While we were cleaning the place up, the song leader, BK, was getting set up for Mass-prep which was happening after our first activity, "How's it going guys? The place looks better already!" "Going great, BK." TJ answered, "You got something special for Mass?" My eyes widened at the idea of "something special", I usually associated that with surprises, "Yea, I got the most upbeat songs for Mass!" he noticed my wide-eyed, excited expression, "You excited?" I bobbed my head while TJ gave me a side squeeze, "It's his first time coming to camp and, already, he's shown some real spirit, I never met anyone that was so enthusiastic but had so much humility." BK eyed me with admiration, "You even look the stuff..." he checked my tag, "Lampwick." TJ brought me around, "We gotta get going, buddy. We got to get to the lake, we're meeting Judy's cabin for kayaking. See ya, BK." "See ya guys! Have fun!"
Once we got to the lake, the first thing we did before praying in was getting to know everybody. Judy seemed to have a nice cabin, they seemed interested in who we were and wanted to get to know us. It did feel kinda big for us too to get to know them: Alice, Amy, Cassie, Emily, Katy, Alexis, Anna, and Brianna. I felt kinda shy, I hadn't very much opportunity to interact with girls, and they seemed really nice. Then we got to meet our leaders for kayaking: Chris and Jessie. After we prayed in, we went over safety rules and a warning that, if we tip our boats, we don't get to change. So, we decided to try to keep our boats upright. Then, we got to get started. Afterwards, we got together and started discussing how it went and how, like kayaking, we oftentimes have to work together to get the right outcome of our lives and God gives us those people in our lives so we can be better people. I volunteered to pray us out since Emily prayed us in, I tried to be spontaneous with what I did and it turned out like this,
"Dear Lord, we thank you for this beautiful day and the opportunity to get together and learn more about you. Please bless teh rest of our week and our time together in your name we preay. Amen."
Everyone was impressed, especially Chris. "Okay, what do we say to Jessie and Chris?" TJ announced after we refilled our water bottles. We did the "oh-ha" to them which, I was told, was camp talk for "thank you". Chris and Jessie returned it and we got on our way to Mass prep. BK was glad we were back and asked how kayaking was.
Once everybody made it, we got started. We got to learn the different songs we would be singing in order: I Will Follow, Reckless love, Oceans, and Your Grace is Enough. My favorite was Reckless Love.
It felt pretty convicting, it kinda gets you thinking about yourself. Then, we learned the psalm and the basics of how we act during Mass. It wasn't rocket science, but it was some stuff I didn't always think of doing during Mass. Then, we got to write prayer intentions, it's like the usual collection, except it's not money, it's prayer intentions. I decided to write, "That I can strive to get out of my comfort zone more." As we got to the church, we dropped our slips of paper in the basket and each cabin sat in a line. The chapel, as I said before, was very beautiful; it was nice to get to go back inside. Then, after a few more minutes, Mass started. The strangest thing was that, counting Deacon Dana, there were two deacons: him and Deacon Robert.
Afterwards, Ms. Debbie came out and asked us to take a minute to say a prayer of Thanksgiving before we went to the main lodge for dinner. Once we were on our way to dinner, I passed Deacon Robert on my way out, "Hey, how are ya?" He took a glance at my name tag, "TJ has been telling me about you, you're really gettin' a good handle on this," he gave me a proud smile that I returned, "Thanks, Deacon." then I headed to the main lodge.
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The Best Summer Ever
FanfictionSo in this story, Lampwick is traveling to Leavenworth, KS to got to a new summer church camp that his Mom thinks will be good for him. But Pinoke isn't going to be there, and his brother, Danny, is going at a different week. Here, Lampwick is goi...
