Every summer at Camp has a theme, and this year's them was "The Great Escape." The verse was Galatians 5:1, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Every night has a different party theme as well. Campers are encouraged to bring costumes and dress up each night.
The first year Joshua went, I packed costumes for each night, and put them in bags labeled accordingly. I have no idea what he did. I think he went through the bags and picked out what he wanted from each bag for each night. He mixed and matched, AS YOU DO.
Every year after that, Joshua has not wanted to dress up. He kind of thinks all of it is silly, and plus...it was 900 degrees outside. But that was back when he went in July, and now that he has "aged-up," he goes the first week of June...and it's usually not that bad.
The first night was super-hero night. The campers dressed up in everything imaginable. One camper dressed in a full-out Pow-Pow-Power Ranger costume.
Joshua was IMpressed.
So impressed that he told me he wanted to dress up next year...IF he could dress up like a Power Ranger.
Done and DONE. I am going to be looking for a Power Ranger suit that's just his size!
The second night was Noah's Ark Water Park. This was the night that I saw the picture of Joshua on the Camp Barnabas website...and he AND HIS COUNSELOR were wearing matching wolf shirts. Joshua said that Daniel-the-counselor brought two wolf shirts with him to Camp...and he shared one with Joshua. These shirts were perfect for a Noah's Ark night, but also perfect because Joshua LOVES wolves. In fact, ever since Joshua watched the Twilight movie, he thinks he IS a wolf...and talks all the time about his 108 degree "core temperature."
WHAT?
I love how God is in the tiniest, most insignificant details...because the fact that Daniel brought that shirt instantly bonded him to Joshua. Daniel didn't know Joshua before he showed up at Camp, so there was no way he could've known Joshua's affinity for wolves. BUT GOD.
One night was called a Knight's Tale, and all of the Campers dressed up like Kings and Queens and things like that. Joshua said his favorite part of camp was the "josting" (jousting) that went on between the counselors on this night. They apparently rode stick horses and "fought" each other with pretend swords. They stood on top of hay bales and tried to knock each other off. Joshua said it was SO FUNNY!
The last night, the party was "A Blast from the Past." This is the one party that Joshua DID plan on dressing up for, but ONLY because he wanted to look like Fonzie. Or Jessie from "Full House." He rolled up his jeans, wore his white t-shirt and a black leather jacket.
I loved hearing all the stuff that went on during the week. And this is all from Joshua's perspective, so who knows if it's even right. He said that two boys threw clothes at each other every night. He said it was funny the first night, but it got "ode" night after night. He talked about the "bigger-set boy with the dark birthmarks," and said one of the campers was "wehrd." And one boy who was "a little bit artistic" (autistic) got in trouble for hitting.
He said that, at night, "when the med team left (the nurses who dispensed the prescriptions to the ones who took them), everyone stripped off their clothes" (because the nurses were female). He said, "except for that one boy who slept nude...and it was SICK."
Well, I thought he said, "when I was meditating, everyone stripped off their clothes." And I was thinking, "WHAT KIND OF MEDITATING IS HE DOING?"
He said that his favorite activity was "rifles." He said that he is "pretty much a pro at shooting." He also liked archery, and said he "channeled his inner Hunger Games."
WHO IS THIS CHILD?
I asked him if they did the overnight camp thing, where they take a short hike to a camp-site (that's still on the Camp Barnabas property), do camp activities like cook hot-dogs and roast marshmallows...and then they spend the night there. He said, "noooo...they don't do that anymore because of the MIDNIGHT WANDERER." Read here to see who that was!
Joshua said that their cabin got "honor" cabin again this year...because they kept everything neat and clean.
Also, since Camp Barnabas is kind of out in the boonies, it takes several days for a card or letter to get to them. Because of that, we just asked our friends and family to email him. Joshua has saved every card, letter and email he's gotten while at camp. ELEVEN YEARS WORTH. He has them all stuffed into a large binder. He loves looking at them.
He did tell me that 2 of the emails I sent...had a font so tiny that he couldn't read it. I could not imagine what he was talking about, but when he showed me...it is very tiny! I guess it was the emails I sent from my cell-phone.
Joshua had such a great time at Camp Barnabas this year. I am so thankful for this wonderful place. :)
Here are the camp updates from this year: here, here, here, here, here, here.
"Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever." Psalm 37:18
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