and we're off...

Today I have 20 summer staff arriving for leadership training. Then on Wednesday, 50 more college age students will join them. All in all, we will share 12 intensive days together, building community, preparing for campers, readying our hearts for camper Bible study and all of the late night conversations and questions that so faithfully surface at camp. We will go over emergency procedures, songs, crafts, hiking trails, tips for cooking over a fire, game leadership and general tips on how to be a good counselor. We will talk about difficult campers, and how we lovingly discipline and remain in control of kids who might be a bit trickier to love for six days. We will plan skits and worships, devotions, storm procedures, improv games and walk through how to greet campers and their parents, assuring them that they have one jam-packed, super-fun week ahead. We will have swim tests, boating orientation, high ropes orientation and horse orientation. We will be very, very tired when it is all over.

I have been lining up all of our speakers and presenters, session topics and locations. And you know what? I'm feeling ready. Which is saying a whole lot. Because I am usually quite the worried and anxious woman. But it dawned on me today that this will be my fourth year leading a 12 day staff training. I led two years at Mount Carmel and this will be my second year at Carol Joy Holling.

Going through my "staff training" file, I found all sorts of agenda's, email copies and hand-written notes-to-self that say "remember for 2008..." And after going through that file, I just felt confident. It's amazing how after four years of something, you actually do start to get the hang of it! Surely there will be unexpected challenges and things that come up. But you can't prepare for all of that, except just in knowing, those challenges will come each year and I can deal.

So keep us in your prayers. I'm moving to camp on Wednesday and plan on considering this time as a 10-day trip for work. Rory will come and visit and I plan on getting away for an afternoon or two. But this way I have a bed at camp for napping and can be present for our 7:30am-10:00pm day of events.