saranac 2017: the people and the property

<sup>A summer assignment at Young Camp is unlike anything most people will ever do in their lives.

42</sup> All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, and to prayer . . . ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had . . .   ⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— ⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2)

I feel like this is what a Young Life assignment is. We share everything we have: work, lessons learned, hard words, encouragement, food, kids, fun, toys, hardships, living space, bathrooms, colds, stories, washers and dryers, finger nail polish, craft supplies, scooters, guitars, tears, frustrations, victories. We worship together, we pray together and share a lot of meals together. (And late night snacks.) We watch God work in kid's lives and our lives. We are part of something much bigger than ourselves.

Some of my favorite reasons to be on a summer assignment:

• ministry: Everyone there was working for one goal and one purpose - changed lives (campers, work crew, summer stuff, and us personally on the assignment team). It's amazing to rally around something so big and exciting all together.
• like minded people: Everyone on our assignment team are people doing the same thing that we do at home. Ministry is often hard and frustrating as well as completely rewarding and awesome. Everyone gets that. We will never live in the same town as some of our best friends because most areas can't support multiple staff. Assignments are precious times we get to spend an extended amount of time together.
• the assignment team: We laughed together. We played together. We worked hard together. No one was worried that someone else was doing more or less work. Everyone helped each other along the way. We truly enjoyed being with each other. A good team is an enormous blessing. This was a team of rock stars.
• the property staff and interns: some of the best people I've ever met. They made us feel loved and cared for as families and as team members. They were incredibly kind and so much fun. They welcomed us into their homes and their lives and were an absolute joy to be with.
• friendship: Old friends and new friends. Different life stages. Different gifts and passions. Different parenting styles. Different personalities. Great friendship. 

Saranac 2017 Session 2 Assignment Team

 

Camp Director: 

Scott Berg & Susie, Emma (14), Mary (12) & David (8)

Camp Speaker:

Tim Toy & Beth 

Tanner was on summer staff. Ellie was on work crew. And their daughter, Grace and her husband were adult guests one week!

Program:

Kirk Wilson & Sarah, Andrew (6) & Eliana (3)

JB Ward & Bethany, Annie (3) & Wilson (1)

Head Leaders:

Brad Bucklad & Leigh, Miles (8), Evelyn (6) & Jameson (3)

 Ali Childers

Summer Staff Coordinators:

AJ Nagel & Molly

Jess Obringer

Work Crew Bosses:

Alex Eckard & Nikki (Head WC Boss)

Caroline Heese (Dining Hall)

Laura Tuel & Ben, Ted (11) & Sophie (9) (Housekeeping)

Ryan Longenette & Jess (Roustabouts)

Scott Fannin (Pits)

The Toys

The Bergs

The Bucklads

The Wilsons

The Wards

The Eckards

The Nagels

The Tuels

JB & Kirk

Most of the assignment team ladies

The Work Crew Bosses:

Ryan, Laura, Alex, Caroline & Scott

The Guide House - our home away from home

13 bedrooms

7 private bathrooms

2 community bathrooms

2 laundry rooms

2 play rooms

1 kitchen

1 great room

This year, our family lived in Big Falls Lodge. It's a little cottage near the club room with 2 bedrooms and a little kitchen. Everyone didn't fit in the Guide House this year. It was a good fit for us!

Things I want to remember:

• the BFL • work crew boss meals • magic tricks • family wiffle ball games • the kids swimming with AJ • apology notes • nachos • rain, rain and more rain • vacuum cleaner repairs • boat jumping • mama's favorite boss • woodman games • the greased pole • the week susie left • dancing in the opera talent show • Sergant Bear • Andrew and his questions • cram it down your cram hatch • women's boat ride • dirty bath towels • princess teas • belts • low country boil • Sweet T • snacks at the BFL • John Allevato • Chase Rice • black flies • code names • bloody noses on the beach • day 5 breakfasts on the boat dock • hatchett • stich fix reveals • smoking meat • milosh, tina & tony • andrew's opera debut • 26,000/step a day • 331 miles in a month • cami, ally, hannah, nikki, manning, mary grace, dan, jared, jack & landon • boat jumping • apology notes • juice & cookies in the kitchen • ben's guitar • 

The other posts from the month:

Saranac 2017: work crew

Saranac 2017: the kids

Saranac 2017: the team

saranac 2017: the team

So these are random pictures I want to remember when this pops up in my memories next year on Facebook. 

Tony, Milosh, Tina & Sergent Bear

Ben's guitar broke. This was the day they glued it back together.

 

And then 48 hours later they played it. And it worked. It looks like garbage, but it sounds good!

Andrew's debut in the opera, playing the role of his dad. He KILLED it. Andrew was also pretty popular around camp.

Just waiting for the run on at meals.

Code Names was the game of the month. It was an ongoing competition, always girls vs. guys. Girls crushed the guys. Not even close. 

Just a bear and his breakfast. My kids say that Sergent Bear's cranky personality kind of was a good character for Ben to "play."

