Student Life Rant

So I went to camp at the beach this past week. It was pretty much amazing.

The night before, I went to a friend's house overnight and we stayed up until 1:30am. That wasn't the smartest idea, as we had to get up at 4:45 in order to be at the church by 5:30.

So we arrived at the church at around 5:40. There was only one other car in the parking lot. However, soon, more of the youth group arrived. The very last one to come was Barry, the youth minister.

After praying for our safety, the two 15-passenger vans were loaded up, and everyone was situated. And we were on our way.

The 8-hour ride was incredibly boring. Some slept, some read, most listened to the radio, danced, and talked.

Everyone sighed with relief as Barry, one of our drivers, eased into a stop at the tollbooth. We were so close!

As we drove over the large bridge to get to the beach, everyone craned their necks to get a glimpse of the ocean. The van turned a corner, and we were at the Wharf.

Our whole group hopped out of the van, stretched our legs, and walked into the building. Thankfully, it was air-conditioned. We shuffled into the auditorium after grabbing our workbooks and t-shirts, glad to be out of the vans and on our feet again.

We sat close to the front of the room, to the left of the stage, and listened to the guidelines and expectations of camp.

After that was finished, we drove to our condos, which, I was dismayed to find out, was not on the beach like the previous two years. But it would prove to be just as nice. We decided who was sharing rooms with who, and then we all changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the community pool.

We didn't get to 'enjoy' it for very long (there were odd things floating around), as dinner was ready. And after dinner was the first session.

The overall theme of the camp was Audacious. That night's theme was Be On Your Guard. Matt Chandler, the speaker, was great. He was really easy to understand, and he gave several examples to help the students to understand. Aaron Keyes, the worship leader, was also amazing. He would explain what each song meant to him, and what he hoped it would mean to us, before singing it. He would quote Scripture, he would encourage us to worship with all we have, and he was smiling and enjoying himself up on the stage.

The next day, we got up at 7 for a girls-only prayer meeting in the gazebo. It was really encouraging, and I think it put everyone in a better mood for the rest of the day. We then headed off to eat breakfast and prepare for Morning Celebration.

Every morning, there would be a live 'news crew.' Funny stories tweeted by campers would be read aloud. Birthdays would be announced. Games would be played. Both a random youth minister and a family group leader would be called up to the stage, and they would  be given prizes. Then Aaron would come onstage, we would sing, and Matt would come out and teach his morning session.

For our free time, we headed to the beach. It was a bit of a longer drive than the first two years, but nobody minded. They were just anxious to get on the beach. It was cloudy, however, and we ended up leaving early.

That second night, we were instructed to Stand Firm In The Faith. This didn't necessarily mean standing up on your chair in school and argue with your teacher about the Bible, it just meant you were supposed to keep trusting God when things are hard.

Wednesday, we went to a different beach, in Florida. There was an island made of rocks, and it contained several tide pools. Everyone could walk out to the rocks, and the water never went above any of the youth's necks. For a while, some of us climbed around on the rocks (some of which were very slick), and Whitney slipped and cut up her leg pretty bad. Katie started freaking out, thinking sharks would come and attack them because of the blood. Barry and Caleb found a couple of pretty big crabs under a rock and they spent a while trying to coax them from their hiding place. We stayed out in the water a lot longer this time, and most everyone was sunburned. But everyone had had fun, even as we walked back to the van in the rain.

Also, on Wednesday, the youth group found out that the Pastor for Discipleship of Youth (I think that's his official title, anyways. I can't be bothered to go check), Aaron, has a growth in his neck. Hopefully, it will turn out to be harmless. I haven't heard anything since his appointment, though.

Wednesday night's theme was Be Courageous. The example given was sharing the Gospel with your best friend, who you knew thought that being a Christian was ridiculous. You should be bold, be audacious, and pray that God will take the seed you helped to plant and make it grow.

Thursday, we went back to the same beach with the rocky island. Anna Tr. wasn't feeling the best, so she decided to stay out of the water. She followed Kendra, Anna Th., Hope, and I to the bathrooms to change, and sat outside at a picnic table. She didn't see us come back out, however, and she stayed at the table. As we arrived back at the beach, we realized she was missing. Kendra went to call the lifeguard to help find her. Meanwhile, Hope and I went digging in the sandbar for shells, and I'd say we were pretty successful. We both found live clams, and I picked up a hermit crab. I spent more time in the water than on the rocks, but I still got burnt pretty bad. Once everyone was out of the water, we saw that Anna Tr. had been found and proceeded to interrogate her and Kendra about what had happened. It turned out that Anna hadn't seen us come out of the bathroom, and so she had just waited at the picnic table for twenty minutes for someone to come find her.

Thursday night's theme was Be Strong. Matt talked about how, once we got home from camp, we'd be on a camp high. For a while, maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a month, we'd be soaring, like we were riding on eagles. After that phase, we would be running, no longer being helped or taught by someone as much as we were at camp. And finally, we would slow to a walk, struggling to keep going. But Matt encouraged us to keep going, to continue in our walk with God.

That night was the fun night, the one where we got to stay up as late as we wanted. Every year, at Student Life, the Booga Game is played. It's kind of like an introductory game to our youth group. Everyone has to play it. And this year, we had two contestants, Matt C. and Whitney. They both did really well.

Also, at the beginning of the trip, Barry announced that anyone on the trip that was caught without their seat belt on would have to do the Happy Meal Challenge. Basically, you would have to drink a blended McDonald's Happy Meal, cheeseburger, fried, <i>and</i> soda. Six people were caught, including Barry. So those six drank the Happy Meal, and everyone else watched. Everyone threw up at least once.

After most everyone had gone back to their rooms, the girls pulled a few pranks. They included singing creepy songs outside the guys' room and placing Goldfish and forks all around both vans.

The next morning, everyone piled back into the van for the long ride back home. We stopped at Waffle House for breakfast, where Katie tried to learn how to work a jukebox machine. Barry threatened to leave three of the girls, because they were taking so long in the bathroom, and that was fun. Everyone danced to whatever music was playing on the radio in the van, and several pictures and videos were taken.

I found out that Call Me Maybe isn't as bad as I wanted it to be. Neither is 1D. And so that really sucks.

Anyways, despite the music, not being on the beach, and the emotionalism that comes every year at camp, I had a ton of fun. I'm glad that everyone that went had raised enough money to go, because what would Student Life@The Beach have been without anyone to help me enjoy it?

That was really cheesy. But it's the truth, and I honestly don't care. Thanks for reading my Student Life Rant.