| Mishewhat? |

The theme of early morning prayer for the week was "ride the wave". As the evening chapel message focused on identifying and recovering from burnout, it was fitting that the leadership team ride the wave of the Spirit throughout the week, relying on the Spirit's power and not our own.

Well my wave has crashed. Emily had been fighting a cough and cold all week and I managed to avoid any symptoms of it. We returned home on Saturday, I preached on Sunday, and today I am feeling distraught and achy. My throat is sore and I feel weak. Like the wounds of one who has fallen off a surfboard, I have fallen hard off the wave.

But I have to tell you, I would do it again in a heartbeat. The way that God moved this past week, the spirit of prayer, the very heartbeat of God beating like a drum guiding our worship of this same God, all of this really blessed my life. Hopefully it blessed the lives of the other campers too.

I came to camp absolutely terrified of working with teenagers, and the most bizarre thing is that I left with a sense of peace about it all. This is not to say that I feel God calling me to youth ministry - for the call to be a preaching, teaching, church-planting pastor is still very much my heart - but it does tell me that God was working in my life this past week and that I'm not as old as I think I am.

I may not be the most eloquent swimmer, and I may struggle to lunge off of an overhanging branch into a pool of water that looks to me like certain death, but I think that I came away with some friends, and friendship is not something easy to find in this crazy world.

Camp Mishewah definitely has a place in my heart. I'm hoping that God opens up doors to allow Em and I to return next year. Perhaps the first week of camp? We'll see.