Hello Once Again 4 the Last Wilds Update!

So yes, it is a bit late, I know, but you’ll find out why soon enough if you read this update. So I am done! I have mixed feelings about that… I am thoroughly enjoying being at home with my family, sleeping in my bed, enjoying central air, less responsibility, excellent food, vacation, etc, but I really do miss the Wilds and the spiritual influence and the jaw-dropping scenery there and the people and seeing campers and myself grow, etc. One thing I do NOT miss is the cheering. For any of my campers reading this update I think you will be surprised to know that I do not enjoy cheering. However, I did it because it really does get you excited about the games and motivates others. Anyhow… I’m glad I got that off my chest. Moving on to more important stuffs:


On Monday of my last week, Week 10, I called the financial aid office at BJ and talked to Chris Baker concerning whether or not I will be able to come back to school. At that point I still owed roughly $7,700 just in order to come back!!! After talking for a little while, and him reviewing my records and current job and situation, he told me that if I came up with $4,000 of that on my own, he would see what he could do about the rest! Praise God! But still, $4,000 is a lot! But not too much for God! I was able to make another $150 payment, then later another $150 payment, then later my church put $500 onto my account and one day I went to my mail box and found a letter from Ken Collier that someone from the Wilds had anonymously put $1,000 on my bill! I shook as I read the letter. So now I am down around $2,000 and am waiting to see how God is going to provide that. But I think He will! Thing is, when I took this job I researched student loans, thinking for sure that I would need to finally take one out. But I’m thinking God can provide without me doing even that!

So in the early afternoon (after we ate the scrumptious leftovers from the staff appreciation banquet at brunch) the campers started coming. This frightened and excited me, because only 3 of them were shorter than me, and if they had wanted to, 2 of those guys could have whooped me or done anything they wanted to me. But I was excited, because they were very big athletic guys (if they wanted to be)! Great for games. They were great guys though. I told them at the end of the week that they were definitely the most fun cabin I had had all summer! They were all crazy in their own ways.

One day Matt was walking into the cabin and asked, “Is our cabin sign supposed to be crooked like that?” Now, the cabin sign is the little board that has our name on it that hangs on some nails right above the door. So anyhow, I said, “No it’s not,” and walked over there to fix it myself. I walked over and took the sign down, and in a split second many things happened. I looked up where the sign was and saw the biggest, ugliest, furriest, scariest BAT I have ever seen, hanging right there! He was sleeping, but woke up right away. He looked right at me and swooped down inches from my face. I jumped back and ducked as he flew over my head and flapped away. Needless to say, it was rather creepy. My heart was thumpin’ and I label it as one of my most interesting events from the last part of the summer. I hate bats.

I was also able to do something pretty cool that I have never done with campers: on Wednesday morning Matt and Jon, two of the soccer players from my cabin, and I woke up at 6:00 AM and went running! The sun was just starting to come up and we took off on the trails. We went from the cabin, across the Water Wars bridge, down the back trails, down to the Shoals, then on to the 1st Falls, then went all the way down all those steps to the 2nd Falls, back up all those steps (by far the most killing part of the run), back up the mountain, and back to camp. In all it was around 2.5 miles cross country and it took us 26 minutes from bridge to bridge. Matt and Jon were able to keep up pretty well. It was excellent exercise and absolutely breathtaking [no pun intended] to see those waterfalls at sunrise! And all my fellow counselors and campers thought I was absolutely crazy for doing this. In fact, this was the first week where I had so many people tell me that I was absolutely crazy and that I needed to tone it down a little. That was a goal I had been working on all summer, and I finally reached it my final week. :D

On Thursday we played our last game of Feetball. Because of the size of our cabin, my guys were put on the front line for scoring. They did awesome and scored many points. I rotated in there at one point in the game, and within one minute, the girls on the side set me a great set and I launched that ball right over the 5-point pole! Then, according to the rules I had to rotate right back out and find another counselor so he could score. Red had not won that game since Week 1, and… we still didn’t that week. But it was still bunches of fun!

Friday was the last day and the day of final scoring. So we were all in the cabin getting ready when I had the idea, “Let’s all make mustaches on ourselves so we can be just like Joe! So we did. We found a black face crayon thing and drew ‘staches on each other. So we were all like Joe! [see the banner at the top of the page] When we went to the final scoring, the trend caught like wildfire. First our sister cabin all wanted ‘staches, then the whole red team started drawing ‘staches. And it all started with the original ‘Stache from my cabin!

He made the promise that if the Red team won he would shave off his mustache. Well… we lost. :( Actually, the green team won, and I was kinda happy for them because they have not won a week since Week 3. But anyhow, Joe decided to shave it off anyway.

PICTURES!!!



1) These are all the counselors on the Red team this year… The best team ever!



2) This is me under the 2nd Falls. That’s it. The water was unusually wet that day… wetter than usual.



3) And… this is my cabin: From left to right, Nathan, Kyle, Matt, Mark, Joe “Stache”, Blake, Paul, Aundra “Dre”, and Jon

Then on Saturday they all left. They really were a great cabin… much fun! In fact, the whole Week 10 was a great way to end the summer! I have no regrets. [except that I never went to the 3rd Falls] After the 1:00 staff meeting we left for home. I rode with a fellow counselor, Mike Michalski.

We got home safe at about 3:00 AM on Sunday morning safe and sound. We had softball practice on Sunday and I was beginning to feel a little sick. I thought nothing of it, but then the next day I had a 102 degree temperature and I have been sick since. Now it is just a cold and has gently faded away, but I think it is just a cumulative weariness built up from all summer.

But this summer really was great, and I am so glad that God gave me the opportunity to do it. I grew so much because of it! In fact, someone of importance at camp told me that I was the most improved first-year counselor he has seen. It was none of me, though. It was all God working through me. Truly the greatest summer, spiritually, of my life!

Oh, I just have to do it one last time:

Happy Traaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiils to you,
Until we meet again!
Happy Traaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiils to you,
Keep smiling until then!
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together,
So sing a song and bring the stormy weather!
Happy Traaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiils to you,
Until we meet again!

-Blake “The Professional Counselor” Meyer