time. God's going to let us see how we're on His stage and play out the movies of our lives, with many people who watch, but with One Fan that matters most.

See you at 8:30 AM