Camping with Teens!

Last weekend we had the privilege of going along on the Thrive Youth High School Campout. We left Friday afternoon for Ocala National Forest where we took over the Kiwanis Camp for the weekend. We were blessed with absolutely perfect Florida weather and some really terrific kids!

We did a lot of cooking, eating, playing and studying God's Word. The theme of the weekend was our identity in Christ. My heart was filled with gratitude that these teens were able to hear teaching that is so essential to being able to function in a healthy way in this world. I didn't begin to understand my identity in Christ until I was in my early 30s and for these young people to be able to grasp that now is amazing!

Everyone worked hard - each student was part of a team that had cooking duty for one meal and clean up duty for another. All the teams had jobs on the last day in order to leave the camp in good shape when we left. Mrs. JLW organized the teams (thank you randomizer!) and the meals. We ate really well - cooked breakfasts, sandwich bar lunches, cooked dinners, fresh fruit for snacks!

Mr. L and Mr. W and young Mr. L prepared an orienteering course for our Saturday afternoon adventure. The students were grouped in 3s and sent out (after instructions, of course) on a mission to retrieve an important message from an operative. Along the way they had to be silent in order to avoid the aggressors. I'm happy to report all teams made it back with the message - although some did have contact with the aggressors!

Scary aggressor!

Any time the kids weren't in a teaching session or assigned a task, they were free to play. There was a horse shoe tournament, volleyball, frisbee, swimming, canoeing, board and card games - plenty to do!

Zach and Chico decided to go for a swim Saturday morning before breakfast - I think that was after a fishing trip in the canoe even earlier. They made the most of every moment. I watched them getting into the water early that morning - the photos are on Mrs. JLWs camera. Of course Zach fished but several others did too.

There are some special Circle camp out traditions that we enjoyed again this year. One of them is the Saturday night entertainment. Tali and Jessie once again made us laugh ourselves silly. Zach S. shared a song he wrote. All of the acts were entertaining. We had everything from contortion to beautiful music coming from an old, out of tune piano. What amazing kids! The thing that struck me during that event is how different but uniquely wonderful they all are!