Camp 1: Friday and Leaving Saturday!

Camp 1 wrapped up this morning- so we'll fill you in on what happened yesterday with them!

We started off with a hike to Greeter Falls as our chapel program. We wrapped up with a little morning prayer, a few brief talks from Lara, Abbie and Brandon and finally had a little quiet time to pray. We loved being there all together finding a "thin place" as Lara says- a place where we are closest to God. 

When we got back it was time for everyone's favorite- grilled cheese and chili day! We had a great sunny siesta and time to relax before small groups. In small groups we had a good time filling our buckets from yesterday by planting sunflower seeds in them (later to be placed around DuBose). We went to afternoon activities of preparing for our evening and then to the slip-n-slide! 

Our final evening festivities started with our banquet- below you can see our staff dressed up and ready to roll! 

 Next we had our Eucharist- which we all concluded was among the best we've ever had. Thanks to Father Rob McSwain from Sewanee for coming to help us out! We had so much fun singing, renewing our baptismal covenants and celebrating all we have learned through Christ this week!

Next we had our dance! So much energy was used that we were all so exhausted afterwards! Our DJ CoCoD (aka Cody Hawks, one of your lovely Assistant Directors) had an awesome playlist for us last night! Thanks Cody!

We finally ended with a bonfire. It was so much fun as our campers shared their own ghost stories, laughed together and shared memories of the week one last time before we left. It was one of the best bonfires we've ever had at CGM!

This morning was so sad as we let our high school campers go. We hope every one of you has learned something about how to find joy, healing, love and God in living water and always remember you can have a home on the mountain! We miss you already and can't wait to see you again next year! Below is a video of the saddest camp tradition- running after the bus as it leaves. See you next year friends! Camp 2- we're ready for you tomorrow!

Camp 1: Thursday!

Today was full of sunshine- finally! We used it to the best of our ability!

We started today talking about how to fill up our buckets. In family groups we used crayons to make candles that will light our service later! We loved spending time with our family groups as they are such an important part of CGM!

In the afternoon we filled DuBose's bucket by doing service around campus! Some of us painted, others did landscaping, but all were involved and helping our campus! I heard several people say that it was the best time they had doing service!

After we finished we had a tree planting ceremony- and took a selfie with our tree!

Last night was our annual coffee house- which is where our campers get to show off their many talents. From "stomach clapping" (you can ask your camper how that works) to beautiful singing, our campers are so amazing! We had a sad farewell to our favorite camp band- Banchee and the Loopy Mistake last night as these boys are graduating and becoming counselors! Thank you for the years of fan playing, screeching, ukulele and smiles!

We're coming to our last day now and we are so glad to have this time together!

Camp 1: Wednesday!

Wednesday we finally got out of the rain- and loved every minute of it! We talked about water in other countries in chapel- and then related how there is a difference in dirty/clean physical water as well as a difference in dirty/clean spiritual water. There are lots of ways to clean our spiritual water and we made commercials for all the things that enhance our spiritual water! It was so fun!

We also have a tradition of cabin clean up in the mornings- the campers clean after breakfast every morning and their cabins are then judged by a panel of experts (Vena, Cody and Jani) and the cleanest cabin wins the beloved Golden Dustpan! The cabin 1 boys are cleaning- those are the faces of determination.

Wednesday afternoon was spent on our Sewanee adventure- first to Sewanee's campus for games, a book store trip and general fun and then we took campers to the Res- a huge reservoir on St. Andrew's campus. Both were so fun- and we were grateful for ultimate Frisbee and swimming without worrying about the weather!

Last night was our All Saint's service in Sewanee- we really did spend a lot of time there yesterday! Everyone got dressed up (a little) and we went to have New Zealand night prayer with some contemplative prayer time. We loved praying for each other and having some special time as a community- but we also loved being silly after the service and taking selfies!

We finally ended last night with a bonfire, smores and the Dubose ghost stories from Sydney to Skip. We loved embracing these camp traditions!

Camp 1: Tuesday!

Hello from CGM! We have had an action packed couple of days at camp! Let's start by catching everyone up from Tuesday!

We spent the morning talking about laying down our nets- the things that keep us from God and from each other. We loved getting closer to our family groups and making skits! There are also some great pictures from our singing!

The afternoon was an adventure as the rain set in on us, but the weather cannot get us down! We ended up hiking in the rain on a trail called Shakerag- but we decided it was the best hike we have ever been on! On campus we baked, did yoga, played some indoor games and when it finally cleared up we played everyone's favorite- soccer! 

Tuesday night was an old CGM favorite- COUNSELOR HUNT! In this long standing tradition, the counselors go hide will the directors, doctors, AVs, etc find out from the campers what their counselors are "guilty" of- which includes things like being to excited (Carter Webster), having lioness hair (Sutton MacQueen) and cheering too hard for Louisiana based teams (Will Namie). You can see our campers hunting in groups and our counselors scoping out their hiding spots!

All in all, we were grateful for good weather and even better time at camp!

Camp 1: Monday!

We had an action packed first full day of camp- starting with our first cabin clean up and chapel! We talked about our theme- Living Waters- and made some awesome skits about various stories in the bible pertaining to water!

In the afternoon we had several activities- both on and off campus! We took a group off campus to Foster Falls to go on a water hike and to go rock climbing.

Those who stayed on campus played some soccer, tye-dyed at arts & crafts, & played at the pool! After activities we had a little free time- so our girls utilized their Eno!

Last night was full of excitement as we had Cabin Olympics- Messy Style! Thanks to Sutton and Nayla for making last night AWESOME- we played games like Dodge Sponge (instead of dodgeball), frozen tshirt swimming relay, a dance competition, and several other messy things. We had so much messy fun and were so grateful for our showers!

Camp 1 Arrives!

Camp 1 arrived yesterday and we are so glad to start our first full week of campers! The bus got here without a hitch! We went through registration, got all of our campers here and it was time for the fun to begin! 

Once everyone got here, we held our swim test. Once everyone passed and our lifeguards went through pool rules we got to have free swim until dinner!

After a wonderful spaghetti dinner, we had our opening Eucharist where we sang, celebrated together, and finally blessed the new votive holder for St. Andrew's Chapel as well as the new counselor rooms on our girls cabins! We cannot thank our builders enough as this space has doubled our capacity for girl campers!

We ended the night with a big game of capture the flag- with glow sticks! It turned out to be so much fun! We are so glad all of these youth are here with us this week and we are looking forward to a whole week of this much fun!

Wrapping Up Pre-Camp!

We had so much fun at CGM wrapping up Pre-Camp! Yesterday started with chapel where we talked about how to fill our own and other people's "buckets"- basically how we should build people up and by doing so we will fill up the invisible bucket on top of their head! We went into arts and crafts, playground time and playing kickball. We finished the morning with some time in the pool, always a fan favorite!

After a big lunch and a nice siesta, we had chapel where we blessed water that we used to remind us of our baptism. 

After chapel we went off campus to either the Fiery Gizzard hike and swimming hole or to Sewanee to adventure around campus. It was a long, fun afternoon that ended with a slip n slide with lots of soap!

Our banquet was a blast as always and we are so grateful for the kitchen lovelies who made a scrumptious dinner of chicken finger, mashed potatoes, green beans and- the best part- a ice cream cone cupcake! Dinner was followed by Eucharist at the Stone Altar which was beautiful! Thank you Lissa Smith for spending time and so much love with CGM this weekend!

 Finally, of course we ended with our carnival! Complete with a candy walk, photo booth, and balloon man we had so much fun celebrating the end of our time together!