~MOVE~

What an amazing experience!!! I am just returning from our 5 day trip to StuCo Junior High Camp, where Jim and I served as leaders, and I can not stress enough what an amazing experience this was!! Several of our friends have told us how awesome camp was for them growing up, but we never had the opportunity to be involved in anything like this. Last February was my first experience with anything like this, we attended StuCo's winter retreat Blast/Fusion, where my friend Brandie and I co-led high school girl's small group. Some very powerful, raw emotions came out that weekend, but I must admit that I had much lower expectations for this week, I mean really it's a bunch of junior high kids (my lack of faith sometimes even surprises me) ! Wow, was I WRONG !!!!!

Tuesday we departed from the yellow box along with several other leaders, student leaders, and hundreds of junior high students . We arrived at Timber Wolf Lodge in Lake City, Michigan Tuesday evening (what an incredible camp- it really was beautiful! ) I was leading a group of high school student leaders as a work crew. We had a rough first night (work crew was not really what we had anticipated - much more WORK than we had expected). The students had a few complaints but for the most part they worked incredibly hard to make it the best possible experience for these junior high students.

MOVE was the theme of the week ~ to move to Jesus, in Community, by the Holy Spirit, with Boldness, and I am sure that this post does incredible injustice to what happened over the course of the week, but all I can say is it was AMAZING to see these students impacted by the fellowship and love that poured over them.

There was plenty of fun for everyone: tubing (I lost my bathing suit bottoms on that one - don't worry, I was under water when I found them. No students saw this happen) a zip line across the lake, mountain biking, the blob, a high ropes course, a rock climbing wall, a beach, sand volleyball, basketball, and much more that I am sure I'm forgetting. Students were for sure moving physically.

There were also amazing services; services so moving that I found it hard to contain my emotions. Here was this huge group of junior high students experiencing at such a young age something that I was 26 before I ever experienced. Each message was so powerful, so applicable, so AMAZING. The first evening message was delivered by our great friend and Montgomery stuco director, Tim Raad, and I must admit that I cried like a baby. I believe it was one of the most powerful messages I have ever heard ! The stuco staff really is incredible!!

Each night we got to watch as the number of students who were committed to following Christ grow, and on the last night we were privileged enough to see an amazing baptism in the lake (what a great moment) ! I was lucky enough to get to work with an incredible group of student leaders, who gave their all to make this experience great for others. I was incredibly proud of my husband, as I watched his interaction with his small group, and I saw (not for the first time and I'm sure not the last) God's love move through him and onto his students. On our last night at camp, I saw the most beautiful shooting star (bigger and brighter that any I have ever seen before ) and as I lay in bed that night and prayed and reflected on the week, that star kind of brought it full circle, God's love can MOVE anything, and because of that we can all shine a little brighter!