We had a worship band one week for our weekly worship. So cool.

You really never want to set off the smoke alarm in the Guide House and everyone knows it.

Brad turned the gas grill into a charcoal grill and smoked some pork one week for the A-Team party. Check out Tim on the right. He was mesmerized by the whole thing!

Girls boat trip. Always a highlight. It was rainy and overcast the two hours we were on the lake. The rest of the day? Beautiful. Figures.

 JB, Ben, Molly & Kirk in action.

I generally looked like garbage all month. Who doesn't when they walk 26,000 steps a day and clean all the bathrooms. One day I fixed my hair and put on real clothes. You would've thought I was Cinderella.

These two have been Ted's favorites since forever.

There's a certain picture that tends to circulate this time of year of Kirk and I circa 1995 at a Snowball Dance in high school. We're hoping this picture could possibly replace it. I'm seriously doubting that it will. But I like to think that we've both aged well.

We had some killer assignment team parties. This particular party had NC BBQ, WV pepperoni rolls and OH Skyline Chili dip.

It's hard to say good bye to people you love. This was our last picture of the month. Sophie was already crying and she cried all the way to Tupper Lake. I feel ya sister!

So, there you have it. A month in review. The funny thing is, I missed a lot of these moments. It made me sad in some ways. But I am thankful for the role I played in being a work crew boss and serving alongside some of the most stellar high school kids I've ever met. It's an honor and a privilege to serve at YL camp, no matter what your role. I'm grateful for the role I was asked to do.

Saranac 2017: work crew

Saranac 2017: the kids

Saranac 2017: the people & the property

saranac 2017: the kids

We spent 4 weeks this summer at Young Life's Saranac Village in upstate New York. I was a work crew boss. Ben helped with program, music and anything else that needed done. Our kids had the time of their lives. 

Here's the thing. Ministry for us is a family affair. There are a lot of ups and downs that come with that. Some of ups and downs the kids recognize now, some they don't, and some I'm sure they will later. But a definite perk of being a YL staff kid is spending a month of their summer at Young Life camp. Below are pictures in no particular order of the month.

Susie was my kids stand-in mom for the month. Our kids are neat friends and we usually do life together for the month. She just added my kids to the fold and went about their days.

Wilson Ward was attached to his mom most of the month. Sophie endured a lot of rejection from him through the fist several weeks. But eventually won his affections. (Note: Wilson and his sister, Annie, are the same age my kids were the last time we had an assignment with their parents. It was my worst assignment ever. It was a sweet moment to see my kids with hers and see where we could help.)

Emma did a princess tea for the girls. They brought dresses, tiaras, did their hair and make up, had tea and read them a book about being God's princesses. The girls wore their stuff for the rest of the month of a regular basis.

Evidentally, the boys wrestled and threw things and went shirtless while the girls were all dolled up. I missed this day so I'm just going with what the pictures say.

Movie night in the club room.

Ben got to join the other moms at the beach.

Sophie and Mary helped at the craft shack.

Sometimes they would watch club from the leaders lounge. This is Sophie taking notes on the club talk. Our goal is for them to hear each days talk at least once in the month.

AJ was the summer staff coordinator (the oldest one in the picture; back row middle). The kids loved him.  A couple of the parents volunteered to go through the course with them. But the kids voted for AJ to be their leaders.

Before

After

AJ also had a special performance of a killer magic trick.

A captive audience. Even Andrew didn't ask any questions it was so good!

A rare moment at the beach with the other spouses. This is what I missed the most, time with these women.

The oldie's night tableau is an absolute highlight for the kids to be part of.

Annie & J even got in on the action.

And country night with the kids on stage . . . 

I liked outdoor meals because I could come eat with my family. Work crew usually eats before or after the rest of camp, and I missed meals with my family.

The very last day the a-team kids that were 8 years and older got to the ropes course. First year for Miles and David. They all killed it!

Love

There was lots of apology notes that went around. I saved the note AJ wrote me apologizing for making fun of my nachos, and now I can't find it. Ahhhhhh!

And there were boat rides and boat driving and lake jumping.

Mary always gets the biggest fish.

Molly, Nikki & Caroline with the kids. They loved and played with the kids too and the kids loved them.

The day we were supossed to parasail it was too windy. So we took a ride around the lake and the kids got to drive Annie, the parasail boat.

Every Day 7 after campers left, we had a huge family wiffle ball game. Total highlight!

Town day with Susie:

The hover board was a fun addition this year!

Bethany walking to the beach through the work crew welcome!

And Sarah. It's always helpful to be cheered for!

The first two weeks were cool and rainy. Ben got in on the action with some game playing.

AJ & Molly and the kids. It was hard to say good bye!

There's something special about being an kid on assignment. And there's something special as a parent when other adults love on your kids, invest in and engage with them, and are a shining example of Jesus. It's fun and hard to parent and live life together. It sanctifies and refines us all.

Saranac 2017: work crew

Saranac 2017: the team

Saranac 2017: the people & the property