I can’t think of a better title than that: Wow.  When the crane operator picked up the fist pole to set, the excitement was evident!!  The high ropes course construction began today!!!!  This morning the site was set with some intense equipment, a team of amazingly skilled builders, our maintenance team, some fabulous volunteers, and an overall excitement as seven poles were set today along with eight cross beams.  It’s pretty cool to watch a 70 foot pole be placed in the ground. 

In all honesty the construction began in the hearts of many who have been praying for the development of this course for years.  Countless others caught a vision for the way that this course could be utilized and gave financially to make it happen.  I can’t express to you how cool it was to be a small part of this day!  (We’ll continue to post photos of the progress—stay tuned!!!)

“Kids these days!”  I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard that said.  The statement alone puts an incredible rift between adults and kids.  I’m realizing that this ambiguous, yet ever-present “rift” is doing far more damage than I can fully wrap my mind around.  From my own experience in adolescence a few years ago, to teaching middle school kids in a suburb of St. Paul to working at an alternative school for “at-risk” kids of Philly, to the a high school class of Rib Lake students, to countless campers and youth groups—-I’ve watched a lot.  My heart has been broken by what I have seen in the lives of so many adolescence. One thing is certain—I am reminded over and over again how challenging life is for today’s kids and teens.  Our world and culture has changed dramatically; subsequently, today’s youth are not the same as they were 25, 10, or even 5 years ago.  Today’s teens are a highly misunderstood and abandoned generation.  This weekend, through hearing from and talking with Chap Clark, one of the leading researchers of adolescent development and youth culture, Larry and I were reminded of the hurt they carry and the implications for connecting with them.  My heart is aching for kids, students, adolescence all over.  So as I type this and step into the summer,  I commit to a few things. I commit to approaching youth without an agenda.  I commit to sitting on the steps of their world.  Instead of creating a relationship fostering a need to perform and conform, I desire to know the story of students regardless of how messy it is.  I’m not sure exactly what this will look like.  But isn’t this what we all want?...a desire for others to approach us without an agenda, a desire to be understood, a longing to be loved no matter what?  Somehow that’s the sweetness of the gospel.

This past weekend roughly 200 volunteers came to camp to work.  What a great way to get a free retreat at Camp Forest Springs, come and stay for the weekend and we’ll put you to work.  It is also a great way to to get camp ready for the summer, meet new people, and give people and opportunity to give back to camp.  I (Larry) lead two work crews that day.  I was in charge of the building of our paintball field and the building of our new climbing wall.  I will post pictures of both once they are complete.  You might ask yourself, “what is there to build in a paintball course?”  Well great question, we built all kinds of bunkers for people to hide behind.  Some bunkers are just brush piles of sticks and others are fortified walls made of pine tree logs 6’ wide and 4’ high. 

Laura got to work at the wood shed splitting and stacking wood.  Here at camp we heat all of our main buildings with wood all throughout the winter.  Being in the Northwoods of Wisconsin means that we burn through a lot of wood, which means that every year we need to split and stack wood so that it can dry and be used the following winter. 

Some of our friends from Minneapolis came to help Laura split and stack wood.  Laura’s parents came and brought some of their friends, and Laura’s sister Lisa came with her husband and their entire small group.  What a sweet time to see all of them and work alongside them.  Below are some pictures of Laura’s work crew at the wood shed.

Just a few days ago camp was was filled with plenty of estrogen for Mother Daughter Retreat.  I gotta tell you, it was so fun to see moms and daughters spending intentional time together and having a blast!  (Literally—Blast—Moms, daughters, and grandmas playing blaster tag in the dining hall as Larry “ref’s” is a site to see!)  Saturday was a full day…we headed out to camp for breakfast before session, I lead a seminar for women (Target or Treasure focusing on modesty…trust me, I felt like the least likely person in the world to teach it, but but I know all ready that God used it), after lunched headed off to belay girls all afternoon on the climbing wall, came back for the evening banquet and session, and then spent the entire evening hanging out and working in the cafe.  It is after a full day like that, where we can come home exhausted, but can honestly say that we LOVE being a small part of all that goes on at camp.  So thankful…

AAhhhh!! A time for us to relax and catch our breath before we transition into our summer season.  We had the opportunity to go to Los Angeles, CA and see our good friends Garrett and Bethany Suhr and Patrick and Gioia Saia. While we were in CA we got to go to the beach and try boogy boarding…key word is try.  I am not very good at this sport, I think I have spent too much time in the Midwest already.  We also got to camp in Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.  Very impressive sights to be seen in both parks.  It is humbling to stand in front of the largest tree in the world (General Sherman) and to look into Yosemite Valley and see El’ Capitan and Half Dome.  God’s creation is absolutely beautiful and magnificent.  My birthday just happened to fall during this trip and did you know that Disney World is FREE on your birthday?  Well it is, so Laura and I went to Disney to celebrate my birthday.  What a fun time.  All of that packed into one trip doesn’t sound very relaxing, but believe me it was.  Take a gander at some pictures.

There is something about reconnecting with good friends!  We were so pleased to have Seth and Cathy and Mayne visit last week.  Seth and Larry have been friends since their WWC days….and become even better friends since then.  They now work at a camp in Montana.  With a week available they decided to bravely drive to Wisconsin with their little girl, Mayne!  We can’t tell you fully how good it was to simply relax, play, and talk with them about life and what we are each learning.  We are thankful for many friends who love us from afar, and find ourselves even more thankful when we are able to see them face to face!  (We busted out the grill to celebrate spring too!)