Varsity week at Bible Camp

We just got back on Saturday from being at Bible Camp for a week, helping out with Varsity Camp, the week for high-schoolers. Matt did the riflery and I did crafts. It was tiring, but fun. The kids had a ball, and Marissa made a new friend this year. :)

The chapel times were very good, and the theme of the week was The Story, talking about the Bible and Jesus' story. It related to Our Story and how it can join into The Story. (It reminds me of 3-story evangelism, which is big with Youth for Christ. In 3-story evangelism, the stories are: Your Story, Their Story, and His Story.). There also was one evening where the speaker talked about how brief life is, which was very timely since 4 students in his ministry had died in a car wreck last year, 2 camp staff died in a car crash 6 years ago, and this spring, two camp people died in the Taylor University crash that was in the news a lot. There were a lot of tears that evening, as people considered how short life is and what they wanted to be remembered for when their life is over.

We have a few days here at home, then are taking off yet again for a few days! We are heading out tomorrow morning with our pop-up camper for a camping trip with our old church, who supports us with Youth for Christ. We are looking forward to seeing some old friends and meeting new ones, as well. :)


Here is a taste of last week for you, in photos. (If you click on any of the photos, they will enlarge so you can see them better.)

This is Joshua, Naomi & Marissa at craft time the first day. The kids had fun making jewelry!


One day after crafts, the younger kids had been at the beach with some of the other moms. After rinsing them off in the shower, I piled them all into the (1-person) jogging stroller for a quick jaunt to the cabin. (That would be Joshua underneath Jesse & Naomi, in case you can't tell!)


The J Brothers (Joshua & Jesse) admiring a frog Jesse caught.


Matt & Naomi on the swing on the day away from camp.


Marissa with her friends, Paige & Remi, at a historic town site on our day away from camp.


Me pushing Naomi in the stroller with a camper, Ashley, and our friend Jamie holding hands with Joshua & Jesse at the historic town site. (Very beautiful place!!)


They built a great play structure at camp since we were there last year! The kids spent a LOT of time enjoying it. :) Naomi was afraid to try the slide alone, so I had to go along with her. After a few times like that, she went by herself. :)

This is our family on Friday evening at the camp banquet (left-right: Amy, Marissa, David, Joshua, Jesse, Matt & Naomi). We had chicken, salmon, twice-baked potatoes, salad, and cheesecake! It was a tasty culmination of a wonderful week of great food (which I did not have to prepare or clean up after!!). :)

Matt received his Expert award (I believe it's for shooting a score of 40 on 10 targets in the standing position) on the last night of camp. I knew it was a big deal, but didn't realize just *how* big it was! In 70 years of this camp's history, only 14 people before him made the Expert rating. He makes number 15! Here he is, receiving his award with the other 4 Experts present at camp last week (Jamie, unfortunately, is behind the wooden post on the right side so you can't see her!)

Matt didn't realize I'd never shot a gun before, so the next morning, I got to try it out. In the prone (lying down) position, I got a bullseye on my 4th or 5th shot! :) I'll have to try it some more next year...