Roller Coaster Ride

Day 4 - Monday

No we didn't go to a theme park. Remember we're here to work? The roller coaster ride I'm talking about was an emotional one, for everyone.

The day was beautiful and sunny and brown paint was EVERYWHERE!

Okay, so the paint was mostly on benches and the barn but lots made it to our faces. All of us had so much fun getting our faces painted and then walking around camp. Oh the looks we got! The laughs we had! The burning from the hot sun beating on dark brown paint! Swimming felt so good, the water was cool and the paint came off.

After dinner, the roller coaster stopped climbing and we were headed back down. I was supposed to go hang out with a friend for a couple of hours while the group played the all camp game Eagle's Nest. I would meet the group back at camp for devotions. Every place my friend and I went was closed - even the grocery store! So we headed back to camp to sit at a picnic table and talk by the cabins. By this time I knew something was wrong with my knee but the tenderness was quickly forgotten when Hannah came running back to the cabin saying something about how Erika might have broken her wrist. 

While Caleb took Erika to the hospital, I wrangled those left behind and made a plan for campfire atop Meditation Hill. It didn't take long until I was a little tired of hearing the phrase "poor Erika". I may not have known Erika very long but she struck me as the type of girl to take everything in stride and make the best of it. I was fairly certain her and Caleb were having a great time. I was right, Caleb later said that it was the best ER visit ever. 

So if Erika and Caleb were having fun, shouldn't we? I was bound and determined to remove the long faces and replace them with smiles during campfire. I was so concerned with the group's low spirits that I prayed all the way up to Med Hill. I knew Erika was in good hands but were mine good enough? Oh yes, the self doubt crept in big time. Could I lead the group in devotions and not fall on my face? Would I be able to lift their spirits? Those thoughts ran through my head and I quickly turned them into prayers. God would be with us and He would give me the exact amount of strength and knowledge I needed to get the job done.

I think that night's campfire was my most favorite. My knee hurt but not enough to keep me down and Fender and I taught everyone some new songs. We also taught everyone how to polka! You can't visit Wisconsin and not polka. Plus something is missing when you sing Lord of the Dance and don't polka during the refrain.

The night was a little bittersweet with two people missing but I enjoyed hearing phrases like, "We need to bring Caleb and Erika up here tomorrow night to watch the sunset", "We need to sing these songs for Caleb and Erika", "We need to teach Caleb and Erika that song". I also received many questions similar to "Abby, tomorrow night can we.. (insert action) with Caleb and Erika?". By the end of the night I had a list of things we needed and wanted to do the next night with Caleb and Erika. Planning the next night's campfire helped to keep our spirits up when it felt like a part of each of us was missing. Thanks to the wonderful technology of cell phones, Caleb was able to give us the update about Erika's wrist and he let us know when they were starting the drive back to camp.

Polka!

The Wedding Song - we taught this to Caleb and Erika the next night

The most nerve wracking part of the night was attempting to fill Caleb's shoes and lead devotions. His feet are much bigger than mine! With God's help I accomplished the task and had a lot of fun doing it. The mood walking down Med Hill was a lot better than walking up. Everyone still wanted to see with their own eyes that Erika was fine and she was the first thought on everyone's minds but now we were all looking forward to their arrival back to camp and the wonderful time we would have on Med Hill the next night.

Thanks for entrusting them to me, Caleb!