I spent the last four days on a camping trip with the young women in my ward. We got to go whitewater rafting and hiking and crafting and laughing and just generally had a fabulous time. I am tired and stinky and now that we've got most of the camping gear cleaned and dried and put away, I'm going to go take a shower and a nap, not necessarily in that order, as soon as I hit "publish" on this post.
But now thus saith the Lord that create thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
It was awesome to see these young women face their fears and challenge themselves - whether it was going to camp with a bunch of girls they didn't know, or the whitewater rafting, or hiking, or using vault toilets or thunderstorms, or just camping in the first place - and discover for themselves that they are strong and capable and they can do hard and sometimes scary things.
The forecast called for some rain, so I made sure to tell everyone to bring rain jackets and/or ponchos. But I don't think anyone was completely dry at any point after we got in the rafts Wednesday morning. Of course we got wet on the river - that's kinda the point - but it started sprinkling just before we got to the takeout point and then it vacillated between sprinkling and down-pouring until we left Friday morning.
We also had a tree fall on a tent.
Fortunately, we weren't in camp at the time because my car wouldn't start after we got done whitewater rafting and we had to get a jumpstart. This tree broke off in a brief windstorm about half an hour before we got back to camp. We used a carjack to lift the tree enough to get the tent and the girls' gear out from underneath it.
Astonishingly, none of the poles broke! There were a couple of small tears in the nylon, but we covered them with duct tape and the four girls in this tent continued sleeping in it for the rest of the trip. We did move it to a different location, though.
The next night a tree fell across the only road out of our camping area.
husbands who come to Girls Camp to support me.
We didn't have cell reception at the campground, and late Thursday night one of the adults had driven in to Superior, about five miles away, to call and check on a family situation. While he was gone we heard a sharp crack that sounded like a gunshot, but didn't think too much about it, until he walked back in to camp telling us that a tree was blocking the road.
So we jumped in Gene's truck and drove back to the tree. He hooked it up to the truck with a tow strap and dragged it out of the way while the other adult and I grabbed all of the branches and huge chunks of bark that broke off and tossed them off the road so we could get by when it was time to leave in the morning.
It was crazy, the number of random, insane things that happened on this camping trip - the things I've mentioned above are only the tip of the iceberg - but it was awesome to watch these girls step up and rise to the challenges they faced. They were ready and willing to help; they stretched themselves outside of their comfort zones; they befriended and supported each other. It was a great experience and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.
After a shower and a nap.
Why is it these things always happen during girls camp? Glad everyone was safe. And you have lots of Young Women in your ward!