Centrifuge Recap

So the past week I was up at Bambi Lake for Centrifuge. It was my sixth time going, though my first as a leader. It was definitely a different experience for that fact alone. It's strange that people not much younger than myself are now coming to me for, really, life-changing events. One of the five guys we brought accepted Christ, one of the guys shared with me his desire to do some missions work, and one of the guys gave up his last shake (Which is the most popular thing at Bambi) to give to the Roma people and Canada (The focuses of this year's missions offering).

What was even more strange was having two kids from another church asking me to pray with them. All I can say is God works in mysterious ways, because those kids never would have sat in front of our group if it hadn't been for the night's seating arrangements. These are two guys who, really, I had only seen at camp prior to Friday night. But, during worship, they definitely were having some things revealed to them. They asked if we could go out and talk, and I obliged. Another guy from their group came with because he was also struggling. Their pastor came out and went off and talked with the third guy, and then these guys asked me to pray for them. It was amazing to just let God do His work in these kids lives. I mean, up until they asked me to pray for them, I had no clue what to say. I was just sitting there, praying silently over them about a situation I knew nothing about. But when they asked me to pray for them, God just brought the words they needed to hear. It's truly amazing to be a vessel for Him, because you know it has absolutely nothing to do with you.

On lighter notes of the week, it was strange to only know a few students prior to going. Obviously, when I went as a student, especially in my later years, I knew practically everyone. This time around, I knew, outside of my own group, just a handful of people, and even those were sometimes just by hearing about them or seeing them before rather than actually knowing them. But, even as an "adult leader," I met a lot of cool people. It's funny to look at Fuge from the leader's perspective, because I now like to joke that I just brought our guys so I would have an excuse to go to Fuge. It's just an amazing experience, no matter what age you are.

Sadly, the entire week was not so happy. A couple of kids went way past prank. It started with the Fuge Cup being stolen the first night (By some of the people that were in our cabin no less...thankfully it wasn't any of the Lakeside guys). Then someone spray painted one of the Fuge staff's vans. And then, Thursday night/Friday morning, a group of kids pulled canoes into the worship center, put the chairs in them, and proceeded to spray paint the rec field and silly string and TP the worship center (All the while leaving a note that said they weren't trying to disrupt worship and that they really did love God...while I can't judge on the second part, I can guarantee that these kids obviously knew what they were doing would disrupt worship, and that's why they put it in the note. They were merely trying to cover their butts). The camp pastor went off Friday morning, and rightfully so. I mean, the camp director, who was also the adult Bible study leader, was in tears trying to tell us about what happened. The kids who did it will not be allowed back to Fuge next year, which is definitely the right thing to do. This is the reason that we don't allow Lakeside students to prank...someone always takes it too far.

But let's not dwell on the negative, because this truly was an amazing week of getting close to God. This, moreso than any Fuge I can think of, was a big week of action. The whole theme, The Underground, was focused on reaching out to people less fortunate...the abandoned, the poor, the sick, the oppressed. I really hope that the guys of my group got the idea and will be able to act on what they learned this week.

Recap video will be up soon.

What A Morning...

So I've got a wet phone that I'm probably going to have to replace, and I've got a newspaper that ruined little bits of the last Harry Potter book for me. Why, oh why did I read that review (Though it's really more of a preview)?

My phone got wet last night during disc golf. I completely forgot I had it in my pocket until I got out. Yay for me and a phone I now probably have to get a new one. Verizon does have a free upgrade program of course, so maybe I can use that.

But yeah, now I know what the "Deathly Hallows" are, and I know which house elf is on the cover of the UK book (Assuming it's a house elf). Grrrr.....

1st Annual Clinton River Challenge

It's official. Saturday, August 18 at 3 PM. A free tournament with prizes, including a 3-disc set for the best first-time player. We're simply asking that people bring a 2 liter of pop or a bag of chips or something like that to share between rounds (Or, if you like, you can chip in a couple bucks for pizza that we'll be providing).

