Lutheran Summer Camp, Day 2

We're gifted.

That was the theme of the day here at Lutheran Summer Camp, here at Victory Bible Camp, somewhere along the Glenn Highway between Palmer and Glenallen. Did I mention it's gorgeous here?

In case you've never been to Lutheran Summer Camp, here's what we do all day.

Breakfast
Morning worship (lots of camp songs, skit by counselors, message by a pastor, prayers, more songs)
Bible study
Small groups
Games
Lunch
Free time (more on that later)
Dinner
Counselor staff meeting
Games (again)
Campfire
A little bit of of free time
Lights out

Ladies and gentlemen, we're here all week.

As camp pastor, I lead the Bible study. I do the Middle School, which is great because I really like middle school students. They're smart, they can think abstractly, they're discovering things and questioning things and they're not quite adults but not quite kids.

Bible study today went well. We read John 14, where Jesus tells the disciples he's going away but sending them the Advocate. We talked about how God is our advocate and when they have seen someone advocating for them or they have advocated for someone else. We talked about what advocacy is and how even kids can do it. I had them write in their prayer journals about these questions. The kids listened during Bible study, participated and then kept mostly quiet during journal time.

During free time, kids have a lot of options. They can visit the snack shop, go swimming in the lake, play games or play in the gym. On certain days we have special activities, like hiking, horseback rides and inflatables (last year it was sumo suits, not sure what this year has in store).

This year, I took the swim test, which is mandatory if one wants to swim in the lake (burr!) or use any of the boats or kayaks. This is no small feat (for me) since the water is FREEZING and I'm a below-average swimmer. For some reason, I decided this is the summer I'm doing things that previously scared me (see Crow Pass), so I took the plunge.

I watched two girls from Central take the test before me, then I did it. It was darn cold. I had to swim back and forth and tread water. As I got close to the end, my muscles really started shutting down and I had to force myself to keep moving. I can see how people drown in Alaska waters. It's very cold and sobering. I'm pretty excited about the plastic bracelet on my wrist, though. And I got to paddle around on the "funyaks."

We had some rain today, but it cleared up as evening came on. By the time we had campfire, the sun was peaking out a bit and the clouds were moving off the mountains nearby. On one of the taller peaks, there was a little termination dust. The mountains reflect in the lake that we can see from the campfire site. It's God's glory, all over the place.

At campfire, we sing more camp songs, see a silly skit and hear another message. I'm up there playing guitar with a couple other adult leaders. I can see the mountains reflected in the lake, feel the warmth of the fire on my side and hear the kids singing praise songs at the top of their lungs. This is why I come to camp. This is why we all come to camp. We're gifted.