Monday, June 25, 2007
Junior High Great Adventure Week
my assignment for this week is in Junior High great Adventure. we will be sleeping and living out in a tent camp site, cooking all our meals and walking everywhere we go. we will be doing more climbing wall, high ropes, rafting mountain biking,and orierentering. i cant spell that. its going to be a blast. i have four boy, and already know one of them well. he is the 13 year old bassist in the praise team. anyways, thats about to start. it should be a good week. thank you everyone for your prayers. oh- ps- mom and dad, my dreadlocks were very helpful in bridging a gap between myself and my african american campers last week. the Lord used my hair... man looks on the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. also, dad, i preached alot last week. im a little bashful to say it, because my father is a 4th generation preacher, so im sure the 5th will land on me or my brother. ok. bye.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
tough week
i really dont want to do this right now. its the last little bit of time i have with the other counselors before more kids show up tomorrow. but, it needs to be done.
this last week was difficult. i have talked to some of you about it already. i had a cabin of seven guys. three of them were fairly time consuming. one especially was difficult. for the sake of privacy, he will be called J. from day one J and i were battling for control of cabin devotion time. he was constantly talking and interrupting and drawing attention to himself. J is very self centered and manipulative and he doesnt follow rules, he is rebellious and disrespectful to authority and, to top it off, he is a whiner. so, needless to say, J was being corrected often during the week. things came to a head about midweek wednesday night when walking back to the cabin after playing red light green light. J had refused to play by the rules and was running around ruining the rules and playing his own game and inciting other campers into his rebellion. on the walk back i told him that the rules are there to make the game fair and orderly and fun for everyone. he stated rather matter-o-factly that he had plenty of fun breaking the rules, and he didnt care whether or not he ruined the game for others. he attempted to get some of the other guys in the cabin to agree with him that i, and ridge have, were far too strict and the camp generally sucked. no one would agree with him. he started sulking. one of the other boys informed me that another counselor had requested that we scare her cabin on the walk back, so we ran ahead to hide just off the road to jump out and scare the girls. J refused to come. once he caught up with us, he stood on the road right in front of us, giving away our hiding spot. we urged him to get off the road and get down, but he would budge. one of the other boys, D, took his arm to pull him towards us, and J pushed D. D punched J in the face. i broke it up, told the other boys to wait there for the girls, and J and i went on to the cabin.
the remainder of the walk J was crying and very angry and making threats against D and generally very upset. he thought that he was in trouble when he was the one who got punched. he had, by this time, developed a serious victim complex from being "picked on" by being corrected when he frequently broke rules. J wouldnt hear a word i said. he told me he didnt care what i said. we got back to the cabin and sat in the commons area to talk and he positioned himself with his back to me and fingers in his ears. i have never come into contact with someone so completely closed to anything other than himself. his pride was more hurt than his face. do him, this was a showdown with me about who was in charge. i called my camp leader, Christy, and she called my assistant ministry director, Andrew. andrew sat and talked with him while i was out of the room informing the other guy counselors in my building of the situation and praying about it with them. i came back into the room to see J on the couch pretending to sleep and andrew sitting in silence beside him. andrew and i stayed up with J till 1 telling the gospel. we laid into him with it. we went to ephesians and told him how he was dead in his sins apart from salvation in Christ. it was intense. these are serious understatements. we sent him to bed after that, and stayed up a little longer and prayed for him.
the next morning J acted like nothing had happened. if it were not for the night before, where i had seen him at his core, he might have fooled me like he probably does his teachers and family. his fake semi-concern with spiritual things and his suck-up good works for the rest of the week were just a sad reminder of his lack of Christ. during quiet time every morning J and i were in the Bible, and i was telling him the same things andrew and i told him that night. he was dead in his sin apart from Christ. he walked around and talked and did things, but he was dead. every day i laid into him with the gospel. this last week i preached the gospel to these boys over a dozen times. i never saw anything from J that lead me to believe that anything got through to him.
