Camping

John and I enjoyed our very first camping trip by ourselves this past weekend. Though we have been away at the beach with youth, we really haven't had a 'break'. Some people tend to think our trips with kids are a 'vacation', but any and all that think so are more than welcome to join us to see how much work and stress is included in taking a group of teenagers on a week long trip.

Anyway, we hopped in the Jeep on Friday at 1:00 and started a much longer journey than we had anticipated. We had planned to camp at a camp ground in Roan Mountain, TN. It's located about an hour from Boone, but when we arrived they were already filled for the weekend. So, we hopped back in the car and headed for somewhere else.

We decided to 'rough' it out in the middle of nowhere at a special spot for us- Harper's Creek. It was the place that we camped after we got married. So we headed back towards Linville to where we "THOUGHT" it was located. Of course John, my human GPS, had us at the spot in no time. We actually decided to stay right on the creek a little above the trail.

We pulled out our 6 person tent that we had gotten a few Christmases ago and tried to find a spot large enough for it. While there isn't six in this family, we did have to blow up our air mattress!!! We didn't completely rough it! Thank you Lord for power converters!

After we set up camp we started on a mini hike down the creek with Caroline. She loves to run and play out in the woods with us. She enjoys leading the way and often times if we get off of a trail, she finds the trail again for us.

We headed back after an hour or so and made a fire. John decided he wanted to cook his favorite meal from when he was growing up--Corn beef Hash! It doesn't sound appetizing and I never thought that I would like it either, but he makes it really crunchy and it tastes really good with some ketchup. We enjoyed eating it right out of the pan by the fire.

That night I didn't really sleep well. I never imagined that I would be so scared, but sleeping on the side of the road and deep in the woods just isn't appealing to me. Every noise made my ears perk up in attention. It may have been John's lovely dinner conversation about putting our food up so the bears didn't get it or us. It may have been that I read the newspaper, which I never do, as we were finishing dinner. We just happened to have one with us to help start our fire. I am not sure what it was, but I think I asked John what time it was about every fifteen minutes until 4:00. Finally at four Caroline, curled up in my sleeping bag with me and I eventually fell asleep.

The next morning I let John sleep late and I actually started a fire all by myself. It helped that I had carefully watch my boyscout of a husband as he made the one the previous night. He gave me a few pointers too! I made our bacon and eggs over the fire! I was quite impressed with myself.

We packed up and started on a six mile hike towards the waterfalls at the end of Harper's Creek. This is taken at the point where Harper's Creek begins its descent.

And these pics are the beauty that you see at the bottom of the hike. It's gorgeous. A gentle, refreshing breeze blows off the falls.

Overall, it was great trip and good time together enjoying the beautiful creation that we have been blessed with.

More on the beach!

Throughout the week our kids were put on groups to help build unity and to encourage them to get out of their comfort zone and get to know more kids. They did an amazing job throughout the week working together to get to know each other more and to encourage each other. Here are some pics from the scavenger hunt they did and the Greenway Olympics held on the Beach Saturday Morning.

Balloon Toss.
Scavenger Hunt. Some of the clues John made were pretty tough.
Part of the relay. Eating a banana through panty hose?!




Coach Isaacs taking one for the team!



The Human Knot!

A little sister love for some points!

A little team work with tug of war.

It was a great week! We are blessed with wonderful kids that teach us just as much as I hope that we teach them.

BEACH BLAST '08

We have just returned from an amazing trip with 33 wonderful young people and adults. While we are SUPER exhausted, we are blessed to work with such wonderful students!

*Missing from this group picture are Jordan Alverson, Daniel Hodges, and Allison Hodges who had to leave before this pic was taken.

Last Sunday we headed down with a full 25 passenger bus, a van and a completeley packed trailer! Our destination was Garden City Chapel in Garden City, South Carolina. We had spent the previous two weeks plus more of course preparing. The facility had a great chapel full kitchen and dining area along with two different rooms with bunkbeds set up for each of us. the facility was only lacking kitchen supplies so part of my responsiblity was to box up everything we needed for 23 meals!!! Crockpots and skillets were our best friends! We also spent a tremendous amount of time working on an incredible book for the kids to take notes from bible study and with set quiet times for the week. We packed beach games, games for rainy days, t-shirts, aloe (or a-lo as Jamie I. would call it), and so much more than we would probably need.So we headed out with barely any space for the luggage that we would be getting when we picked up others along the way.

Our week was packed with 3 hour bible studies in the mornings. Each day was developed with videos, skits and games. David Nassar had put together an awesome video series about the greast I AM and how he becomes more real in our lives and our walks. John lead off on Monday with LOOKING FOR GOD. We talked about how we cry out for him so often and feel that we don't hear him, but even in the silence God is speaking to us. Our kids really opened up and discussion took off! We talked about creating a safe haven within the church for those that are hurting. So often 'people' get so caught up in judging others so that they don't feel they are able to share what they are dealing with in their lives. We also talked about prayer and what ever else the kids lead us into in the discussion. Tuesday was about when Bad Things Happen and how we deal with them. It challenged us to take our mindset and change it about bad things. Seeing what God has prepared for us learn through struggles and how he wants us to grow. Justin taught on WHO ARE YOU in christ, and John finished off the week with Faith and how we put it into practice.

Each day we had free time and then an event most evenings. Luke and Amy lead our devotion time each night and it was an open discussion from the kids about what God had taught them through out the day with our bible studies. They were amazing about talking through things and being willing to share and open up in front of the group. Their maturity was impressive and we were proud to look at how these kids have grown in the last 4 years.

Other events throughout the week included:

Chicken fights in the pool, pooltimit ( a knock off of the game ultimate frisbee), the water park, the aquarium at Broadway, putt putt, the maze mania, tanger outlets.....gosh I know I'm missing something!

The ladies! Never lacking in desire to help in the kitchen. Especially with the nightly dessert!Matthew, one of our visitors and the quietest kid I know, was amazing. He became so vocal with our group. On the last night of sharing he wanted Justin to share his favorite part about the week. He said it was taking time from his free time to come into the chapel where it was dark and quiet and just praying and seeking God! An amazing kid!

Amy, one of our college student volunteers, showing off her mad skills and talents of being able to wrap her arm around her head and tickle the opposite ear!

Christine, pictured on the right, rid her heart of our doubt that she was a Child of God! I had the honor to lead her to Christ on Tuesday after I taught about laying all our baggage at the Cross. That day she laid down all doubt and confusion. She is one of our graduating students, moving on to the college group. On our last night she poured out her heart to the group about how blessed they were and then turned to John and I with eyes full of tears and shared with us what a difference we had made in her life. I love that girl as if she is my own child. It has been the biggest honor to see her grow over the 3 years that she has been with us.

More to come on this!...Over one thousand pictures were taken throughout the week! God really blessed us with a great group of kids, chaperones, and a wonderful trip!