Ridgecrest Camps

Camp Ridgecrest is finally free to the snow that was on the ground from before Christmas! Ron, Seth and Phil were anxious to get outside and enjoy the warm-ish weather. As you can imagine, after a long winter, we are excited to get out and have fun around camp!

With the long winter came lots of down trees and power lines around Camp. We’ve started our clean up process, but it’s sure to take us a few months to get camp looking like the beautiful place you all know and love.

With camp just around the corner, you should be getting your Camp Forms in the next few days! Rather than mail them home, your parents will receive an email where everything can be ordered online. Here are a few pictures of some of the clothing for this summer.

And finally, the Spring Ridgecrest Redskin will be in the mail this week. Get excited to see who’s coming back and what you have to look forward to this summer!

Some Clothing Pics:

For all the clothing for Summer 2010, check out your Email that will be coming be the end of this week!

The sun is shining and camp is finally free of the snow!  Don’t get us wrong the winter is a great part of our year, but spring will be arriving soon, and that means summer time is right around the corner.  The construction crews are getting busy trying install the rest of the showers and toilets, and things are coming along quickly.  All Chippewa cabins have their sinks, showers, and toilets installed, the majority of the Chickasaw cabins do as well.  Here’s a couple of shots of these brand new editions:

Be looking for your Crestridge Bear Tracks newsletter, coming in the mail next week.  And be sure to comment and enjoy the spring weather!

POTENTIAL IS definitely a word we like to throw around. When I hear it, I’m always reminded of a pepper plant I once planted in my garden. The plant was in one of those biodegradable pots, so you could plant the whole thing. I didn’t realize that I was supposed to cut the bottom out so that the roots could continue to grow. That plant never grew to its potential because it was confined. Think about that. The thing is, we’re the same way. If we allow limitations to be put on us, we don’t grow in Christ.

Read Mark 11:22-25. Read verse 25 a few times, slowly.

What was Jesus talking about in these verses? (putting limits on what He can do and unforgiveness)

According to these verses, what happens when we pray believing God can and will answer?

What does it mean to forgive?

How does forgiving someone help you grow in faith?

How have you seen these things keep you from growing in your faith?

What steps do you need to take to actively pursue God’s will in these areas?

Growing in your faith in Christ will give you victory. Once I figured out the problem with that pepper plant, it had already died. It died because it couldn’t get the nourishment it needed to be a successful plant. You and I are in the same situation. When we don’t believe God can or will answer our prayers or refuse to forgive, our faith stagnates and our growth is minimal. But Jesus wants us to flourish. Christ wants us to have a dynamic, growing relationship with Him. What do you need to start pursuing to have that kind of relationship?

Before I get into the “office” fun, Phil and I had the opportunity to go out to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for a couple days to take care of camp business.  While we were out there, we got to have dinner with Abby Postma.  Abby has been our Videographer for the past 3 summers and also our Intern last year.  It was so great to catch up with her and hear what she’s been up to since camp ended.  We are praying she’ll be able to return again this summer!

Despite what some of you may think, we have a lot of work to do throughout the year to get ready for the summer.  Most of the time we are very busy, but we do take advantage of the amusing things here in the office.  Each day, we have at least two dogs in the office, Boone (Phil Berry’s dog) and OJ (Sharon’s dog).  Some days, we have an extra visitor, Ezra (Chris Maslin’s dog).  We had a few extra sunglasses lying around and wondered what they would like with them on.

Oh the things we will do for a good laugh!

I DON’T LIKE PEOPLE WHO act like something or someone they aren’t. Most people call them fakers; the Bible calls them hypocrites. You see it all the time. You know people who try to be something they aren’t. They’re always trying to impress everyone or somehow be better than everyone else. You don’t really like to be around that kind of person. It feels tiring and pointless.

And when you’re absolutely honest with yourself, you’ve been that person at least once in your life.

Read Isaiah 29:13-16 and focus on verse 13.
 
What did God not like about the way the people were worshiping Him?
 
Think over the phrases God used, like “man-made rules” and “lip service.” What do those mean? How have you seen them play out in your life?
 
What are the results when people offer lip service to God?
 
What do these verses teach you about God’s attitude toward worship?
 
What are you allowing to distract you from truly worshiping God?

When God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to the Israelites, He didn’t have a lot of good things to say. He told them that they’d made worshiping Him into something meaningless. They did all the right things, but their hearts weren’t in the right place. Outwardly, they looked like perfect followers of God, but it was all fake. They’d watered down faith into a long list of rules. They said all the right things but didn’t mean them.