needless to say, it was a trying week. that was just one boy, and one event with one. i have several others who were closed to the Gospel. but, i had a few that new Christ, and they were a great encouragement to me. this last week the Lord was faithful in that, for every difficult closed hear i faced, He showed me kids that got his. He showed me kids that knew him. that was wonderful. that was my week.
please pray.
i love you all.
this last week was difficult. i have talked to some of you about it already. i had a cabin of seven guys. three of them were fairly time consuming. one especially was difficult. for the sake of privacy, he will be called J. from day one J and i were battling for control of cabin devotion time. he was constantly talking and interrupting and drawing attention to himself. J is very self centered and manipulative and he doesnt follow rules, he is rebellious and disrespectful to authority and, to top it off, he is a whiner. so, needless to say, J was being corrected often during the week. things came to a head about midweek wednesday night when walking back to the cabin after playing red light green light. J had refused to play by the rules and was running around ruining the rules and playing his own game and inciting other campers into his rebellion. on the walk back i told him that the rules are there to make the game fair and orderly and fun for everyone. he stated rather matter-o-factly that he had plenty of fun breaking the rules, and he didnt care whether or not he ruined the game for others. he attempted to get some of the other guys in the cabin to agree with him that i, and ridge have, were far too strict and the camp generally sucked. no one would agree with him. he started sulking. one of the other boys informed me that another counselor had requested that we scare her cabin on the walk back, so we ran ahead to hide just off the road to jump out and scare the girls. J refused to come. once he caught up with us, he stood on the road right in front of us, giving away our hiding spot. we urged him to get off the road and get down, but he would budge. one of the other boys, D, took his arm to pull him towards us, and J pushed D. D punched J in the face. i broke it up, told the other boys to wait there for the girls, and J and i went on to the cabin.
the remainder of the walk J was crying and very angry and making threats against D and generally very upset. he thought that he was in trouble when he was the one who got punched. he had, by this time, developed a serious victim complex from being "picked on" by being corrected when he frequently broke rules. J wouldnt hear a word i said. he told me he didnt care what i said. we got back to the cabin and sat in the commons area to talk and he positioned himself with his back to me and fingers in his ears. i have never come into contact with someone so completely closed to anything other than himself. his pride was more hurt than his face. do him, this was a showdown with me about who was in charge. i called my camp leader, Christy, and she called my assistant ministry director, Andrew. andrew sat and talked with him while i was out of the room informing the other guy counselors in my building of the situation and praying about it with them. i came back into the room to see J on the couch pretending to sleep and andrew sitting in silence beside him. andrew and i stayed up with J till 1 telling the gospel. we laid into him with it. we went to ephesians and told him how he was dead in his sins apart from salvation in Christ. it was intense. these are serious understatements. we sent him to bed after that, and stayed up a little longer and prayed for him.
the next morning J acted like nothing had happened. if it were not for the night before, where i had seen him at his core, he might have fooled me like he probably does his teachers and family. his fake semi-concern with spiritual things and his suck-up good works for the rest of the week were just a sad reminder of his lack of Christ. during quiet time every morning J and i were in the Bible, and i was telling him the same things andrew and i told him that night. he was dead in his sin apart from Christ. he walked around and talked and did things, but he was dead. every day i laid into him with the gospel. this last week i preached the gospel to these boys over a dozen times. i never saw anything from J that lead me to believe that anything got through to him.
needless to say, it was a trying week. that was just one boy, and one event with one. i have several others who were closed to the Gospel. but, i had a few that new Christ, and they were a great encouragement to me. this last week the Lord was faithful in that, for every difficult closed hear i faced, He showed me kids that got his. He showed me kids that knew him. that was wonderful. that was my week.
please pray.
i love you all.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
week two pictures
here are some pictures. text to follow. too tired right now.
