Sunny Side Day/The Raid

For those of you who don't know about Merri-Mac, which is most of the people back home, the oldest girls at camp are the SunnySide girls. They get all the special privileges of being the oldest. Not only do the Tweedles, and the rest of camp look up to them, they get to be tribal leaders, they get a day all to themselves, that their counselors plan, they get to raid trapo most nights, and get a later bed time.

But many times those privileges come with a price, and they figured that out last night.

However... The Sunny Side DAY took place first!

The girls had been trying their hardest to listen in on conversations, read posters, be smart and think about when they had planned the trip. So they figured that it would be Monday. So Sunday night, all the counselors for SunnySide and Cloud Nine sat on the SunnySide porch and conversed while the girls were hanging out in the cabin. Blythe brought up the fact that we could not reverse the fact that they already knew it was the next day. So what if we threw them for a loop?

The original plan was to let the girls sleep in, stick an alarm clock in the middle of the room and when one of them would have to get up, they would see a poster telling them to brush their teeth, do their chores and meet us at The Mark by nine thirty. But they anticipated instead of participated... so we decided to change things up.

It was Hannah who came up with the idea, but the girls still needed devotional time and entertainment... So we divided. Becca, Hannah and I went back up to the cabin and started putting things together, and met up with the group later. The following morning, everything was in place. The girls woke up, clearly disappointed that it was early, they were up, and it was not the day of the SunnySide Trip.

Hehe.

We had them do their chores, and when it was getting close to the breakfast bell ringing we told them that we would finish up the chores, "just make it to breakfast on time!" We said, and finished sweeping. From there, Becca and I placed the last clue in the TeePee, and went up to meet the other girls at The Mark.

As we sat looking at the beautiful scene in front of us, with the sun still rising over the mountains, the fog lifting, we laughed, and we talked about all of their reactions, and Becca, Hannah and I explained the clues that we gave.

When the girls arrived for breakfast, they sang the prayer song, and Hannah split. They prayed, and instead of counselors being there to bring them their breakfast, we were all gone. So the Counselors In Training brought out three separate cards in little envelopes. The first one reading, "Where metal clashes (and Lindsey Lohan fought herself)."

Off to fencing. From Fencing they got a clue that said, "Where's Katniss at?"

From Archery, there was a clue about "post" and "don't wake the Tweedles though."

From Trapo, they got a note that said, "cabin inspector gives you minus .5 for the wrong Toilet Paper. With lines connecting the T and P (and forming a TeePee). But by the time the girls got there, the note was gone.

The next note was supposed to lead them to the counselors ring by saying, "one drum, three chiefs this is it." And at the council ring they were supposed to find a note that said, "Meet me at the Mark, Meet Me at the Mark, Meet me at the Mark."

(It's clever because whenever someone says "meet me outside," the whole lunch room says, "meet me outside, meet me outside, meet me outside," So it makes sense.)

But they never made it to the tee pee because they didn't find the note there, and apparently it was not obvious enough to know for sure that the tee pee was where they were supposed to find the next note. So thanks to my coco, Becca, and her little notes on the back, they figured out that we might be at the Mark, so they made a trip up there and when we heard one of our girls obnoxious voices echoing through the woods, we hid behind the mark. We heard them climb up onto the stage, and they screamed for us, to see if we were there, that is when we ran out and surprised them!

We had Chick-fil-a for breakfast, and keeping everything a secret, we told them to go back to the cabins and get their bathing suit on.

From there we decided to surprise them for a tubing trip, which even though we all put on sunscreen, most of us got a pretty good burn. We then came back to the cabin, showered, and went out to take pictures with the girls, with each other and the girls took cabin pictures, Tweedle pictures, best friend pictures, tribe pictures and so on. It was a good time! We then got a nice break from camp food and went out to a restaurant.

When we came back, we knew that Dream's cabins would have spent the day raiding us, we just were not aware of how bad we had been raided until we walked into Tucker Inn (the dining hall). When we walked into Tucker Inn, we found the girls mattresses stacked on a table, and wrapped in saran wrap to the table. On top of the saran wrapped mattresses, was peanut butter, jelly, honey and who knows what else. Between the wooden bars that hold up the roof, the sheets were tied to each pole, and each other, hanging in the dining hall. It was pretty funny, until the girls had to carry them up to the top of the hill. (We are the last cabin at the top).

I walked into the SunnySide cabin to see how badly they had been raided, mattresses were missing, of course, there was string and saran wrap everywhere. The porch was covered in weird notes written out and chalk. One of the girls ran up to me, "Cloud Nine is worse!" So I booked it up the mountain and when I got to the top, I saw the whole porch covered chalked in notes. When I opened up the door, the girls had already started cleaning up, but there were still little notes from the dreams in girls.  I walked into the bathroom to see a trash bag taped to the floor and walls, with sand from the volleyball courts, and sitting in the sand was a beach chair and a kayak...

