Hold On...

Today is Monday, meaning yesterday was Sunday, which was the last day of this year's Campus Life winter retreat, Fallout.

It's always a fun trip. Usually I am solely or at least largely, "Video Guy." But it's fun interacting with the kids, hanging out with Brooks, playing boxball, and seeing the kids enjoy my video. The last few years I've gone as more than just a video guy, also being a staff person with a student there. My cousin had been my only Campus Life student attending any of the trips, and because of that she would end up falling into the responsibility of another group, as I was largely preoccupied with videoing.

This year I had two new students and one of my volunteers, Jared, helping. I had a bit of help on the video end this year, which allowed me to participate more in the activities of Fallout, although I still did miss out on a few things. Part of me was glad I had to allow Jared to be more of a representative to the students there. I know he also formed much stronger bonds with the kids from spending more time with them, especially Jonathan, our only male student there. I'm a control freak, and someone who thinks I need to be a part of things for them to get done, but it's just not true, and I'm glad God helped show me the fruit of allowing others to step up in situations. Even now I feel less stressed about the future knowing I can let go of controlling a little easier, and hold on to those around me for help.

The theme this year was Hold On, and it turned out to be a great theme. The speaker was Don Talley, who is handicapped, in that he is one of only a few people in the world with a muscle condition that leaves him very weak (kind of like MS I think). He spoke of the hardship in his life from this disease showing itself in his physical limitations, emotion turmoil, and spiritual restlings. Through it all, he spoke about us holding onto God and God noticing us and making himself available to us. Frank, who organized the trip this year, also wrote out a lesson for the leaders (me included) to teach our designated group of students. This discussion focused on holding on to each other and being held on to. That is what a community based on love should be. It addressed masks we wear to cover who we really are, and not trusting others with who you really are, out of fear. We discussed how we help those wearing masks, and we can make a decision to take off our own masks, but one of the best parts of that, I think, was the time where students paired up with other students they didn't know so well, and they had an open discussion where they weren't hiding. They loved it, and I loved that they loved it. I truly hope they embrace a life without masks in their daily life. That they will learn to be open and real with those they come in contact with. That they will notice people as God notices us, and love them as God first loved us.

I was slightly nervous about speaking to a group of students that aren't my regulars. I'm not nervous about what they think, but maybe about measuring up against some of the other awesome leaders we have who are more experienced. But I do think our conversation went really well, and I hope that I helped bring forth God's Truth in an appropriate way.

So, now some of the less serious stuff of the weekend...
Brooks and I had a new driving buddy on the way up and back from Fallout... Katie, who always seems to hang out in the back booth with us, tagged along, which meant I had competition for the front seat. She also spilled her Mt. Dew in floor of the back seat, which she never told Brooks about.

I had video help from a guy named Justin. It was nice to have a bit more freedom, but I still got a lot of my own footage. When you've done this for as long as I have, it seems easier to just do it myself the way I want it, rather than getting stuff that isn't quite what I want.

There was a game we played where all the guys hold on tight to each other, and the girls have to try to pull the guys apart. My forearms felt like they were going to pop after that one. Then later I found tons of bruises all over my body from the girls ripping my limbs from the other guys. I also played boxball again this year and might have broken my finger (broke my nose last year). But I don't think it's really broken, just kind of messed up/swollen. It's my middle finger, so I flick off a lot of people wearing my splint.

I thought I would get done editing the Fallout video at a reasonable hour this year, since I already had the intro done and such, but that wasn't the case. I guess in my aged state I don't stay up late as well as I used to. Around 1AM I started dozing, and everything I went to watch a clip, I'd fall asleep for a few seconds and miss it. Thus editing took a really long time, and I didn't get to go to bed at all. No shower, no new clothes, no sleep until on the way home, I slept about 30 min. or so. I would have slept more if Brooks didn't play Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen... Katie and I broke out into a duet sing-along at the top of our lungs, and I was once again very awake.

So yeah, I was a walking zombie most of the day yesterday. I thought my video was kind of lamer than usual, but once it was ont he big screen I actually thought it was pretty good. I made fun of Dave (one of our staff) again this year. Last Fallout, he didn't participate in Boxball and the staff lost, so throughout the video I kept putting in text about Dave giving 100%, and then made fun of him for not giving 100% by not playing boxball. This year he played, so I did investigation breaks documenting him during boxball, mostly making fun of if he yawned or whatnot. I hope he's not mad at me. He really does a good job, I just do it for laughs from the kids.

So yeah, good trip overall... just one of my students when I asked her if she had a good time said "No. Did you expect anything else from me?" She was kind of sick, and also kind of a hypocondriac. It was stressful, but I do hope she got something out of it. She had tons of opportunities to have fun, and I think she had more than she admits, but most of the time she just chose not to join in. Bummer.

Campus Life is like family though. The testimonies at the end of the week attest to that. Students feel like they don't have to pretend they're something they're not. They can be themselves and be loved. I got caught up on a lot of hugs and loving words that I talked about needing in my previous post... plus we had a dance party the last night, courtesy of Brooks.

Trips like this show what Campus Life is really all about.

I'm really looking forward to Heatwave, and hope to be brining more students and staff.

Here's the weekend's video