junior high camp
NO TOUCHING! (A.D. fans, you know what i'm talking about)
doing the trust fall with my cabin
me and the boys
climbing tower
gorilla man gun final contestants
pizza boy. this kid was such an encouragement to me this past week. during worship times he would be in the front row dancing and singing at the top of his lungs. its great to see one so young who understands so well what it means to praise the Lord
junior high camp
NO TOUCHING! (A.D. fans, you know what i'm talking about)
doing the trust fall with my cabin
me and the boys
climbing tower
gorilla man gun final contestants
pizza boy. this kid was such an encouragement to me this past week. during worship times he would be in the front row dancing and singing at the top of his lungs. its great to see one so young who understands so well what it means to praise the Lord
Monday, June 18, 2007
some pictures from last week
here are some pictures from last week. my team was the leviathans. i made up a pretty sweet cheer that caught on really quickly. the other counselors were jealous. the bag on my head is because of the mud pit. somethings dont come out of dreads.
me and my boys doing the leviathan chomp, dan goble (the roomie) and me getting cole in flour tag.
i lost at jenga roulette, so my boys got to pie me. the last one is jake going "around town" with the pie: full face, top of the head, ears, neck... everywhere. i was smelling sour milk for days afterwards.
the new week starts in mere hours. more kids, more music, more games, more pies.
till next weekend- i love you all.
me and my boys doing the leviathan chomp, dan goble (the roomie) and me getting cole in flour tag.
i lost at jenga roulette, so my boys got to pie me. the last one is jake going "around town" with the pie: full face, top of the head, ears, neck... everywhere. i was smelling sour milk for days afterwards.
the new week starts in mere hours. more kids, more music, more games, more pies.
till next weekend- i love you all.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
i put this off, but now im out of time
this last week is hard to describe. four boys: nick, jake, cole, thad. morning meetings: the six "no one" statements of Jesus in the book of John. evening meetings: five points of calvanism. thats alot for 8 - 11 year olds. a whole lot. it was a difficult week because of just endurance issues. up at 7, to bed at 11 or so. one of the most difficult things was that i never really saw any fruit from the boys. they didnt ask questions. i never saw them really getting it. the last night was good because during our devotions the spirit of the Lord came over me and guided me thoughts and words as i was reading from hebrews 11 and 12. (read it. it will blow you away) they got it a little bit then, but its not my job to conver these boys. thats ultimately out of my hands. all i can do is help plant the seeds; thats what the Lord has called me to right now. anyway, i need to go take a nap. please keep praying for me. i need it very much. the Lord is doing great things in my life here. i pray for all of you as often as i think of you, which is alot. pictures will be posted later. okbye.
scotch
scotch
Monday, June 11, 2007
4 boys
so last night i got my assignment for the week. i have a cabin of four boys. thats pretty small, so im really looking forward to it. they're juniors, which means they're somewhere in third to sixth grade. its going to be nuts. im still helping lead worship this week as well, so please continue to be in prayer for me in that. the Lord is doing mighty things here. ill be out of touch all week, but as far as i know, i wont be dead, so dont worry.
ss
ss
Saturday, June 9, 2007
this past week
so today the campers leave. i was support staff this last week, so my responsibilities for this morning are whatever the directors tell me to do. so, im in the office answering the phones. its mostly parents calling to say they're going to be late in picking their kids up.
this past week was fantastic. im exhausted, but it was so worth it. we got our assignments on sunday night and mikey, trey, abigail grace and i were chosen to get together the music and drama for the summer. it was really providential that we had this last week to organize that and form it before things get really crazy up here. mikey and i worked with john linville this week. john was the worship leader when i was a kid here several years ago, and its a real privilege to be able to work with such a Godly and fun guy. he is such an enthusiastic and infectiously passionate musician. i sang and played accordion with the praise team. mikey was on keys. JT, johns youngest son, is the greatest 13 year old upright bassist i know. some may know jonlynn linville, who plays violin in the CC orchestra. anyways, that was what a spent much of my time doing in the morning and evenings this last week.