Thankfully the counselors sections were not touched, but that didn't mean that we didn't have to help clean up. So we started taking the sand out of the cabin, and the kayak. In the meantime, one of my coco's had to use the bathroom, and while we are carrying the kayak we hear a scream come from one of the stalls. "There's saran wrap on the toilet!" She yells, "It's all over my dress!" The coco that was helping me move the kayak drop it, rush to the stall, and start laughing as we see our friend starring at the toilet. So we clean that up, and when she sits down again we hear, "there's vaseline on the seat as well!" We once again drop the kayak in a fit of laughter.

After we cleaned up the bathroom one of our Cloud Nine girls came in, "where are all of my shoes?" The girl behind her answered, "the fire dock." If you don't know what the fire dock is, it is a cement block in the middle of lake Doris. And I mean right in the middle of the lake. So we had to wake up a life guard, which we found out we would have to do in the morning.

We told the girls that we would respond with grace, and maturity, "don't worry about cabin checks, get your beds back together, we will get your shoes in the morning, for now lets clean up as much as possible and lets try to be in bed before midnight."

And that was the raid... and SunnySide trip. Altogether it was a really good day.

Aside from that, I have been at camp 22 days, and each day is going faster than the other. Although we have almost the same schedule every day, there is something different about every day. Whether it is losing at "What are the odds," or getting to talk to an old friend and getting to pray with him on the phone.

God keeps working, and my coco's and I are all listening for his voice everyday, and when we are not sure about what God is telling us to do, we pray about it together. We are leading each other daily, and building each other up. Many times it feels like we are failing, like when a camper goes home early, or you just can't seem to keep up on another day. However, every now and then (at least once a day) the coco's and I gather in a meeting and we all tell each other how we are doing, and be honest about everything that is going on. There have been some really tender moments with my coco's and the girls that I work with. It has been inspiring, and although i am putting deodorant on at least three times a day, and I still smell bad at the end of the day... Camp is great and it is going by so quickly!

One thing that we did realize together, was the first week we were really into getting to sit down during free time and get into the word. However, last week we just kind of started passing out during free time. We would get more and more exhausted no matter how much or how little sleep we got, but this week we started off together in prayer, praying for one another, and leading each other with little encouraging bible verses. Getting into the word has been a crucial part of staying energized and focused as a part of this job. I'm just glad we learned that this last week and not by week eight.

Until Next Time!
-Becca

10 Days of Camp

So I have a couple of posts pending, and waiting for me to continue writing them... but in all honesty, I want to talk about camp right now, and what God is doing RIGHT NOW and then I can talk later about what GOD DID my sophomore year.

So here it goes...

I am not sure if it is the non-stop cheering for our tribes during evening activities, trying to keep up with the sunny side-ers as they sing their cabin song at the speed of lightning, or the magic that is behind watching a Pale-Face, get called, covered in paint and be initiated into their tribe, that makes being at camp incredible.  We are currently in our first week of having campers, and already the girls are such a joy, and God is doing so much in me already.

BUT... The week before camp.

I packed up my bags, moved out, with the help of Danny, Justine, my family and Dave. Thanks guys! I moved home, and didn't cry. I helped Bethany put her new dresser together, spent time with my dogs, made a video, wrote a story, said goodbye to people, put some final things in place, and No Tears. I didn't think that I could really be okay with just leaving everything behind for a summer to go to a place that I really didn't know if I wanted to be at. I knew I would be having fun, but I had already spent four days away from Dave, and life just felt weird. I am used to seeing him every day... and I wasn't. I already craved our Taco Bell runs, or the nights when I would fall asleep on his couch, the days when he would pick me up, and save me from my apartment and my hours of video making to show me what he loved about Ypsilanti so much. We would talk about our futures, and the future of the club, plans, dreams, hopes and even every now and then... I would bring up one of my biggest secrets that most people don't believe and he would talk me through it.

I already missed that. I even broke down to my Mom, sister and brother about the pressure, the calls that I was getting, the things I had to do still... and in the end, I just said, "I feel better," they looked at me and laughed. Nothing about this was going to be easy. So Sunday came around, it was my last Sunday and as Mom dragged me over to Cornell to get prayed for, I felt the tears coming. How was I about to spend a whole summer away from my church, away from my club, away from my family and friends? How could this really be what God wanted? I wanted to be in the ministry... but would it really mean that I had to sacrifice everything for a whole summer?

YES.

I left Tuesday June 2 at 5:30 in the morning and made my 8 hour and 53 minute drive to Camp Merri-Mac for girls. Typically I love driving, but it was pretty torturous after a decent amount of time. It got to a point where I just put on instrumental music because I was tired of hearing my own voice overpower the baring Taylor Swift, High School Musical, Pitch Perfect, and Hannah Montana music (bringing back the oldies for long car rides). I only got lost once.