God doesn’t want us to be fakers—not in our lives or in our worship to Him. But many times, we’re guilty of just that. We can’t see God work if our worship is focused on us and not on Him. He wants us to come to Him with absolute honesty, without hidden motives. He wants to have a relationship with us through Jesus—not watch us follow a long list of rules. Be real with God. Come to Him with honesty when things are going well and when they’re not. Worship Him with every moment of your life, when it’s easy and when it’s not. It’s what He wants.

Congratulations to this month’s free Canteen winner, Thatcher Broyles!  Thatcher will be having his Canteen choice, Cheerwine and a Fun dip, delivered straight to his door this week.  Thatcher was a Shawnee last summer, and he will be moving up to the mighty Choctaw this year.  He said his favorite thing about camp was Sock War, and his favorite staff member was his counselor Adam “Rambo” Smith!  Thatcher is excited about coming back to camp this year to go on the Blob and for Horseback Skill!

So guys, remember to keep commenting on the blog.  Every time you leave a comment your name goes into the drawing for a FREE CANTEEN!  You could be the winner next month!

Thanks to all of you for commenting this past month, your opinions in our Hat Poll was so helpful.  This month we want to give a special shout out to Catherine Brown for all of her comments and encouragement!  Catherine will be recieving her Free Store of choice: Cheerwine and Sour Punch Straws, this week. 

Catherine will be moving up the hill to join the great Chickasaw Village this upcoming summer.  Her favorite skill was Crafts, and her favorite staffer was Lizzy Peterson who is returning another summer to lead our Chippewa girls.  We hope you enjoy your Free Store Catherine! Remember everytime you comment your name gets entered into that month’s Free Store Drawing, so keep the comments coming- we love hearing from you!

WHEN WAS the last time you felt angry because someone’s actions disappointed you? For me it was when my wife and I drove up to our house to discover my car had been stolen. It’s a strange feeling to be angry and hurt at the same time.

Read Mark 11:15-19. Contemplate verse 17.
 
What was going on that made Jesus angry?
 
Why would that have made Jesus angry?
 
How did the priests and scribes respond to Jesus’ actions?
 Why were they afraid of Jesus?
 
Jesus didn’t like the things He saw at the temple that kept people from truly worshiping. What kind of things would He not like in your life?

That day in the temple, it seems clear that Jesus was angry and hurt at the same time. He had walked into the temple—the place where people were supposed to serve the one true God—and found thieves. The money-changers and religious leaders were profiting from the religious traditions of the day. The temple was the one place where worship should have been on full display; and instead, greed was the primary focus.

It must have saddened Jesus to see the people He loved so far from the truth. Yet, we still do the same thing today when we allow barriers to get in the way of true worship. We do it in our daily lives when we let things distract us from focusing on God and in worship services when we text, daydream, or write notes. Are you making God’s house a place of worship or a den of thieves?

Here are the 4 secrets that I used on my travels to find the best staff around to work at Camp!

1.  Drive a lot, as in 2,200 miles in 13 days across 4 states, to search for the coolest guys you can find.

2. Visit some awesome college campuses, feed a lot of people and tell them about camp!

3. Hang out with awesome staff who have worked with us before and feed them as well, they like food.

4. Praise God for Camp and how he blesses us year to year with the best staff in the country!

Those are just a few things that I learned as I traveled from Ridgecrest all the way to Orlando and back on my trip to recruit staff for the summer of 2010 and see some old staff along the way!  You all need to be real excited about this summer, other than the fact of getting back for Sock War, Campfire, Council Ring, and Skills, but, also,  because your staff is going to be AWESOME! I guarantee it.  I can’t let you guys down when it comes to staff!

Be looking on the blog in the coming weeks for a list of the staff that are returning!  I know you will be excited.  I will leave you with some pictures from my trip!

Our construction crews are steadily moving forward and making some major progress on the cabin renovations.  The Cherokee cabins all have new walls and ceilings that look absolutely amazing.  Having two toilets and two showers in every cabin sure will make things easier then back in the days when the whole Choctaw Village had to share one Bath House.  The crews have also started to install the showers into the Chippewa and Chickasaw cabins; changes are happening so quickly!  Check out some of the shots of the improvements as well as the saved names section in Cherokee 4.

Hope you’re getting as excited about camp as we are, and remember to comment and let us know what you think!