It's going to be a good time for everyone who comes to play, so I hope to see you there!

Disc Golf Tournament

So we're definitely going to do a disc golf tournament. I'm working on finalizing the details, but it's going to be Saturday, August 18 and we'll probably start around 11 AM. We'll do two rounds of 24 holes with lunch in the middle (Probably a couple of pizzas and 2-liters). It'll be free for anyone who wants to play, or they can pay $10 and get themselves a disc. We'll do prizes for 1st, 2nd and best first-time player.

Right now I'm working with the name "Clinton River Challenge," but I'd like to think of something more creative. Any ideas?

Possible Disc Golf Tournament

So I'm thinking about putting together a disc golf tournament next month. I'm figuring we can do a free tournament, or people can pay $10 and get themselves a free disc. I also figure we could give away a couple discs for the best performers (I'm thinking a three disc set for first place, a fairway or distance driver for second, and another disc for the best first-timer or something like that).

I'm having trouble coming up with a name, though. I think we'll probably do a Monday evening tournament up at River Bends...it's the closest course we've got until they build a new one (Which, I find out, there are possible courses coming in Clinton Township and Sterling Heights).

I'm excited to try and put this together.

Yeah for sunburn...

Yep, vacation's over. And, as expected, I got sunburned like whoa. Always do. It never matters how much sunscreen I put on, how often I put it on, I still get burned. Luckily it doesn't hurt.

So Spirit Song was cool. And by cool I mean enjoyable, because it definitely wasn't cold. In fact, I only saw two acts Saturday night because it was just too hot to sit out there and watch...which was too bad, because I would have liked to have seen Disciple, I definitely wanted to see Falling Up, I wouldn't have minded seeing Stellar Kart, and I didn't have a problem with watching Building 429 for the second time this year. It wasn't until Toby came on that our seats were actually shaded. Same show as February with a few less songs. Casting Crowns was awesome though. The new song was incredible.

BarlowGirl was good on Friday, and Kutless was decent. We skipped out of Jeremy Camp. Saturday was alright. I missed Dizmas but picked up their new disc and a T-shirt for $20. TFK was solid. Hawk Nelson was ugh, but my parents enjoyed it.

Highlight of the week, though, was David Crowder Band. No real surprises there, based on the acts they had coming. But seriously, even they outdid themselves. A mini 80s break with some Super Mario Bros. is always solid. Busting out a keytar...great. But the best thing had to be the Guitar Hero controller that became a "professional instrument" for one of the new songs. Seriously, it was just an amazing show.

It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night...

Vay-K-Shun!

Oh yeah...it's time for some vacationing! We're leaving tomorrow for King's Island. Thursday through Saturday is Spirit Song. Three days in the park, a bunch of sweet artists playing concerts...oh yeah, this is going to be awesome!

I'm getting me some shirts...Crowder, maybe Toby, maybe TFK, perhaps some others, and definitely To Write Love On Her Arms if they have a booth or whatever there.

I'm done packing, except for a few little things...the iPod, which is charging, the books I'm bringing to read on the way, stuff to charge the iPod, phone, wallet, etc. Should be fun.

Very Long Day...

Oi. I had to work extra long today. Normally I'm out at 9 PM or so, but I ended up staying until 11 (AKA closing time) with Furball, because we were that insanely busy. And then I still had to head over to my aunt and uncle's house to close the door to keep the dogs in for the night. Basically, I just got home ten minutes ago.

On happier notes though, tomorrow will be disc golfing at night. Kyle, Scott, hopefully Preston, and definitely myself. That one right there...that's one I hope to find tomorrow at a store, but I doubt it. I'll probably have to special order it. Still, I'm hoping to pick up another distance driver tomorrow somewhere, hopefully long range with a high speed rating (9, 10, maybe an 11 like the Wraith if I can manage it). We'll see what I can muster up.