Our off-weekend with the Beans consisted of sleep, a useless doctor visit, medicine, Lake Michigan, lighthouses, cheese, coffee, and some great tours of Racine/Kenosha/Milwaukee. We loved getting to know them and learning from them. I got to make my first real s'more and taste some incredible Wisconsin cuisine as well as plenty of Starbucks coffee, so the weekend was perfect for me.
Sunday we headed to Chicagoland camp! First impression: VERY few mosquitoes. So obviously that was great. Each camp is so different and that definitely applied at Chicagoland but we all agreed it was an amazing camp. The staff showed their love for the kids by extensive preparation and organization that made for a phenomenal week. The early morning assemblies by the lake were beautiful and humbling, and the Bible classes on wisdom were challenging and powerful. We enjoyed attempting to figure out how everyone was related and the intense emotional strain that came from trying to remember which Diestlekamp branch preferred to be called DIESELkamp and which was DISSlekamp. It's kind of like playing "The Floor is Lava" when you're handing out happy mail just trying to avoid saying the wrong version of the name. I felt pretty bad all week, and I didn't do a very good job of keeping up my energy, but people were patient and my cabin didn't hate me for coughing (or at least they didn't TELL me) so that was sweet. I couldn't croak out a note during singings, though, and I definitely felt new meaning applied to the words "the spirit is willing but the flesh is so weak." Can't wait to be able to sing again! I was on the purple team, the Philippians, and we had fun with the awesome sports and phenomenal activities that were planned for the kids. Although not being able to yell during tug-of-war is probably the saddest thing ever.
Thursday night was the staff talent show and we had fun doing a couple of skits in that, and Friday night was the Camper Variety Show and it was SO fun. They had so much talent and we got to be ridiculous and that's pretty much what we're best at, so Friday and Saturday I felt like were the perfect wrap-up to the week. Those last 2 days I was able to really connect more with kids and felt a little less tired so that was good.
The amazing thing about camps is that while promoting FC is our job, really we are just learning more and more reasons why we love FC and we are seeing more and more what a blessing it is that we are a part of the FC family. Even more than that, we're seeing God's goodness in our lives more every week and it's been so humbling to have so many powerful reminders this summer. He knows what we need.
We closed out the week with Culver's and now we are at the lovely Wickersheim home. As Ashley said after Alli came home from church sick, the Camp Friends are "dropping like flies" but the Wickersheims are taking great care of us and I'm praying hard that I'll feel better tomorrow (and that Alli will too!)
While the other Camp Friends and Heidi are at the Saters' for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Wickersheim and Alli and I are having a blast with take-out Chinese and NetFlix. So good.
Here are some pictures to give you a taste of our week. What a group.
PHILIP MAGEE'S TWIN. In every way. Oh Grayson.
Love Heidi and Samantha. So precious.
Jonah was so fun and such a leader this week. FC SO SOON.
Cody! Come to FC. Please. Love this kid.
This one's for you, Jenna Pepper. #AbigailandEmma
Girl Scout campgrounds are all about totem poles. Like...what?
Kyle Wolf. Finally exchanged his Duke and Grace College shirts for the Falcons. Success.
Oh. And by the way, my best pal Drew is coming back to FC. That's big news, guys. Just in case you missed that memo at any point.
Alright. That's all for now. Gonna go take some more NyQuil. I think I set some kind of sleeping record today, and I plan to keep that up until I get better.
Love. Miss.
-ELB
