It’s amazing how fast the summer went. There’s far too many experiences to tell about in a blog post here, but below you’ll find a few videos of a few things I got to do. The first one is Jessica and I headed out to one of our favorite spots, the pergola, to catch a sunset. It’s a beautiful place near our prayer labyrinth at Youthfront Camp South that faces west and looks over a good stretch of natural prairie. While it was not always easy to find good time to connect and share with Jess, we did learn how to make the most of times like you’ll see in the video. And yes, she’s driving…

Next you’ll find me in a paddle boat with Jacob and Zeke Greenwald, two bros that belong to Tom and Amy. Tom is our newest person on the South team and served wonderfully as the Program Director this summer. Amy his wife also stepped in for us as our Wellness Director when we were in a tough spot and needed someone midsummer. It has been a rich experience to have the Greenwald family here.

Finally you’ll see a video of Jess Erbeck, one of our Activities Directors cutting some timber. Ray Zuercher, our Chief Development Officer at Youthfront was kind enough to come down this week and lend his expertise in constructing some tables and benches for our new pavilion. Ray’s got a great deal of creativity when it comes to that stuff and he was gracious in letting any summer staff who were interested pitch in. You’ll see photos of that following the videos. The pavilion is both a space to do Youthfront’s Feed The Hunger initiative, and also a great hang out spot. Soon it will have power, dimmable lights, and a few other cool features.

At the end of last week we said farewell to all the cabin leaders. I got to spend some time listening to them share about their experiences here. Erik Leafblad, our Cabin Leader Supervisor hosted a sacred time for all the cabin leaders washing their feet and hearing stories in our prayer chapel. It was an incredible blessing to hear story after story of God’s goodness, provision, and guidance as cabin leaders shared life with high school, middle school, and preadolescent kids this summer. I’ve also been in the throes of exit interviews, where Youthfront staff sit down with our summer staff and hear all about the summer both from a work perspective and from a community life perspective. While those can often feel like a burden to schedule and carve out time for, they have been amazing encounters where I have found a lot of life and encouragement.

We’ll wrap up the summer here next week with a free retreat for youth workers (if you are one, come on down! Sign up at www.youthfront.com/getaway) and the Jacob’s Well Pilgrimage. After that, I’m headed to France and England with Jessica and her parents. I can’t wait to have LOTS of time with my lovely wife and get to process all that has happened this summer. We’ll get to see Taize, a community of prayer in France, and also stop by Greenbelt outside of London which is a longstanding music and arts festival.

Thanks for thinking of us and praying for us this summer. Jess and I both are looking forward to being back around KC and hope to run into you soon. Love.