one of my other responsibilities was to help out with the skits. trey and abigail grace were in charge of those. we had five skits, each focusing on one of the fruits of the spirit. obviously, we didnt touch on them all, but we got some of the one especially applicable to a group of wild kids. i was in most of those skits, and man was it fun. i have been doing skits for kids for a really long time with VBS at my old church, but nothing was like this. we had an idea and got up there and it just happened. trey and mikey are really funny guys, so the others in the skits just feed off their hilarity. i played a bear named bear-bear, a slow motion moving pizza delivering ex-pillaging pirate, and crazy woodsman who was controlled by a psychotic rabbit. yes, it was a ridiculous as you think. the skits were about the adventures of this fictitious character named "John F Youth." one of the trails up here at Ridge Haven is the youth trail. some time ago, counselors started telling campers crazy stories about this fictitious character for whom the youth trail was named. it turned into a tradition among the counselors, and this year the skits every day "documented" the blazing of the youth trail. it was really great. the kids called me bear-bear all week. it was alot of fun. also, Ridge Haven, in years past, has had a multi-purpose gorilla suit. it died a few years back, but a generous man here at the camp felt that a new one was a necessity. it came in on tuesday, and i was the obvious candidate for the gorilla. i didnt have a cabin, i am built like a gorilla, and i do a fair sasquatch walk. so, a few times this week "big foot" made appearances at dusk or in the middle of the night. we scared (literally in one case) the pee out of some kids. by the end of the week most of the kids were just itching for a chance to get at me, and i was mobbed last night several times. its difficult to hide shoulder length blond dreadlocks in a gorilla suit, so when the kids started pulling at me, i was revealed. it was alot of fun all the same. allthesame. that should be one word, like nonetheless.
so thats some of the fun i had this week. oh yeah, on thursday night we had counselor hunt, which is exactly what it sounds like. counselors have about 10 minutes to hide within a designated plot of land and the kids have to find them. caught counselors get pushed into the cold pool, fully clothed, execution style. i didnt get caught. i climbed up into the rafters of the outdoor recreation shelter, and laid on a board on my back and folded up for close to an hour. i was about 30 feet above a concrete slab. climbing down was less fun and more fearing for my life. at that height, if i fell, there is no chance that i could keep my bragging rights of having never broken a bone.
there were many difficult things i encountered this week as well. the most difficult is that i was tempted and distracted by the accuser of the brethren. this may be difficult to believe, but spiritual warfare is a very real and relevant thing here at Ridge Haven. im not just talking about satan distracting me when i am leading worship. there are heavier things that have happened and probably will happen again. but, the Lord is good and He has given me strength this week. i really feel the presence of the spirit of the Lord when i am helping with worship. its an encouraging and empowering thing. however, i am sad to say that i quickly forget it. often, after our meetings, satan attacks me with burdening thoughts. i understand much better now how my father, when he was pastoring a church, would struggle all day on mondays after the fellowship of the previous day with the doubts and burdens places on him by the evil one. its real. its powerful. but. BUT, we are not afraid of it. when doors open by themselves and lights start to flicker and surge and the temperature drops and your kids are screaming in their beds, we do not have to fear it. that which is in us is so much greater than that which is in the world.
friends, family, RCF brothers and sisters- please pray for us who are serving the Lord here at Ridge Haven. i know you are, but please continue. i need your prayers every day. we all need your prayers.
i dont mean for this to end on such a dark note. in other news, i finished my summer kickoff book, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and i started another of his works, Travels with Charley. this guy is my favorite author. he has such a passion for life and a gift for crafting words. i just cant get enough of it. my devotions should be going as well as my pleasure reading, but im getting there... im getting there. take care, all. i think of my family and friends often and i am in continuing prayer for you in your endeavors this summer.
this past week was fantastic. im exhausted, but it was so worth it. we got our assignments on sunday night and mikey, trey, abigail grace and i were chosen to get together the music and drama for the summer. it was really providential that we had this last week to organize that and form it before things get really crazy up here. mikey and i worked with john linville this week. john was the worship leader when i was a kid here several years ago, and its a real privilege to be able to work with such a Godly and fun guy. he is such an enthusiastic and infectiously passionate musician. i sang and played accordion with the praise team. mikey was on keys. JT, johns youngest son, is the greatest 13 year old upright bassist i know. some may know jonlynn linville, who plays violin in the CC orchestra. anyways, that was what a spent much of my time doing in the morning and evenings this last week.