When I arrived at camp, I spent the first two days wondering and asking God what I was doing at camp, and my biggest question. "Did I just make a huge mistake?" but after a decent day of free swim, getting a nice bruise from the blob, and getting a little color, the North Carolina afternoon thunderstorms hit and we made our way up the hill. Once we were at the top, and ready for initiation, my rain jacket was pointless. My hair was soaked, I was out of breath and I was about to be covered in paint anyway. What color paint? No clue. I had a couple tribes in mind, but honestly I would cheer for whatever tribe I was put with because the banner would be won either way.

It was magical, and I am not sure if it was from the falling rain, the voice of the great spirit laughing in the trees far off, or the fact that I knew these girls already, and they were being weird, and covered in paint, and the fact that not many women at the age of 20 would be so into getting painted up, wearing feathers, dancing around a fire, singing tiring camp songs in the pouring rain, and trying to win a banner every session.

Eventually my name is called, and the secrecy of the cerimony will remain a secret... but I was placed in Choctaw, and the paint was placed on my body. Since it would pouring, I would be spitting paint out of my mouth a couple times every minute. But there is no other way to describe initiation other than...

"MAGICAL"

So...

Afterwards we made a small hike up to the mark, where it was slightly more dry, and that is when they would tell us who our Co-co's are (co-counselors) and what age group we had. Names would be called off, girls would stand up, and if I had befriended them, I would cross my fingers and hope that I was with them, others I had not connected with very well, and had trivial conversations with, I hoped that if I was put with them, that I would get to know them better.

One girl from my current cabin was called, Becca Morris. I like her, I wouldn't mind living with her. Hannah Wardell. I like her too, this wouldn't be a bad cabin to be with.

BECCA Garber!

Hey!

I stood up, found my place on the table, and we waited silently as we waited for E.P. to call off our cabin name.

CLOUD NINE! (16 Year Olds, but we didn't know that). We looked at each other confused, and someone told us our age group and we jumped with excitement! We moved into our cabins, asked the basic questions, where we are from, go to school, relationship status's and I even got a chance to tell Hannah my story that night, which was amazing.

Now onto what God has been doing. Shortly after we moved into our cabin, I found a book that I was supposed to return to Lauren Motsinger before I left for camp, but it clearly got lost in my packing. I pulled it out as I recalled the many Sunday's I would sit in the church cafe and try to focus on reading it. However, a lot was going on last summer, God was really teaching me to hear his voice, he was working in my life and in the meantime, my mind was focused on something else.

Reading about being single and becoming the woman God wanted me to be last summer was something I knew that I HAD to do, but my heart wasn't in it. I wanted it for the wrong reasons. So in the middle of asking God, "okay, I know now why you want me here, but what do you want me to learn?" I opened up the book and gave it a second shot. This time there were no distractions, that would hinder me... I mean... I am MILES away from everyone and everything that I truly love. I could really listen this time.

So... the first chapter in the book, Lady In Waiting was about reckless abandonment. It talked about how this time of waiting isn't a time to just sit back and wait, it is a time to take advantage of the time that we have with God. I remembered that from reading it last summer, but in the middle of me asking, "why?" he answered me.

He told me through the book, "I wanted to get you to a point where I would tell you where to go, and what to do, and without thinking about all that you would give up, without letting those hinder you from listening, you would go." Had he asked me to do so last summer... I probably wouldn't have. Also, I really didn't know his voice early on in the summer... I was still doubting things he would tell me, but he cleverly maneuvered it so that I would learn his voice last summer, and this summer he would lead me here. Recklessly leaving everything that makes me happy without knowing why.

So my next question that I asked God was, "okay, so you told me to come here out of reckless abandonment, but surely you didn't just want to see if I would listen, teach me that lesson and let me go and have fun after that. What else do you want to do with me?"

He quickly answered that one too in the book, being a lady of diligence. Not just wasting this time that I have, but really ministering to these girls. One thing God really spoke to me and said was, "you hesitated to pray out loud last year. BUT NOT THIS SUMMER. You hesitated to speak up last summer, BUT NOT THIS SUMMER." I took that charge, and God has just given me a courage and a confidence that I can lead a gymnastics class, I can lead a devo, I can pray out loud for these ladies, I can be their spiritual leader, and emotional guide.

I have already given my first devotion, which I will admit that I was nervous for, and I am getting comfortable with something that is uncomfortable to me (praying out loud).

In the meantime, I know that this is going to prepare me for Madagascar, and I cannot wait to continue to minister to these girls! I already love them so much!

And that is Camp...

With the non-stop singing after meals, the stomping on the benches that we sit on for lunch. There are those moments like last night, when you are in the middle of the Mike, and you are dancing to the song, Shut Up and Dance with EP, Mary Helen, Sydney and Olvey between Volleyball sets. In those moments you throw your head back and think to yourself, "Remember this, remember this moment for a long time Becca." There is watching the youngest girls, the Tweedles, run to lunch chanting "tweedles are the best!" The magic of initiation, watching these girls grow, and having coco's that keep your rule-breaking self in check most of the time. Camp is just one big adventure so far, and God is completely in control of it!

More to come later!

Go Choctaw!

-Bec