Reverence and Revelry

Yesterday’s church was about “attitude,” the theme of the second week of camp. We all enjoyed a funny skit where Wodajo and George pretended to be racecar drivers, with Nuckles and Ford as the race team directors. When Ford radioed to George that he needed to “box” to get more fuel, he didn’t want to listen to him. Because of his stubbornness, he ran out of gas and lost the race to Wodajo, who had been working together with his team instead of letting his pride get in the way. Though it was a funny skit, our camp chaplain Matt explained how we can often fall victim to this “I can do it on my own” attitude. He explained how this is like trying to do things on our own without God, and that we should ask him for help and keep a humble attitude.

Matt then asked the group for examples of times when a good attitude changed the outcome of something. Several campers raised their hands and shared stories about cabin mates, friends, or trips they had gone on. “I’m proud of my cabin mate because he was really scared of camp at first, but now he’s doing better and has a better attitude - he’s not homesick anymore,” one camper shared. “I didn’t want to try rock climbing and mountain biking, but then I changed my attitude and tried it, and I loved it,” another boy said. Jake shared a story about a recent paddling trip when it was extremely windy on the final mile, making the journey very difficult. “Instead of getting frustrated at the waves, we started laughing about them. It loosened the tension and frustration by changing our attitude,” he said.

After church, we had a quick free choice time and then enjoyed Sunday lunch of ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and warm rolls! Sunday means sundaes, and the boys were extremely excited for the ice cream that awaited them after the meal! Cabins are dismissed to the ice cream line in order of their cabin inspection scores, which provides an extra incentive to keep a clean cabin.

In the afternoon, we switched gears from the quieter, more reverent part of the day, to the exciting games and activities planned! There was plenty of revelry and lively play with the assortment of special signups offered by our counselors. During the first half of the afternoon, boys could choose to play “knockout” in the gym with basketball, run lake laps to see who could set the new record, learn kickboxing with George, create a tie dye in arts and crafts, work on ultimate frisbee progressions, learn meditation techniques with Harry and Mate, play in kayaks at the Yak Shak, audition for the upcoming Talent Show, play Go under the Dining Hall, work on bike maintenance and trail work with mountain biking, play “touch the fence,” read with the “reading club” on the grassy knoll, play pickleball, join the “mystery hike,” or try speed climbing at the wall.

There was even more to choose from in the afternoon! During the 2nd half, boys could play in a lacrosse tournament, practice skits for Campfire, go on a run to the “top of the world,” play in a music jam session, learn about river safety on the paddling docks, join the pool party at the swim docks, play four square (Ford square!) with Ford, continue Talent Show auditions, rehearse for the upcoming play, check out the snakes at Nature, paddle some kayaks, build fires at OSC, go bouldering at the climbing wall, fly fish on the upper lake, or glaze pottery at arts and crafts. All of these choices were written down on posterboard under the Dining Hall, so boys could choose where they wanted to go and how they wanted to spend their afternoon!

Sunday evenings are highly anticipated for both Cookout and Campfire. During Cookout supper, everyone gets to enjoy a weekly treat: Cheerwine soda! We also had hamburgers with all the toppings, cowboy caviar, tomato pie, fresh watermelon, and brownies. Closing a big day with another quiet and reflective time at Campfire was a great way to have the Sunday come full circle. We’re looking forward to one more fantastic week here at June Camp!