one of my other responsibilities was to help out with the skits. trey and abigail grace were in charge of those. we had five skits, each focusing on one of the fruits of the spirit. obviously, we didnt touch on them all, but we got some of the one especially applicable to a group of wild kids. i was in most of those skits, and man was it fun. i have been doing skits for kids for a really long time with VBS at my old church, but nothing was like this. we had an idea and got up there and it just happened. trey and mikey are really funny guys, so the others in the skits just feed off their hilarity. i played a bear named bear-bear, a slow motion moving pizza delivering ex-pillaging pirate, and crazy woodsman who was controlled by a psychotic rabbit. yes, it was a ridiculous as you think. the skits were about the adventures of this fictitious character named "John F Youth." one of the trails up here at Ridge Haven is the youth trail. some time ago, counselors started telling campers crazy stories about this fictitious character for whom the youth trail was named. it turned into a tradition among the counselors, and this year the skits every day "documented" the blazing of the youth trail. it was really great. the kids called me bear-bear all week. it was alot of fun. also, Ridge Haven, in years past, has had a multi-purpose gorilla suit. it died a few years back, but a generous man here at the camp felt that a new one was a necessity. it came in on tuesday, and i was the obvious candidate for the gorilla. i didnt have a cabin, i am built like a gorilla, and i do a fair sasquatch walk. so, a few times this week "big foot" made appearances at dusk or in the middle of the night. we scared (literally in one case) the pee out of some kids. by the end of the week most of the kids were just itching for a chance to get at me, and i was mobbed last night several times. its difficult to hide shoulder length blond dreadlocks in a gorilla suit, so when the kids started pulling at me, i was revealed. it was alot of fun all the same. allthesame. that should be one word, like nonetheless.
so thats some of the fun i had this week. oh yeah, on thursday night we had counselor hunt, which is exactly what it sounds like. counselors have about 10 minutes to hide within a designated plot of land and the kids have to find them. caught counselors get pushed into the cold pool, fully clothed, execution style. i didnt get caught. i climbed up into the rafters of the outdoor recreation shelter, and laid on a board on my back and folded up for close to an hour. i was about 30 feet above a concrete slab. climbing down was less fun and more fearing for my life. at that height, if i fell, there is no chance that i could keep my bragging rights of having never broken a bone.
there were many difficult things i encountered this week as well. the most difficult is that i was tempted and distracted by the accuser of the brethren. this may be difficult to believe, but spiritual warfare is a very real and relevant thing here at Ridge Haven. im not just talking about satan distracting me when i am leading worship. there are heavier things that have happened and probably will happen again. but, the Lord is good and He has given me strength this week. i really feel the presence of the spirit of the Lord when i am helping with worship. its an encouraging and empowering thing. however, i am sad to say that i quickly forget it. often, after our meetings, satan attacks me with burdening thoughts. i understand much better now how my father, when he was pastoring a church, would struggle all day on mondays after the fellowship of the previous day with the doubts and burdens places on him by the evil one. its real. its powerful. but. BUT, we are not afraid of it. when doors open by themselves and lights start to flicker and surge and the temperature drops and your kids are screaming in their beds, we do not have to fear it. that which is in us is so much greater than that which is in the world.
friends, family, RCF brothers and sisters- please pray for us who are serving the Lord here at Ridge Haven. i know you are, but please continue. i need your prayers every day. we all need your prayers.
i dont mean for this to end on such a dark note. in other news, i finished my summer kickoff book, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and i started another of his works, Travels with Charley. this guy is my favorite author. he has such a passion for life and a gift for crafting words. i just cant get enough of it. my devotions should be going as well as my pleasure reading, but im getting there... im getting there. take care, all. i think of my family and friends often and i am in continuing prayer for you in your endeavors this summer.
Monday, June 4, 2007
week one
ok. two things.
