All My Exes Live in Texas

Well, maybe not. But I can say I've been there, now! My week in Texas was great. The Grapevine campus of Fellowship was HUGE and beautiful. They were actually setting up for a wedding when we arrived.


Allaso Ranch itself was also HUGE and beautiful. It was also dusty. I think I brought home an entire beach's worth of sand in my bag, along with a great deal of kitchen water and food sludge. You see, I worked in the kitchen all week. I was happy to do it, though, because that's what I signed up for. I really find a peace and even a joy in doing menial tasks and turning by brain off. I'm certain that I could have solved world hunger had I just sliced one more pound of roast beef. Mostly, though, I just washed dishes. Or rather, rinsed dishes and loaded them through the dishwasher. My upper body strength has improved from all the lifting and shoving! I got the kitchen workout, I guess.


The kids at camp were great, and everyone I met was very nice. I really liked Texas--it was so spacious and the stars were bright like they are at home. It was just so comforting to be in a place where they have space to just... be. I miss that.

My favorite story of camp was this little boy who went to the med station with a cut on his head. When they asked him what had happened, he started bawling while he was trying to tell the story. Apparently what happened was, this kid saw a frog and the frog asked the boy to bring him some water. So the little boy got the water and brought it to the frog, who proceeded to "trick" him and make him dizzy, and he hit his head. Twice. The medical staff proceeded to make a "Wanted" sign for this tricky creature, and eventually caught him (or a poor frog very like him) and kept him in "jail" for a day.


I can't make this stuff up, people! Can you just see this little kid, crying because a frog tricked him, CERTAIN that that's what happened? Oh man. How cute is that? I'm obsessed with that story.


Another camp discovery was that ketchup and salad dressing are the grossest smells ever, and any meal invovling cheese will be a b!^@# to clean up. You live, you learn.


Okay, so here are some pictures. This is the whole Miami crew, minus our camper Jorge. Lauren, Dianna, Jeff, me, and Jonathan are in back, Meagan and Andrew in front. Representin' the 305.

Leaving camp and heading to the airport. Bye bye Allaso!

The kitchen crew. We control your food... You must be nice!

Stuck in a warmer! I'm baking! Actually, the warmer MAY have been cooler than the hot Texas weather.



Me and my best friend all week, a clean plate.



There are more pictures, so if you want to see the whole album on Facebook, click here.

This camp was amazing, I can't imagine having the opportunity to go as a kid. There was an amazing water park, complete with two slides and a lazy river. The slides, by the way, were awesome. There's also a zipline, which I totally went on. It was super fun. There's a lake that's slowly being filled, mountain biking trails, a high ropes course, horseback riding, anything you could ever want in a camp. And then each day the kids have a Bible study, and each night they have Camp at Night, a huge rally where they play games and sing songs, shout, and create a maelstrom of sound.

Summer's offically over now, though, great as it was. We had our first meeting at school today, and the kids start on Friday. I already can't wait until next summer...

Much love.