Fall Teen Retreat!

My oh my! What can I even say?! This weekend was AMAZING. It was full of fun, craziness, rad games, carnivals, lots of food, and awesome worship time! We broke the record for the LARGEST camp at at Imadene at 132 campers!!! Jon and I ran program together, and that was such a blast. It was so good to really work together, and be able to use our strengths, and show what a powerhouse couple we can be working together!! The nights were REALLY late, so we were exhausted afterwards, but oh boy was it ever worth it!!! Everyone from Katrina (who directed!) to the cabin leaders, to the kitchen staff, to our staff (Chris poured so much into this weekend as well!!!) just did such an amazing job. It was so good to have people around who care about camp, care about the campers, the ministry of camp, and the future of Imadene. It just reengerized Jon and I and reminded us once again why we love youth and why we love camp!! Here were some highlights:

Jon took this at lunchtime of the campers - look at how packed it was in our dining room!!! Everyone just had such a good time the whole time!!

Me and my beautiful friend Sharon at the carnival on Saturday night! (we both ate WAY to much candy, but enjoyed every minute of it!!)
I got my face painted by Malea - it was very cute and carnival-ie!

While I was doing that, Jon was doing what he does best - holding the mike and keeping the party going! Here he is organizing a pie eating contest

This is a picture of some of the booths at our carnival

These next few were stolen from the camp website, but I loved them! This is a shot from up high - you can see our swing in the background as well as all the lights!

Jon and I having fun in the photo booth that was set up for the night - this was our "WE ARE SO STOKED THE CARNIVAL IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING!!" face.

This was one of my favorite moments of the weekend - after our fireside chapel with the campers, I asked the LIT's that we had up working for the weekend (Marika, Lisa, Jacob, Cam, Natasha, Ava, and Lucas) to gather in our living room. The band had just played the song "Hosanna" and the lyrics that stuck out to me were "I see a generation, rising up to take their place, with selfless faith" and my mind immediately went to these guys. I spent a whole summer getting to know them, and loving them, and I seen first hand just how selfless their faith is. And I seen them step up as leaders on this weekend, and really be a generation who is rising up to take their place. I am just so proud of these guys, and love them so much, and want so many good things for them. I am honored that the Lord has allowed me to play some sort of role in their life. So this is us, talking and praying together. A really special moment!

This was taken on the last day of camp of all the campers and staff - see Jon and I at the front?! This weekend just left me and Jon with such a good feeling - we are doing good work, and the Lord REALLY cares about this place. He IS using us to carry out His work, and it just so exciting! There were a couple of times were I had that "WOW" feeling - the one that I always get the saturday night of Youth Quake because I had spent months and months preparing for this event, and God is so much bigger than I ever imagined and the kids are just opening worshipping and breaking down in front of each other. That feeling was there this weekend too - I worked hard, and Jon and and Chris worked even harder to make this happen - yet it is so not about any of us. It is about those youth who have camp as a safe place where they can come to know the Lord. It is about those kids worshiping the God we love, whether it is with their hands raised in the front row, or the ones quietly singing the back row. I love these kids, and I do not even know all of them. I just love camp and what it stands for, and I love that I have a husband who is even more passionate than I am. I pray that Lord allows us to be a part of more "WOW" moments. An incredible weekend it was indeed.