Camp Is Coming to a Close

Fridays at camp are both incredibly wonderful and so hard. It's wonderful to celebrate the amazing week we've shared together, and it's so hard to say goodbye.

We began the day with a delicious breakfast of French toast sticks and bacon (we can never have enough bacon!). Today's morning group program focused on strength bombardments. Strength bombardments give group members a chance to share with each other positive affirmations and words of encouragements. It's amazing to see how our campers build each other up and celebrate the amazing gifts they see in their peers. After morning group, we had an all-camp picnic (usually we have two seatings for each meal, but on Fridays we have lunch all together). We enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, pasta salad, chips, and watermelon. A feast! Then at 1:30, we started the hug line. This is an amazing tradition that brings all of our campers and staff to the field (around 550 people total!), and everyone hugs everyone else. Can you imagine getting 550 hugs, all in one day? It's so awesome! It also takes about 3.5 hours! We put some good music on over the loudspeakers, lather on the sunscreen, grab water bottles to stay hydrated (it can get hot out there!), and hug the afternoon away.

This evening, dinner was a camp favorite - chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese. Talk about "camp's greatest hits"! And take a look at this beautiful Lake Ossipee sunset:

After dinner, we prepared for a wonderful camp tradition - consecration. The junior high campers and staff gather in one building for their closing worship service, which gives each junior high cabin a chance to share a song or reading with the group. The senior high campers and staff gather in the Rec Hall for their consecration service, which is led by the senior class. After the worship service, they move out to the council ring for their closing campfire. Six members of the Class of 2018 were chosen by their peers to share a message at the campfire. They all did an amazing job! Here's a picture of the closing campfire, where you can see the candles each person received on the way out of the Rec Hall:

After the senior speakers finished, we gathered around the campfire and sang the Lord's Prayer together one last time (it's our nightly tradition at the end of vespers each evening). And with that, another week at camp has almost come to a close.

Tomorrow morning will be busy, busy, busy as campers pack, clean up their cabins, eat breakfast, and prepare to return home. In less than 12 hours, we'll be on the road back to Braintree High School!