assignment

We are in the process of packing for our 9th YL Summer Assignment (Ben's 11th). Every summer, Young Life staff go to camp for a month to give kids from other area's the best week of their lives. Summer isn't summer w/o an assignment. It takes up a large chunk of our summer and by the time we do camp trips, assignment and get home, it's time for a new school year to start. But I'm not sure what we would do without it.

Ben and I were remembering our assignments and the craziness that goes with each. Assignment usually means long, hard days for Ben and single parenting for me. We're starting out this year a little rough with Sophie's behavior (for another day and feel free to pray for us in this department) but I'm so very, very excited for Ted!

1999 - Lake Champion: Work Crew Boss

2000 - Saranac: Work Crew Boss & 3rd program guy - We got married the end of April and went to Saranac for the month of June. I spent a large chunk of the month writing thank you notes. I remember that being a rather cold, rainy month.

2001 - Rockbridge: Program with Scott Berg & Jay Mitlo - The inaugural program of animals and Amish guys. Susie Berg and I spent a lot of time at "our office" (aka the pool). It was the only summer we were both there w/o kids. Ben & I moved to Charleston (from Bridgeport) the week after we got home from Rockbridge.

2002 - Rockbridge: Program with Scott Berg & OJ Wandrisco - I only spent about 8 days at camp that summer. I had to stay behind and do summer classes. I was trying to truck through school and just finish at that point. I did take one online class that summer - on dial up. Painful.

2003 - Saranac: Program with Scott Berg - When Ben left we were waiting to close on our first house. He signed a Power of Attorney and I closed on our house all by myself. Greg Isaacs was kind enough to come with me - I guess I wasn't all by myself, but you know what I mean. Not exactly the thing I was looking for. I had high school kids and some parents move stuff from our apartment to our new house. ("Ben misses move #1 - this becomes quite a habit as you'll see circa 2010). My mom and I unpacked our kitchen and our bedroom and I took off for Saranac. Ben didn't even remember what our house looked like. We came home to piles of boxes and the new intern, Brett, staying in our spare room. Good times.

2004 - No assignment this year. During the school year we'd been doing a lot of house/kid sitting. In exchange for payment on a couple, we traded for beach houses. One week in Kiawah. One week at Myrtle Beach. Two beach vacations to make up for a lack of vacations many years to come!

2005 - Lake Champion: Program with Scott Berg - We'll call this "the year of the goat." Good grief - the animals and Amish guys again! I was pregnant with Ted. I was just starting to feel better after months of being so sick. We stayed in the upstairs room. I had to run down the stairs and around the hallway to the community bathroom to throw up. I started wearing maternity clothes that month. I believe the flab around my midsection is currently bigger than I was then. Sigh. This was also the year that Ben sent me to Timber Wolf to WyldLife camp while he went to the Willow Creek Leadership Conference. I could've killed him. I was glad he went. Just not thrilled at the car ride home when our intern almost got arrested!

2006 - England: WyldLife & YL Program with Brad Mowry - Ben, Brad and Chris Buda went to run two camps in England for 3 weeks. Ted and I stayed home.

2007 - Lake Champion: Program with Brad Mowry - Ted was 18 months old. It was a good year. My parents came one week. We had the adult guest lodge of Charleston people one week. We had 11 kids under the age of 7 in Petra (assignment team housing). 1 bathtub. Ted took two huge naps a day that year.

2008 - No assignment. Sophie was born the end of May. I wasn't up for a newborn at camp. Now that I look back, it probably would've been much easier than the following year.

2009 - Rockbridge: Program with Kirk Wilson - This may have been one of the worst months of my life. Ted was 3 - just a straight up hard age to spend that much time around lots of other kids. Sophie was not yet walking. She army crawled all over camp. It was a cool, wet July. So she as always dirty - filthy actually. Sophie ate rocks, dirt, leaves, mulch, grass - anything of natural decent. It was also a 5 week assignment - our 1st Caperneum. I contemplated daily packing up and driving back to Charleston. The only reason I didn't leave early was b/c I would have to grocery shop and cook.

2010 - Rockbridge: Program with Kirk Wilson & JB Ward - It was a great assignment! It was HOT - but we just spent lots and lots of time at the pool. We were on assignment with John & Shawna who had been our old YL kids which was so special. That was also the summer we were homeless. Living with the Godwins before camp (Ben missed moving our stuff into storage b/c he had some sort of "flu" - #2)and moving to Morgantown after (Ben missed moving to our house b/c his back was hurt - #3). It was a really good transition out of working and Charleston for me.

2011 - Timber Wolf Lake: Program with Clinton Bruck - ????

Who knows what this year will bring. New program partner. New camp. New division. New place in life. Stay tuned . . .