1. i shaved my beard. i woke up sunday morning in a strange mood brought on by strange dreams and i looked in the mirror and said "that has got to go." so, im back to the fu-man. its nice to be able to see skin on my face again, but a little weird. i didnt realize it, but i apparently have had some kind of facial hair for the better part of a year now. i guess time flies when you dont ever look in a mirror... or something like that.
2. this is the first week of camp. no, i did not abandon my kids to sneak off and post this. i dont have a cabin this week. its a small group- mostly because NC public school are still in session. things will pick up next week and they'll pick up big time the weeks after that. mikey and i are playing music this week full time and helping out with odds and ends. it will be nice to have a little rest this week after such an intense last two weeks.
anyways, i just wanted to give peoples a little update. im doing well- im getting over this sore throat and congestion thing that went around last week, and im eating well, but not too much... the food here is great. anyways, more later. much love.
scotch
oh- and everyone here calls me scotch. there is another scott, and since i had a decent nickname, that became my title. thanks, david. i miss you and love you all. write me. ill try and write back. i have wacky white squirrel post cards. they exist. i fought it, but i had to admit it when i saw one up close in the flesh. ok. bye.
1. i shaved my beard. i woke up sunday morning in a strange mood brought on by strange dreams and i looked in the mirror and said "that has got to go." so, im back to the fu-man. its nice to be able to see skin on my face again, but a little weird. i didnt realize it, but i apparently have had some kind of facial hair for the better part of a year now. i guess time flies when you dont ever look in a mirror... or something like that.
2. this is the first week of camp. no, i did not abandon my kids to sneak off and post this. i dont have a cabin this week. its a small group- mostly because NC public school are still in session. things will pick up next week and they'll pick up big time the weeks after that. mikey and i are playing music this week full time and helping out with odds and ends. it will be nice to have a little rest this week after such an intense last two weeks.
anyways, i just wanted to give peoples a little update. im doing well- im getting over this sore throat and congestion thing that went around last week, and im eating well, but not too much... the food here is great. anyways, more later. much love.
scotch
oh- and everyone here calls me scotch. there is another scott, and since i had a decent nickname, that became my title. thanks, david. i miss you and love you all. write me. ill try and write back. i have wacky white squirrel post cards. they exist. i fought it, but i had to admit it when i saw one up close in the flesh. ok. bye.
Friday, June 1, 2007
just a second
i only have a sec to post this because we are about to head out on a hike and ill be out of touch for a while. the day before yesterday i got in the mail three sweet action pieces of mail. one awesome letter/post card from bee-off-a-koff, a radical package from the howard sisters, and one massive eye-popping package from tobi. i want to thank every one- all of you girls- for making my week... nay- my summer. the contents of these pieces of mail were so thoughtful and timely. tobes, LOVE that shit and bandanna and the jerky. the shirt fits very well, and the bandanna will really go to good use. also, thanks for the head hunters and the excellent swiss bottle. i look cooler than i am with that thing. kyrie/sienner, thanks a ton for the tennis balls and mixed cd. it kicks. serious. butt. beeoff, that collage was fantastic. i cant believe you worked that thing up. i loved it- im glad you like my work enough to borrow it and change it. quite flattering. everyone- i loved the cards and quotes and ties and snacks and wrapping and labels and everything. EVERYTHING! thanks so so much. ill post pictures later when mikeys camera/computer stop being a little hoe. tobes, the front of the package with the mondrian painting- i died. it was fantastic. how did you remember that? you're a great friend. you all are. thank you so much everyone.
on another note, i had a bear encounter. im ok. i was in a vehicle. its a black bear that lives here at the camp. his name is timothy. i think that he is really the grounds chief, dale, in his natural form... like beorn. enjoy that one, tolkien lovers. tolkein? yeah. tolkein. ok. hiking. till later- pace.
on another note, i had a bear encounter. im ok. i was in a vehicle. its a black bear that lives here at the camp. his name is timothy. i think that he is really the grounds chief, dale, in his natural form... like beorn. enjoy that one, tolkien lovers. tolkein? yeah. tolkein. ok. hiking. till later- pace.
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