Fired Up!
Everyone was fired up in the Dining Hall this morning. They were so hyped up it was noticed by all. What was the reason? Waffles and bacon, freshly cut pineapple and melons, berries of three sorts for breakfast didn’t make sense (we have that kind of food every morning). The air was muggy, it will be a hot day and there is no breath of wind… the weather is not the reason. Opening Vespers was perfect last night… but a beautiful EP doesn’t hype everyone up; that wasn’t the reason. I think the reasons are as many as the facets of a great big Tiffany diamond… and just as beautiful and worthy of understanding.
- Saturday the end of our first week… we are pumped about camp!
- Team Fires Today the mascots, captains, and lieutenants of the teams will be chosen. It is a fun night, many campers are engaged in the preparations.
- Comfortable After a week at the same table, the volume of the dining hall increases significantly. The campers are talking loudly, singing loudly, walking around visiting friends at other tables. Dancing breaks out quickly when some songs play. It is awesome!
- Taylor Swift is a force of nature… if we surprise the girls with a song in the dining hall, everyone stands up, crowds the aisles, and jumps up and down in unison with arms upheld as they share a joy of rapture not to be matched very many times in this life. It is amazing… we played all six minutes of Enchanted just before Breakfast Club. It was crazy… not a typical morning in the dining hall!
- Breakfast Club focused on Social media… how “me focused” it is and how at camp we focus on other people instead. Frankly, tough to talk about the philosophical fallacies of social media following Taylor…
- Joke I can see Clearly now… a camper favorite.
All that to say, it is a great day at Greystone and we feel terrific.
The Vespers program last night was special. It was the best we have had in a long time. It might have been the best we ever had. I think the main reason it clicked was the place where we met… a place that has not been used since October 2019… a place that is sacred at Greystone… Council Fire. We announced a renovation of this area at our 100th anniversary year celebration. The plans were wonderful and we were very excited to break ground when Covid changed everythng. Full stop, followed by a lengthy pause as we took care of more pressing matters. We finally broke ground in November and completed the renovation in March this year. The first “regular” event scheduled for the space was June Camp Council Fire, but rain moved that event into the FORT and we decided it was time to see how the space worked last night. It was a good decision.
The girls entered through the candle lit rock columns by cabin groups to the sound of praise songs being sung by those who were already seated. The volume of the singing increased as the campers gathered… and their voices bathed the area with a beauty that is impossible to describe. I (and many others) were deeply moved by the moment. In such a setting, the story was more special, the verses more poignant, the candles more bright. It was amazing. A moment that will be remembered.
Thank you.
Thank you so very much for making this possible.
Main Camp is a very hard session to explain… difficult to market. Practically NOBODY is interested in a summer camp that is that long, that expensive, that inconvenient. Were it not for the fact that you find value in such a thing, it would have drastically changed a very long time ago. But with your support, Main Camp is our beacon to the world. It is a session that Glorifies God better than anything else we do. It is only here because of you. We are so very grateful that you appreciate and celebrate our mission “To delight and inspire; for the glory of God”
- Breakfast Waffles and Bacon
- Lunch Chicken Broccoli and Rice, Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Dinner Flank Steak, Polenta
- EP Team Fires
- Joke I can see Clearly Now (Thanks, David Vining!)
- Weather Muggy 83, afternoon showers possible
- Reid’s devotion was really great… you ought to listen!
Enjoy your holiday weekend!