Monday Night

After a long day on the bus and lots of goofing around in our cabins last night, one would think that sleeping in would be desirable… This was certainly not the case. The kids were up seemingly before the wake-up bell even rang at 7, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and very ready for their first full day at Hume! After breakfast came morning chapel, a time when we all got to enjoy the drama of the humorous antics of Remy and Philippe, two self-centered visitors to Paris who learn what life is really all about (serving the “Dauphin” with their lives instead of just serving themselves)! After the hilarity came a talk from Meadow Ranch camp director Derek Geer, challenging us all to consider centering our lives around Christ instead of ourselves.
After chapel came the excitement of recreation and “The Fab Four” games, consisting of World of Watercraft (relays in the pool), the Snake Pit: Snow Leopard Edition (trying to steal your team’s flag without being hit by flying tennis balls), Great Bambino Slug Fest (knocking blocks off the shoulders of your opponents with a noodle), and Horse De-Tailing (5 people in a chain of inner tubes attempting to steal the tail off of opponents’ “horses,” all the while gaining extreme entertainment value from watching counselors lead each team’s “horse” while wearing huge horse masks). Our teams of Beef Au Jus, Parfait, Éclair, and Quiche all had so much fun, as I’m sure you can imagine!
After rec came lunch, at which time both of our two girls cabins were announced as the second and third place winners for cabin cleanliness (parents, be proud!): go Alpine 103 and 104! Free time was filled with activity, campers and counselors alike provided with limitless ways to spend the afternoon! Some jumped off the big rock into the lake, others rode the zip line over the pond, and yet others enjoyed the wonders of Noah’s Nightmare (a big trapeze from which to swing and drop into the pond) and the infamous Blob (a MONDO inflated vinyl floating pillow-ish sort of thing from which we launch your children into the water)! Many counselors and campers had one-on-ones, a time when we can get to know each other better and encourage the students to dig deeper into their relationships with God, and lots of card games were played as dinner time approached.
Dinner and a kick ball game (in which we counselors got totally creamed by the Meadow Ranch staff) created momentary quiet (or, um, quiet-er… ), and the Hank Murphy Band leading worship as well as speaker Ron Merrell challenging and encouraging us in our walks with Christ made for an awesome evening chapel! We were all inspired by Ron’s speaking on God the Father’s love for us as displayed through the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, and we were moved by his description of God giving up his son so that we would be saved from our own sin.
Cabin time tonight will undoubtedly be filled with all kinds of wonderful in-depth discussions as we continue to dialogue with the kids about the Savior that we can so blessedly call our own! More to come…!
~Lindsay Pattison