Camp '06

Well....got back from camp today. I can't really explain it well, but I will do my best and put as much detail as I can recall without making it tedious., I will apologize in advance for mistakes or unfinished thoughts, as it is almost 1 o'clock AM as of this writing..

It started on Tuesday, I packed that morning...yeah, for me it's easier to pack right before I leave. .. .anyway ... we got to the church at around 9:30 and were on our way to camp. It is difficult to explain what exactly I felt on leaving. To be quite honest I was worried that this camp would spoil my memories of Sunnystones, and so when we got there I was filled with anticipation but also an unease, I don't know what I was expecting to feel when I got there but it was good to be there. As Aragon's heart was left in Rivendel, so mine is at Sunnystones Camp, I don't know whether or not it will always remain there, but for the last 4 years it has been. It is hard to compare any two camp experiences because they are all different from each other. Each year brings with it it's own joys and heartaches to be felt and remembered.

After setting up our things and having lunch and all of that jazz and meeting our speaker Andrew Cox, we played the survival game. Me and Widget were the only diseases this time, but it was just as much fun this time as the last. I made sure that I had plenty of water this time as last time was pretty crazy looking back, anyway I had a helluva lot of energy comparatively.

This year we had less people and a lot of them were new, so the atmosphere of the entire camp was very different from that of last year. I also was a lot more involved in the leadership side of things this year, so my experience was vastly different than any previous years. One thing I noticed straight away is all the intricacies of the different social circles popping up. It always interests me how people change around camp. It's not really so much that they change as much as they can't keep masking their true selves around you 24 - 7.

Some of the changes were very disappointing, I lost quite a lot of respect for some people, but I also gained a lot of respect for others, so a balance is kept. I also often wonder how people view me and how I must change, although I hope that I keep myself real at least 90% of the time.

One thing I did miss from last year is the worship that we had. We brought in the instruments and the youth band played before each session. It was quite hectic and probably more trouble than it was worth in the long run, but it really added a dynamic that I missed very much this time around.

The obligatory volleyball games and all the old in jokes started coming out very quickly. By the third day everyone was a little tired and a lot of different things were happening in plain view for people who observe. I see a lot of things that others miss, and miss a lot of things that others see, but I definitely saw a lot this camp. The nature walk was AWESOME! Not quite as good as last years, and definitely more tiring (man that hill!!) but definitely worth the time. There's actually a story behind the walk for me. I wasn't originally going to be able to go on it because of numbers or some such thing. And I'd really being hanging for it since last year, so much so that I was quite put out when I was told that I wasn't coming. I had to come to the point of letting it go completely and saying to myself that it wouldn't ruin my camp experience. Anyway, the night before I prayed that if God wanted me walking, then He would make a way for me to come, and the next day circumstances that I didn't even know about simply clicked into place and allowed me to come. Needless to say I didn't really put 2 and 2 together straight away...I was actually pretty bummed because I'd wired myself for the extra-walk activities around the camp, so I had to check myself on that and simply thank God for His blessing. Anyway, the walk was absolutely fabulous! Simply beautiful as only a bush walk with your friends can be. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of photos to put up soon ; ) We got back and we were incredibly tired but I at least was pretty exhilarated. The final day of camp was filled with various physical activities...such as soccer, painting and fishing....for some stupid reason I picked soccer without thinking of how smashed I'd be by then and needless to say I was pretty tired afterward, although I had lots of fun.

A lot of crap things happened that night and I pretty much snapped for the first time in a long long time. I'm not proud of it, but it happened, however a lot of good things happened also. The concert was fun, with various skits from the sound of music (you girls roxor the the h-core max x 10 + 1!! to take a saying from last camp) and the blender of doom!!! Damn you guys are so awesome!!

Physically this camp was pretty exhausting, although I think my body might be able to adjust a bit easier to lack of sleep, because I am able to stay up until 1:30 am writing this blog. The activities were all very strenuous and I had about 15 hours sleep over 4 days so I was pretty wrecked by pack up time...Mentally I was pretty focused most of the time, although stress played a big part this year because of my responsibilities and various other things...Spiritually, although the speaker was good and I got quite a lot out of it, I think I actually got a lot more out of personal revelations that God graned to me over the course of the camp than the sessions and group times.

Special thanks go to Mary Morrison, our cook, without whom, the quality of food wouldn't have been half as good as it was! You slaved over the kitchen for for days solid and you were absolutely AWESOME!!! Also the duty groups, it may not seem much to prepare tables for meals and clean up afterward, but it really IS a big deal and you guys were amazing! Other people include but not limited to, Erica, Widget, Phil, you guys are always awesome and without you the camp would not have been anything spectacular!

As a wrap up, despite a hell of a lot of things going wrong on this camp or things not being as they should, and the fact that I actually enjoyed last year a lot more, on leaving I still feel a sense of loss that goes words. On a lighter note though, I got my stitches out today!! Wootage!! Although now my eye looks even more MANK than it did before. Alrighty guys, I think I should get some sleep so I guess I'll see you all soon, I pray that you as much out of camp as I did and that God continues to bless you.

