From the Backwoods to the Northwoods (and a few great visits and speakers!)

I eat a fairly vegetarian diet, mostly because it's usually cheaper and healthier. But getting a variety of free meat that is much healthier and more natural than anything you can find at the store? Well, yes please!

I suppose I should back up a bit to last Friday, March 8th. It was our Captivated 2Gether Retreat for Mothers and 2nd-6th grade daughters. As the official retreat photographer, I got to take tons of pics of the ladies, including a photo booth. I even ended up sleeping in a dorm room with them; staying up past midnight and waking up WAY too early. But even after they left, there was no time to rest, because...

It was time for the Wild Game Dinner! Although it wasn't advertised as a men-only event, it was implied, which disappointed me that I couldn't go. But I found my "in" when I was asked to photograph this event as well. There was plenty of meat to choose from, although the decor was slightly creepy...

...This event was a fundraiser for camp, which we did very well on by asking for an admission donation, selling raffle tickets, and having an auction led by a real auctioneer! 

Although the event was a lot of fun and a new experience for me, we didn't finish cleaning until after 10. And even though the next day was Sunday and there were no events at camp that day, I STILL had to get up before 7, because...

...It was the day we were going to Wisconsin! The Lord surprised us that morning with a fresh blanket of snow, which made the 14-hour road trip seem intimidating. In fact, we spent most of the time going as fast as we could, because a snowstorm was chasing us! Eventually the snow caught up with our rental van, but we made it safely anyway to Silver Birch Ranch. 

It was dark the first night and we pretty much went right to bed. (You know those camp mattresses; they're so comfy you that once you lay down you just can't get up, right? Yeah, right.) But the next day was the Head Start seminars, for all of us who came a day early. My Head Start was only in the afternoon, so between breakfast and lunch I explored the camp. The photos above and below are from the canteen. Sysco donated all the food for this conference including free "24 hour" snacks. (I'll explain that later.) That's partially to blame why I gained four pounds on this trip.

Then I went to see what the other cabins and lodges looked like. I even sneaked into a construction project building.

When I went to see the cabin that our guys were staying in, I noticed that they were literally on the shore of the lake. Since it was completely frozen over with a few inches of snow on top, I decided to walk on the lake. Yep, at Christian camp you can walk on water!

After lunch, my seminar started. Now, while most people went to seminars on leadership or fundraising, I went to the one called "Super Fun Seminar". It started by loading up in a van and heading to the climbing wall building. The exterior of the building is the outdoor climbing wall, the roof was the launchpad for the zip line, and inside is a harnessing/briefing room as well as an indoor climbing room. 

After two rides on each of their two zip lines, we tested out their "leap of faith". Basically, you jump out of a room into the climbing room, about 25 feet above the ground

The goal was to hit the bell, but I was so preoccupied with actually jumping that I kind of forgot and missed. But that was okay, because after that, a few of us went out to the trap shooting range. (When I say a few of us, I mean all the other girls and several of the guys went back to the main camp!) I got to learn to shoot clay pigeons! 

That evening, after dinner and the opening session, I encouraged the Rivercrest staff to go back with me to the climbing building to test the leap of faith. 

Jon went first...

... He missed.

Mike went and also missed. 

Jon couldn't get over the fact that he missed the bell, and being encouraged by one of our neighboring Iowegian camps, he was practicing running and jumping in the briefing room. 

I think Emily made it, but I'm not sure because I was focused on being next.

...And I made it!

Jon HAD to try again, but he made it on his second time too! 

So up until Wednesday, we spent our time sleeping in this little cabin in the big woods (pictured below), attending interesting sessions and seminars, hanging out together, and eating food. We ate well, except for the night after our jumping endeavors. We were told there were ice cream sundaes in the dining hall, but by the time we got there, they were closed up. Angry, we went to the Canteen for snacks, but these 24 hour snacks weren't there! Even angrier, we sat down and played a game called "Who Knew?" together. It was fun, and mostly kept our minds off of our shrinking stomachs (except for the rounds where food was mentioned!). But after a couple of hours, food came, and I excitedly ran to grab my 18th Oreo of the day. But I wasn't nearly as thrilled as Jon, who threw his coat in my face so that he could get there first! The next day made up for it; the lunch session was full of free samples (both food and product) from vendors, and at night we made it to the dining hall in time for free slushies, popcorn, and Otis Spunkmeier cookies. 

After a few days of jam-packed days and near-sleepless nights, (By the way, I hadn't had a good night of rest for awhile- the Thursday before the heating and cooling guys were replacing the units located in the chapel utility room, which is inside my bathroom, so I "slept" upstairs, then I stayed with the girls at the Captivated 2Gether retreat, then I had to wake up super early for the trip to Wisconsin before spending several nights on those great mattresses in a room with three other people.), we finally made it to our last day. I was the first to wake up, since I was the only one going to a seminar before brunch. On my way, I stopped at the prayer chapel, which I hadn't been to all week. The building was locked, but it had a great view. 

After the morning seminar was our final all-camp session, then brunch, then going home. In contrast to how our dining hall was decorated a few days before, here is how Silver Birch has their dining hall permanently decorated:

After a long ride home (although we did pick up some Wisconsin cheese curds to go with our never-ending supply of Red Vines... and we went to Pizza Ranch), I was a little "camped" out, but on Friday we turned around and did it all over again! Well, sorta. 

We (as well as a few summer staff) went to Carol Joy Holling Camp, Conference and Retreat Center in Ashland. It was nice to go to an Ashland that wasn't completely hippie-fied like the one in Oregon is, but it did miss out on the true Ashland character because of it. After the 13 of us toured the camp in the 12-passenger van, we met in a conference room and planned for summer. 

After all these sessions and meetings and speakers, you think I'd be done with that sort of thing, right? Guess not. Since camp only had a small Narc-Anon group out this weekend, I didn't have to work. So today, I went to church for the first time in awhile. (And yes, I even got to sleep in!) We had a guest speaker named John Stumbo. The name sounded familiar, and then I heard that his brother Milo used to be a camp director out at Rivercrest, and was the first person to live in what is now Jon's house. But he was more familiar than even that, but as he told his story, I discovered why: he lives in Oregon! He even pronounces the state's name correctly- something I never hear around here! 

At first, he was kind of hard to listen to him due to his extremely raspy voice, but as his testimony unfolded, I realized what a miracle it was that he could even communicate from the pulpit. A few years ago, a sudden disease put him in a coma and threatened his life. By the grace of God, he slowly- and I mean SLOWLY- re-learned to walk, speak, and even eat (which was something he hadn't been able to do for years; can you imagine?). He was leading a leadership session for all church volunteers that evening, and before church, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. But after hearing his sermon, there was no way I was missing out on that!

Since church ended at noon and the session started at five, and because I didn't want to go back to camp, I ended up spending the afternoon with Lyvvie. We went to Runza and then to the Y for open swim. First off, lemme say that if you ever see me at the Y with someone who appears younger than me, that doesn't mean that I'm the mom! Yeah, I was asked that multiple times. But it was okay because one of those people was from J-House, and several of the teens were actually there for open swim. Kind of weird seeing them in a different environment, but nice to know that they actually like hanging out with me outside my volunteer hours. We then bought junk food (for me) and kool aid (so she can dye her hair tips) at the grocery store, and then I dropped her off so I could go to the session at church, which was well worth it, and really made me think about what it means to be a leader holistically. 

Well, now it's late, so I shall go. Hope to have more happenings like this in the near future!