As I mentioned yesterday, this past weekend our church’s high school and junior high groups joined the groups from four other churches for winter camp. It was a great weekend to get away and spend some time in the snowless mountains. Throughout the weekend students were challenged to accept that they have been chosen by God and choose to be lights shining in the darkness.
Here are some nerdy reflections I had from the weekend.
Aliens
I wrote about the aliens in John Carter yesterday and my fear of aliens in general. I spoke on Saturday night at camp and shared about my fear of aliens and how it affected me when trying to fall asleep. When I was younger I was scared that aliens would abduct me from my bedroom and perform all kinds of experiments on me. My fear was so real that I made sure my mini-blinds were turned up so aliens would have a more difficult time peering into my room. My fear was accentuated after seeing the Next Generation episode “Schism” in which crewmembers of the Enterprise were abducted by trans-dimensional aliens. If advanced humans from the 24th century could be abducted in their sleep, what chance did I have?
Dodge Ball
One of the centerpieces for our weekend at camp was a dodge ball tournament. The theme of the camp was “Chosen” and what it means to be picked by God. We thought that a dodge ball tournament was a fun activity to go along with that theme. I’ve been an unathletic nerd my whole life which means I know what it’s like to get picked last for a dodge ball team. Thankfully I didn’t have to go through that experience this weekend because I was refereeing and running the tournament. Even though I’m an unathletic nerd, I am still completely competitive. That competitive streak reared its head when teams from my church won both the junior high and high school tournaments. When our high school team won I ran around the gym, celebrating like the second Death Star had just been destroyed.
Wrestling
This is the third year our churches have come together for winter camp. So much of planning a camp involves creating experiences that will deepen the students’ relationships with God and others. Something organic happened last year that helped develop community among the boys. The large lounge area in the boys’ cabin became a makeshift-wrestling ring. That organic experience spilled over into this year as, both nights, most of the boys gathered around four mattresses to watch students wrestle each other. The cabin basically turned into Christian Fight Club and, by writing about it, I am breaking the first rule of Christian Fight Club, which is “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and do not talk about Christian Fight Club”. I didn’t participate in the wrestling but I was amazed at how it brought all the boys together and everyone competed with great attitudes. I was also amazed at the smell.
I love camp and had a blast this past weekend. There’s nothing better than seeing students make decisions for God that will hopefully change their lives forever. It was also fun, since I was on the team that put the camp together, to inject some nerdiness into it.
What are some of your favorite memories from winter camp’s past?
I think I hurt my shoulder while wrestling, wrestling people 50-60 pounds bigger than me was not a great idea.