Close Calls while Canoeing

Canoeing on the Muskegon River in August is usually quite safe.  And this weekend was no exception.  But for me and one other leader, and I suppose one young girl (I will protect her identity here), it sure looked a little scary for about 15 seconds.

Two girls were on the canoe.  They floated too far to one side and had gotten themselves stuck on a log with a branch overhead.  It is usually not wise to grab the branch, because that allows the bottom (ie the canoe) to float out from underneath you.  That is exactly what happened next.  One of the girls clung to the branch, while the other disappeared under the canoe, or so it seemed.  Me and my partner had been out of our canoes, helping people through this tricky part of the river.  Both of us were running at this point to the spot.  There was a hole just beyond the log where the river got pretty deep.  My partner dove in towards the canoe several yards ahead of me.  I ran along the bank, trying to get ahead of the floating canoe before it met the end of the Island I was running on.  As I started into the water toward the canoe, my friend reached the edge of the boat.  I was fearful we would flip over the boat and find no child underneath.  “had the boat struck her head when it rolled and sent her to the bottom of the whole”.  I was a little nervous.  But just as my friend reached the canoe, she popped up next to it with her life jacket intact.  She wasn’t the least traumatized when she came up.

Seconds later, it all turned to laughter as we gathered up the dumped over towels and crocs (that’s the shoe variety not the man-eating variety) and we made it back to our canoes.  No damage done.  The only long term effects, a little more wisdom about how not to fall out of a canoe, and some blue-lipped shivering for the rest of the overcast and slightly breezy trip down the river.

For pictures of the canoe trip, check back here soon.  I will be posting a slide show here and on facebook.  I think you will see a “before” of the two girls, and then perhaps an “after” at the lunch stop.  I would have had more of the action, but I threw the camera when I went running for the canoe.  Yeah, it was that intense!

Check back tomorrow for the photos.

A note about High School Youth Group

This year we are trying something different.  Instead of the large group meetings every week, we will have those once a month.  In the mean time, we will be meeting in small groups at people’s homes. 

The reason we are trying this is to encourage more interaction and discussion on the Bible, and better relationships between the leaders and the students.  The large group often left us with less and less time to get to the relational and spiritual stuff after worship, announcements and group activities.  So the students were left with not enough time to go deeper in their discussions, and the leaders did not have adequate time to get to know the kids.

I also believe that the neutral space, and the intimacy of being in a home, will help the relationships to grow.  I hope it will allow kids to feel more comfortable to bring their friends.  I also anticipate more interaction outside the youth group structure as kids become more comfortable with their leaders and perhaps the leader’s family.  I anticipate fun nights at home, watching movies at sme point, and perhaps going out for Ice Cream, bowling, catching a movie, or anything that sounds fun for the group to try together.  If the leaders know the kids better, and vice-versa, this becomes much more likely.

The apostle Paul once said that he was eager to share the gospel, but also his life with the church when he visited there.  I believe he meant he was sharing meals, sharing stories with the children there, and getting to know the people.  At the beginnings and especially at the ends of his letters, there is always a special note to people he cared about in the churches.  The only way these people were special to him, is because he shared life.

So this is the reason for the change, and I look forward to seeing what this change will bring.  There’s still room for leaders to get involved in this new format.  If you are interested, please contact brandon.  brandon@lighthouse-ministries.org

Our girls’ funny faces

The girls were at the mall Friday afternoon and they were in a mood.  They were a little nuts.  You can talk about climbing the walls until you are actually trying to get them down from the walls.  These are some pictures of their crazy mood faces, and it made for a good distraction while were trying to get clothes tried on for Sam.  So if you ever wondered what really goes on in those changing rooms at the mall, now you can know.  Take a look at these: