Saturday, August 2, 2014

Friday: Teen Week

Greetings Readers,

   Sorry about the inconsistencies in the posting this week. No one has complained, but it's been more difficult than ever to post updates during teen camp. Either the upload speed is to slow or my laptop would throw a tantrum and decide to stop working entirely.  I will try to get a better computer by next summer.

   I hope you've enjoyed the photos so far, and I will post the rest of the photos and some additional information as soon as I can. This blog was an experiment this summer in getting out general information to parents of campers, parents of staff, and friends of camp. I have enough feedback to make some improvements next summer, and I hope it was useful to all of you who spent time following it.

   A lot of you asked for video clips, and that's a suggestion I will take to heart for our 2015 season.

   Teen camp has been a real blessing this year to me; and half of the reason is because we missed out on having teen week last year. Campers aged 13-17 often have some of the most difficult issues to deal with and camp is a great place to leave those things behind and just enjoy being teenagers. I know those issues don't just vanish, and today I watched as campers opened up about their personal lives to each other and their counselor during afterglow (which is right after our camp pageant).

   There was laughter, tears, prayers and hugs shared among so many of them, it's amazing that less than a week ago most of them were strangers to each other. I found myself wondering how many of those 16 & 17 year old's will fill out an application to work here next summer.

   I know our parents send their campers to PSR for so many different reasons, but I hope that your child (camper or staff member) was someone who encountered the transformative power of camp.

   We'll be in transition back down the mountain from tomorrow night until Thursday, so pardon our dust as we get ready to head back down the mountain... it may take a little longer to get to our email, messages, and phones but we'll be doing our best.

   God Bless!

~Jeremy