lost canyon marriage conference

So, 12 hours after getting home from Rockbridge, Ben and I flew to Phoenix to drive an additional 3 hours to Lost Canyon. Lost Canyon is one of YL's newest camps. It's still not finished yet but well on it's way. It's in Williams, AZ. In the desert. I decided I really don't like the desert. I like green. So, here's your picture tour of Lost Canyon . . .


Lost Canyon was only 2 minutes from town - WONDERFUL since all the Eastern Division camps are about 30 minutes from civilization. So very nice.


These are some friends from the Eastern Division that we hunt out with. Eric & Krissi Bert (middle) and Mike & Kim Sweat (right). Eric and Mike have done program for our camps and we've camped during their programs. We didn't each other well but had a really great time together. So fun to be there with people that we knew.

The marriage retreat was for anyone on staff. So there were property staff, service center staff and field staff (that's what we are). My biggest beef w/ YL for many years has been their lack of support of families and marriages. Everything is about ministry and creating more ministry. They have recently (this year) started doing this marriage conferences through our benefits. The airfare was paid for, the conference and some of the misc expenses like rental car, 1 night in a hotel, etc. I'm so thankful for them seeing the importance of nurturing these relationships. It was well done and I'm thankful we took advantage of the opportunity.

Moving on . . .


the dining hall


the winding staircase in the dining hall that leads up to the sound booth


the view from the club room. the camp makes an oval with a big green, grassy field (the only i saw while in arizona) in the middle. to the right are dorms, the pool and slides, gym, snack bar, and game room. straight ahead is the lake and blob. to the left are assignment team housing, more dorms, camp store, coffee shop, office, dining hall.

The assignment team housing was AMAZING. UNBELIEVABLE. BEAUTIFUL! Although I would be nervous for my kids to live in here for a month. I'd be afraid we'd tear the place apart.





outside view of the assignment team housing


one of the dorms for campers - in case you're wondering, we didn't stay there. since town was so close, they put most of us up in hotels. some got to stay in a-team housing which was way nicer than the hotels. we didn't stay on camp.


the club room



the camp store, coffee shop, bead room and office

the gym, game room and snack bar are all connected. brilliant so that you don't have to shlep all over camp looking for your kids. there was lots of indoor hang out areas. i guess that's good when it's 115 degrees in the summer. it was, however, cold when we were there. it was 60 the day we arrived and dropped 10 degrees each day until we left it was snowing. no kidding - more on that later.

snack bar


game room


lake/blob area


indoor gym


snack bar/game room

All in all, our time at Lost Canyon was great. Ben was sick the first couple of days with a nasty cold but thankfully got over it after pumping meds for a couple of days. The marriage part wasn't what I expected, but good none-the-less. The best part were the people who came to do parenting seminars. They've been on YL staff for 15 years and have 8 kids. They gave incredibly practical and wonderful information. They are committed to helping people raise godly families in the middle of doing ministry. I respect them a whole bunch! You can check out their website Pritchard Ministries.

Thank you, Young Life ro realizing how very important this is and doing something about it. I am forever grateful.