This weekend I spent my time up in Cascade volunteering as a student leader for the Jr. High Camp my church is a part of every year.
First off, this was a brand new experience for me to be in a place of leadership, and I mean direct leadership, over Jr. Highers. I think my friend, David Wheeler, said it best: (paraphrase) "I remember being your counselor when you were at Jr. High camp."
That being said, going into this weekend I wasn't really sure what to expect. The Holy Spirit tends to like to show up at camps and do crazy stuff, that I knew. I just wasn't sure how I, or my fellow student leader friends (Justin and J), were going to fit into that movement of the Holy Spirit.
As our group of about 25 kids pulled into Trinity Pines camp, I was already having flashbacks not only of the camp, but of previous years hanging with my friends. I was putting myself in the new kid's eyes and experiencing things for the first time again. Actually, when I put myself in my own eyes I was experiencing this for the first time. Leadership is a whole nother ball game when it comes to camps.
The weekend was AMAZING. Worship was, as expected, fantastic. The Holy Spirit came and ministered to the hearts of these 12-14 year olds. I would also say it's safe to say that the leaders were ministered to as well. At least I know I was. God showed me things that I knew I had to deal with, but he showed me them in a new light. Things like reading my Bible, obeying my parents, and even just simply living in his freedom.
Also this weekend, I had the experience of getting a tooth pic get shoved through my hand, and poke out on the other side! Yeah, pretty gnarly stuff, I know. That's a story in and of itself that I'll share as soon as I get my hands on some pics of the event. ;-)
This weekend, I established relationships with people that I had never talked to before. I was used by God to minister to the Davids of this generation, encouraging them to take on their Goliaths. It was eye opening for me, and I am so glad I was given the opportunity, and that I said yes.
Now I just need to treat my swollen hand wound, massage my sore muscles, get caught up on lost sleep, and fight this cold it feels like I'm getting.
There's this great scene in the movie "The Dead Poets Society." Here's a clip:
If you haven't seen this movie in its entirety you should. It brings forth some incredible concepts and it really made me think.
What I love so much about this clip is how the teacher, who the students are asked to refer to as 'Captain', asks them to see things differently. He demonstrates this by example in that he teaches his class in a completely different and original manner. He doesn't teach the class simply so they pass the test: he teaches the class so they learn.
Today, being both a Saturday and a part of Christmas break, was very conducive to sleeping in. I slept until 11, and then got up for my morning ritual. Put the dog out, feed the dog, hug my parents, mosey around, read the front page, eat breakfast (if readily accessible), check my email, check the blog stats, then go look at the calendar to see what I have today. Half way through accomplishing this, I remember that I had forgotten to take a shower in above ritual. Argh.
Sometimes I wish showers weren't necessary. Or hygiene for that matter. Shaving is a pain, brushing teeth wastes time, and without deodorant people stay away from me (still haven't figured that one out). Yes, I know all of those must be done so I do them. But come on, you have to admit you wish there was a national "Sit around in your PJ's and don't worry about hygiene" day. Or is it just me?
Anyways, I forgot to take a shower. So I go back upstairs, pick out my clothes (most of em are dirty so I just pick the ones without grass stains and BO), grab a towel, and hit the bathroom. While standing there, letting the hot/cold water run over me (I say hot/cold because my mom was using the faucet upstairs for something. Brrr.) I looked at the ground. Then I sat on the ground. I don't know what bridged the gap between the motion of my eyes and the motion of my body, but nonetheless I found myself sitting down inside my shower. Interesting, thought I. So I looked up. Interesting. I could only look up for a few seconds: the water was hot and semi-chlorinated after all. The shower-controller-thing was about 2 1/2 feet above me. It looked smaller, even from that short distance. The shower head was a completely different matter, however. From up close I would never think such a thing could look so menacing. From a farther distance, say 4-5ft, this simple little water dispenser looked like a cycling vortex of death. That's right, death. I almost wanted to stand up just to show it who's boss. Giving myself encouragement, I continued looking. The built in soap-holder that my shower has was dull. Normally one can see what it holds: usually soap. From down below, however, it looked like no more than a useless brick. Then I looked down close to me. Well that's cool, thought I. Normally the most strenuous part of my shower is the shampoo bit towards the end. Imagine this: after a nice soaping down and rinsing, I have to bend all the way over to actually grab my bottle of shampoo that sits on the ground. Then I have to stand back up straight so I can properly squirt the shampoo. Then, after that feat has been accomplished, I have to bend back over to put the bottle back on the ground, then stand back up. It's ridiculous. Sitting on the ground, however, made this easy. It was just behind-and-to-the-right of me. Phew, saved some calories from the fiery furnace of my body.
After the whole washing gig was over, I continued to sit. This would make an interesting blog post, I thought. Then I decided against it: after all, who would want to hear about my experience in the shower? Creeeepppyyyy... I stood back up, turned the shower off, and commenced my day.
As I got to thinking about the whole shower ordeal, I saw how it related to that Dead Poets Society clip. Looking at the world differently is really interesting. I wonder if I would see more aspects of my life if I tried "sitting down" or "standing on my desk?" I'll give it a go and let ya know how it works. Maybe I'll even try it on the whole principle of Christmas and see if I get some sort of epiphany. Then again, maybe I'll just see some kind of useless brick. Lol, I'm already seeing how this gets me to think!
Anyways, hope the holiday season is treating you well. Merry Christmas, Colin
Oh, btw, for all you people that appreciate "Dead Poets Society" I decided I might as well throw possibly the best scene of the movie on here.
I think a good day deserves a good dosage of a couple things. And today, being the legitimate first day of snow, I think deserves a very good dosage. "But Colin," you may be asking "what exactly do you mean by 'dosage'?" Well, reader, I will tell you.
Firstly, everyone needs a good dosage of swing music:
That being said, going into this weekend I wasn't really sure what to expect. The Holy Spirit tends to like to show up at camps and do crazy stuff, that I knew. I just wasn't sure how I, or my fellow student leader friends (Justin and J), were going to fit into that movement of the Holy Spirit. 
