Camp Barnabas 2013

He had folded his shirts back nicely, and placed them neatly in his suitcase. He had even buttoned them all the way up...even after he wore them. He's funny like that.

It was Joshua's 10th year to go to Camp Barnabas. Camp Barnabas is a Christian sports camp for kids and adults with challenges of one sort or another. They have different weeks you can choose from, depending on your camper's age or "diagnosis." It is such a wonderful place, and we feel so blessed that he can go there for a week each summer.

Joshua is such a creature of routine, so it's a pretty big deal for him to be away from his surroundings, even for a short time. He lives simply, and so when it comes to packing...it's all pretty easy. Each night at Camp, there is a dance, and each dance has a theme. Joshua is not one to really get in to the "silliness" of all that (his words). You won't catch him dressing as a robot or a pirate, but on the final night when they dress up in their finest clothes for the ball? Oh, yes ma'am...sign him right on up!

Each camper at Camp Barnabas is assigned a special person who will spend 23/24 hours with them. They get an hour off each day. These special helpers are called CIAs (Christians in Action). They are usually mature older teens from church youth groups who come and volunteer a week (or more), and work to ensure that kids and adults with special needs have the ultimate camp experience...to the best of their abilities! Joshua usually has a guy for his CIA...they try to do same sex for campers and CIAs...but the past two years, he has been assigned a girl CIA. This works out fine for Joshua because he has a sister, so he's used to that relationship. The girl CIAs cannot stay in the cabins overnight if their assigned camper is a boy, obviously, but that works out fine for Joshua. He is pretty self-sufficient and doesn't really need any help at night. Plus, there's a Cabin Dad who stays there overnight to oversee everything as well. His CIA this year, Jessica, was from Chicago, and she did not know one soul at Camp. She had come last year and loved it so much that she came back. ALL.BY.HERSELF.

Joshua's girlfriend, Jenni, also came to camp last week. They've been coming together for the past 10 years. They "aged-out" of their regular term, so this was the first time for them to come with the older campers and they did just fine. We always worry about the "drama" that typically is involved whenever the two of them are together. I wish I could explain it...I just can't. Even tho they are in their mid-20's, they sometime act like they are pre-teens. Some days, it's like they are overgrown toddlers. They can be so mature in some things, and very immature and unpredictable in others. It's just that they are very perceptive to things in the world around them that they see...and they have the same hormones and dreams and longings for the future that everyone else has. They just don't always know how to control or direct those feelings. One thing I noticed this year is that this is not a behavior just confined to Joshua and Jenni. Since we were at the older term, there were several campers there who had "significant others," and there was the same type of drama going on in those relationships as well. Made me feel better, because when they were younger and I thought of the day when Joshua might have a girlfriend, I imagined that they would be very quiet and loving and mellow...that they would enjoy watching tv and movies, and taking walks or swinging in the glider.

UMM...NO.

For the most part, Joshua and Jenni got along well. The one piece of advice I gave to his CIA is that when it came to them...if she had to intervene...LOGIC WILL NOT WORK. It just doesn't, and you can talk until you are blue in the face, and make all the right points. You'd be better off trying to pick up ice with chopsticks.

Trust me on this one.

Joshua always has so many interesting stories to tell after his week at camp, and I really want to write a post just on some of those things. Hopefully, I can get on that soon. And, hello disclaimer, these stories are told from Joshua's perspective and may or may not have any truth to them at all! Ha!

AND, big news...I got a new lap top from my sweet husband, so as soon as I figure it out ask my daughter for help, I will be able to post some pictures! Yay!

I love this Camp Barnabas. I am thankful for the one who had the vision to start it back in the beginning...for her and her husband's obedience to God's calling.

"The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1