Winter Camp 2015

January 28, 2015

This is the second camp I have gone to with my college church Chi Alpha and this was one to remember. Not only was our Chi Alpha there but Chi Alphas from all over the North West, Western was there, Bellevue Community College, University of Idaho, and Washington State University. I had a blast! The first night there we had our first amazing service, the whole series for the weekend was abiding in Christ. Meaning that we need to live a life near to Christ because then we can flourish. Once the service concluded my core girls and I decided that we wanted to head out to get something to eat after getting our beds set up. We piled into our perspective vehicles and headed out to the local IHOP for some late night goodies. I had a yummy Tropical Zinger and shared a strawberry crepe with my dear friend Sarah Compton. After our perspective meals were finished we headed back to camp to get some well needed rest.

The next morning we woke up bright eyed and sort of bushy tailed (first nights are always the hardest), had us some camp breakfast (not the best food but it also wasn't the worst). And then headed to our morning service. This one was centered on the idea of Lectio Divina (divine reading), our speaker walked us through the process and we talked about how doing this practice is a good way to focus on the text and listen to what God has to say about it. Once service was done we had some cabin time to talk about the services and what we took away from them. The first service talked about how we need to be like trees planted by streams of water, and they wanted us to think about what came to mind when we heard that. The image that came to my mind was a big giant fruit tree next to a creek and it was a place where people could sit up in my branches to hang out and munch on fruit. During our discussion I thought about what that could mean and what I thought was that I need to work on my confidence with being a Christian and that I need to be proud of it and that I also need to be a person that people can come to just to talk or hang out with.

Once cabin time was over we went to lunch which was tacos....... (literally, you can't go to camp without having Mexican food of some sort). Lunch concluding we went to one of the classes that were being put on by the pastors, I went with a few of my core girls and my new friend Brian to the Holy Spirit class. It was really deep, we talked about who the Holy Spirit is and how he works in us. After a very long class I got to have some free time, during which I did homework then played a very intense game of Settlers of Catan with some of the guys from Bellevue Community college (I made an awesome come back that no one expected but I still lost in the end). By the time we finished it was time for us to head to dinner (this was actually kind of gross, it was BBQ chicken that was not cooked enough for my taste, baked beans, rice, and cornbread).

When I finished up that meal (which I felt was my last because of the sketchy chicken) I went with Sweet Brian to go and attempt to save spots for people at service. This was going to be an intense night because the last night of camp always is. The lesson that night was about taking off the masks that we wear and letting God heal that part of us. During the worship and response I had such an amazing experience, one of the leaders for my Chi Alpha: Melissa Nquyen, prayed for me and I was so filled with emotion that I burst into tears while I was worshiping. And I really just felt called by God to use my blog for more than just petty things. I know that some of my followers don't share my beliefs but I really want to be able to use this writing talent that I have to share the love of Christ to all who read it. Once the really deep part of the worship was done the band kicked it up and played some fast songs, which meant that all of the students were up at the front jumping around and dancing. I even dragged Sarah with me to the front so that we could dance to one of our favorite songs (needless to say I am still an awful dancer).

After service we had a little more free time, I wanted to go swimming but I couldn't get anyone to go with me. So instead Sarah and I worked on designing our characters for the fanfiction we are cowriting (for those interested it will be posted when it is finished, of course that might take us a while). Then it was off to bed because we were all exhausted.

Sunday morning dawned and once again we headed out for breakfast; this time it was yummy french toast! We had one more service which was a really great conclusion for the entire weekend and once that was over everyone got all packed up and got ready to head back to our perspective colleges. Once all of us were packed and loaded up our caravan set off. We drove for a while and then stopped in Snoqualmie Pass to grab some lunch at a coffee shop, then finally we made it safely back home. Then it was back into the school work fray for me as I had to type up a paper for one of my classes.

That was Winter Camp 2015, it was so much fun and I can't wait for the next camp that Chi Alpha puts on because they are always fun. Thanks for reading!