Friday Night

Happy Saturday morning everyone!! Well, today is bittersweet. I think I can speak for everyone and say that we are all sad that camp is over, but we are also happy to be coming home to see our family and friends again . . . and also get a few days rest.
Friday morning recreation was amazing! It was the great race. Energy and excitement is at its highest level!! The great race is a race through a series of 12 different activities that have to all be completed in order to complete the race. It’s the race that EVERYONE wants to win! Saint Matthew’s teams finished solidly at 1st, 4th, and 7th. The anticipation continues to build, as we now wait all day long until the evening recreation chapel to find out who the overall winner of recreation is, and who will get the championship shirt.
After lunch, was the high ropes course! Can I just say that we had 40 kids participate and it was totally awesome?! The high ropes course consists of a bungee jump (42 feet free fall), pamper poles (climb the telephone pole and then at the top jump to a trapeze), rock wall climb, and a ropes course 50 or so feet up in the trees. It’s a very tough course both mentally and physically. It pushes all those who do it to their limits. It’s a great experience to go through and to watch the kids go through. They rocked it!!
We had a hamburger barbecue dinner, which was pretty tasty. Then came recreation chapel. WOW WAS THE ENERGY HIGH!!! All of us were split among 5 different teams, and we were all in the running for winning the championship. So as you can imagine, there was a little friendly competition and heckling…etc etc. The results turned out pretty good. We finished 1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, & 9th. So that was totally awesome!
After that we had our final chapel where John talked about how we know the Bible is real and true. John did a great job all week reaching the kids. He has a gift and he uses it well. The kids had nothing but good things to say about him all week. After that we had the closing drama up at victory circle, which wraps up the whole theme and message of the week.
Then at night us guy leaders pulled a little prank on the kids called Hatchet Harry. ☺ You’ll have to ask your kids about that one. ☺ Or you can ask me or PD or Erock and we’ll fill you in on the details . . . but I wouldn't worry, they’re all tired enough to where I am sure they will sleep very soundly the next couple of nights. Good times . . . good times!
Please pray that we have safe travels home today! Thanks again for all of your prayers and also thanks for taking the time to read the blog and keeping up with our daily activities. We had a great week!
In Him,
-Justin Bayne

Hey there are you listeners out there in Radioland . . . and thank you for tuning into this exciting conclusion of the SMLCMSHLSB (Saint Matthew Lutheran Church Middle School Hume Lake Super Blog). We last left off with our intense cliffhanger and several unanswered questions. Well after all these hours, the waiting is finally over. Friday began like it always does with breakfast and chapel and stuff. We made our way to recreation chapel where they announced the places. It was a close contest between ROBOSLAM and the robosapians, with ROBOSLAM holding the 3rd place position and the sapian guys in 2nd. However, after an intense day of recreation, Bible verses and cabin cleanup, it seemed that the final standings were still up for grabs. The day went on and after the search for Dinker (the stupid duck that was impossible to find) proved unsuccessful, no one knew who would bring home the final victory. After dinner, we made our way into the final recreation chapel. Everyone anxiously awaiting the final results of the competition. The teams were announced. Starting from 16th place and making their way down, everyone hoping their team would not be called. 10th place, still no results for anyone from Saint Matt's. 9th place, the Grannybots (Pam’s team) got called. When 7th place was called it was revealed that the Monkeybots (Heather’s cabin) would hold this position. After pulling off an exciting win of the great race Robotime was launched up into 6th place in an impressive effort after beginning in 15th. 4th place is called and still no word of ROBOSLAM or robosapian. Ready to announce 3rd place, but wait, we needed one last visit from Grizzly Barbasol, the camp superhero who came and taught us a fun dance. 10 minutes pass and they are ready to announce third place. Anxiously waiting; who would take 3rd, would either of our team claim the title. After a more waiting, it was announced and in a valiant effort the robosapians took home the bronze medal. The final announcement awaited us. I would go on but you all know how this ends. ROBOSLAM proved successful in their efforts and took home the win. Kids go crazy and run up on stage in celebration. Excited, both for their champion t-shirts, and for the honor of getting up early the next day to serve their fellow campers with morning KP duty. It was an exciting competition. We hope you will turn in for the next season of SMLCMSHLSB (Saint Matthew Lutheran Church Middle School Hume Lake Super Blog). Its been great trip and we can’t wait to see you all soon. God bless.
-Erock

By the way, although recreation was a blast and it was exciting we realize that the true purpose of this camp was to deepen relationships or start new ones with God. It is my hope that above all, the kids would see how a real relationship with God is far more important than our own efforts. That we would truly realize that to truly change our lives, we need to allow God to work and us. It is not by our own power that we are able to follow God and what God wants for us, but it is by keeping our eyes on him and treasuring our relationship with him that he will cause our sin to fall away. The kids have been challenged this week and I hope they know that although the life of a follower of Christ is not easy, it is something that brings so much fulfillment to both this life and the one to come. Thank you so much for reading and I thank God for moving in the kids’ lives this week. Any victories that happen belong to God. We've had a blast and we can’t wait to see you all soon. Much love…