Cheerio, D-Man

Perfect moments

Hey there folks, yes an exciting new blog by the D-Man! Wootage! Well first and foremost, if you don't already know, Phil and LeeAnne have had a baby on Tuesday at 8:47 AM!!! Her name is Elise Jasmine Tong, and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! LeeAnne is doing fine although still sore. I have never ever seen a baby so close to birth before, but I tell you, it's an experience that will last a lifetime. As I watched her sleep in the incubator with a band over her eyes to stop the UV light, I'm thinking it doesn't get much better than this. I could have just watched her for hours. If there is such a thing as a truly perfect moment outside of heaven, I think this was it. In fact that single moment has brightened my entire week, I'm so happy for them, it's absolutely awesome!

In other news,my brother and his wife are back down in Ballarat for some more bad news, which I won't get into here, but it has been good to catch up. We saw the Lady in the Water last night at the movies...for a premier, there was only about 15 people in the entire cinema! Was kind of odd, I really enjoyed it though..very different for a Night Shyamalan movie but still excellent. I got home and I felt really sick, which brings me here, I'm at home feeling like crap at the moment, but hey, God is good and last night surely eclipses today...

Cheerio, D-Man

The weekend and the weeks

Well, I've been racking my brains trying to think of something for my next blog entry, but nothing of substance has been coming, and so it has been a bit neglected. Much has been happening, but I simply haven't been able to find the words for it all. I've been doing a lot better in the last couple of weeks than I have in the last year so it's been really good, although I still fail, at least I can recognize it for myself, which is where I want to be. I pray that God continues to work out these massive flaws in my life, either by rain or sunshine, it doesn't really phase me as long as I am where God wants me to be. I've been relying on God's grace very heavily, at some points I've even felt like giving up altogether, despite knowing that doing so would only bring more pain in the long run.

I've been working overtime heaps for the last fortnight, to reach a deadline on time, it has been incredibly tiring, yet somehow satisfying, and it feels weird to go back to normal hours now, but it's still good to have my life back, lol...

LeeAnne's birthday was on Wednesday, which really kind of sucked...now now now, don't get me wrong, her birthday is awesome, but the day wasn't. Everyone had been leading her on that there was nothing special happening, someone even went so far as to give her a meat pie with a candle in it, while I can see the humor in that, it wasn't very tasteful. However the next day we all got together for a surprise party, I made sure that she got a proper cake or pavlova at least, haha it was very definitely worth it...

After I got home though, someone threw eggs at my window, I have no idea who or why but it wasn't very nice and it kinda freaked me out a bit to be honest, I've come to the conclusion that it was just some random looking for a laugh, why the heck he picked my window though...

We had Youth Alive on the weekend, I wasn't actually looking forward to it that much and even on the bus on the way up, I wasn't fussed about it. Haha, yeah, we had a bus...56 seater, it was awesome. We got there at about 1:00 PM and spent the day outside until 6:00 PM when the arena opened. It was ok, there were a few good bands, but the most part was spent aimlessly walking around, watching people be different than usual in their circle of friends and becoming dehydrated and hungry because of the lack of food stalls around the place. Once we actually got inside it was a different story though, it was all happening. I was originally going to swap back and forth between floor and seat, because I really didn't feel up to jumping for 2 or more hours but once I was on the floor it was all good, although tiring as hell. Haha, I also meant to try and save my voice because I had a youth service the next day but after about 1/2 hour I gave up and just really got into it. Reggie Dabbs is an excellent speaker, and spoke in his usual style. The bus ride home was a little funky for me, I was is a bit of a strange mood and I didn't really have any energy left. We stopped in at Macca's and I made the mistake of buying and sculling two bottles of V...erg...woke up on Sunday morning with the biggest headache.

This Sunday was Father's Day, so happy father's day to you all! Phil & LeeAnne graciously invited me over for the day, haha it was very non eventful and GOOD! I slept and played xBox with the kids... There was a youth service that night which went really well. God is just so damn awesome! I was leading, very tensely I might add, but God had control and it really was awesome. I had absolutely no voice left afterward, I could barely sing at all the whole day, but yeah, it was still good. Nathan Bailey spoke that night, and he really had an awesome message. A lot of things a lot of really needed to hear, methinks.

I've made decisions in my life that I believe will be beneficial to my spiritual life, and so far I can really see the difference it has made, I just wish I had come to this way of thinking before, so I didn't have to go through everything that I have, but hey, so do all who go through such things. God has an awesome future for me, but I'm not even focusing on it anymore, it's better to focus on the here and now, to do God's will for me TODAY and let Him figure out tomorrow. Things have become a bit complicated in the last couple of days, not from me but for me, I guess I just have to figure out how to handle old situations with new thinking. Thank you, God for everything You have done and continue to do in my life, thank You for Your love, support and encouragement through everything...

Mercy Me
Here With Me

I long for your embrace
Every single day
To know you in this place
And see you face to face

Will you show me?
Reveal yourself to me
Because of your mercy
I fall down on my knees

And I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender to your love

You're everywhere I go
I am not alone
You call me as your own
To know you and be known

You are holy
And I fall down on my knees

I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender to your love

I surrender to your grace
I surrender to the one who took my place

I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender

I can feel your presence here with me
Suddenly I'm lost within your beauty
Caught up in the wonder of your touch
Here in this moment I surrender to your love

Cheerio, D-Man