Home again home again, jiggity jog...

Fuego, Emjay, Ginger, and I have just gotten home from a week of Summer Camp!

I was invited to be chaplain for a week at a summer camp in my new diocese (since this was my first full summer here, I'm still calling it new), and happily accepted (also known as blissfully unaware of how different this camp would be from my usual camp experience at BREAD).

Although Fuego was dedicated enough (also known as a lot of time to spare while Emjay ate, napped, or played and couldn't be left unattended) to fight with the sparse Internet connection and blogged whilst we were away, I had neither the time nor the patience to make seven to ten attempts at posting every blog and just decided it was a lost cause until I got back to civilization.

Camp was a strange experience compared to Camp at El Rancho, and while it took some getting used to, it was clear that the kids couldn't have conceived of a more awesome way to spend a week... so we gave it a try.

As it turned out, my one hour "session" with the kids each day comprised all of the program they would get for that day. This came as a surprise to me since I was neither informed of this fact ahead of time, nor could I have comprehended the fact if it had been mentioned.

This proposed a unique challenge as at the first staff meeting -- after being introduced and having the schedule in front of me and explained -- I was asked "So, what do you have planned for session this week?"

Feeling a bit like the Grinch when Cindy Loo Whoo asked him why he was stealing her Christmas Tree, I "thought up a lie... and I thought it up quick."

As it turned out, fifteen years of youth ministry paid off and I was able to come up with a cohesive program for the week that was both fun and spiritual -- but not without some timely help from Fuego on the planning end and Captain Technology on the resource end (Thanks Captain! -- I already thanked Fuego ;o).

Camp by the seat of your pants is quite an adventure, but, as you may guess, it is NOT the relaxing experience that I had anticipated! I spent every afternoon's fun activity planning the next day's program, and every night after campfire finishing up the details until 11 or 12. Then scrambled the next morning to print resources for the kids and fill in the staff on what was happening. All things considered, I'm pretty proud of myself and the program we provided for the kids... and NEXT year, I will be ready!

And so I arrive home, exhausted, but satisfied.