For those of you that have been waiting for almost a month for a new post, I apologize. Being present at camp was more important than writing about camp. Nonetheless, I'm back and will be writing about significant events from summer and my current journey.
Tonight, I write about the best Friday night I've had in a long time.
To set this up, you should probably be aware that my evening was spent with eight other people, six of whom had spent the week counseling 1st-4th graders while I coordinated the camp. AKA...we were already tired before the night began.
A couple of us had been planning this evening since before summer had even started so we were pretty excited. We had a night of Hickory Park (a delicious restaurant about 45 minutes from camp) and Perfect Games (bowling, arcade, and laser tag) planned. Because the group got so large the week leading up to the evening, we had to take two cars. I ended up with three of the youngest and one other person in my car. I was okay with this because I got my little sister and my best friend. If that's not a good car trip, I don't know what is.
My car made it to Hickory Park way before the other car so we had to wait outside to be seated. I can't tell you exactly what our conversations were, but I can tell you that we laughed a lot.
The real fun, or should I say craziness, began when the whole group was together and seated in the restaurant.
To set this up, you should probably be aware that my evening was spent with eight other people, six of whom had spent the week counseling 1st-4th graders while I coordinated the camp. AKA...we were already tired before the night began.
A couple of us had been planning this evening since before summer had even started so we were pretty excited. We had a night of Hickory Park (a delicious restaurant about 45 minutes from camp) and Perfect Games (bowling, arcade, and laser tag) planned. Because the group got so large the week leading up to the evening, we had to take two cars. I ended up with three of the youngest and one other person in my car. I was okay with this because I got my little sister and my best friend. If that's not a good car trip, I don't know what is.
My car made it to Hickory Park way before the other car so we had to wait outside to be seated. I can't tell you exactly what our conversations were, but I can tell you that we laughed a lot.
The real fun, or should I say craziness, began when the whole group was together and seated in the restaurant.
I left out some essential information about the friends I was spending the evening with. As I said before, there were eight of them. The distinguishing factor is that they were all between the ages of 13 and 20. I'm 25. Yes, sometimes I ask for it..willingly spending my evening with people significantly younger than me. But, I would NOT trade my time with them for anything.
During the course of the meal, people fought over crayons, purposely ruined each other's drawings, crawled under the booth to get out, ate whole chickens off a knife, and tried to summon the waiter in entirely wrong ways.
It was during this ridiculous meal that we became a family. Not just an unspoken family though. Somehow, I became an adoptive mom to these crazy eight kids. So, let me tell you a bit about my family.
My youngest is a thirteen year old girl who loves to read. My next youngest is a set of fourteen year old identical twins- one black boy and one white girl. I have a fifteen year old son, who is about a foot taller than me and is my best friend. My next is another set of twins who are seventeen, one boy and one girl. They look nothing alike. I have an eighteen year old son who just graduated from high school. My oldest is a twenty-year old girl who has been in college pursuing photography. Her pictures are amazing. Three of them are gingers. This is my "Dysfunctional Family".
After supper, we headed to Perfect Games for some laser tag and cosmic bowling. That is...after time spent watching my fourteen year old son twerk in the parking lot. For the record, twerking is entirely inappropriate.
Laser tag was a bit of a fail for me. I couldn't get my gun to work so everyone else got to play while I tried to get that fixed. It's impossible to do when the person in charge of laser tag disappears. Because I and one of my sons didn't get to play, we got arcade cards to use.
We bowled. I did pretty well. I think I got second or third overall. I enjoyed the conversations I was able to have in-between my bowling the most. I got to talk to several of my friends and some of them turned into meaningful conversations.
In the arcade, I pretty much watched my fourteen and fifteen year old sons play games. They enjoyed it way more than I would have.
When we left Perfect Games, the plan was to meet at Wal-Mart. Well, we didn't specific which Wal-Mart so we ended up at two different stores. That was a little disappointing. But my car of people had a whole lot of fun. As it was a nice evening, our time in town was spent with the windows rolled down, yelling at anyone and everyone on the streets that Jesus loves them. Some of the looks we got were priceless!
The night was filled with fun, friends, and food. More than that, I was so happy I was able to spend the evening with people who are pursuing a relationship with Christ. Who know how to have fun, but can do it without being mean to others. Who can make a fool of themselves and be okay with it. I bonded with several of my "children" in a way I had never done before. I am happy I can call my family my friends. They are people I can rely on and can rely on me. People I look forward to seeing from the time I separate from them. People I have come to love. And people I couldn't imagine life without. If I could have a night like that every week, I would be one happy lady.
During the course of the meal, people fought over crayons, purposely ruined each other's drawings, crawled under the booth to get out, ate whole chickens off a knife, and tried to summon the waiter in entirely wrong ways.It was during this ridiculous meal that we became a family. Not just an unspoken family though. Somehow, I became an adoptive mom to these crazy eight kids. So, let me tell you a bit about my family.
My youngest is a thirteen year old girl who loves to read. My next youngest is a set of fourteen year old identical twins- one black boy and one white girl. I have a fifteen year old son, who is about a foot taller than me and is my best friend. My next is another set of twins who are seventeen, one boy and one girl. They look nothing alike. I have an eighteen year old son who just graduated from high school. My oldest is a twenty-year old girl who has been in college pursuing photography. Her pictures are amazing. Three of them are gingers. This is my "Dysfunctional Family".
After supper, we headed to Perfect Games for some laser tag and cosmic bowling. That is...after time spent watching my fourteen year old son twerk in the parking lot. For the record, twerking is entirely inappropriate.
Laser tag was a bit of a fail for me. I couldn't get my gun to work so everyone else got to play while I tried to get that fixed. It's impossible to do when the person in charge of laser tag disappears. Because I and one of my sons didn't get to play, we got arcade cards to use.We bowled. I did pretty well. I think I got second or third overall. I enjoyed the conversations I was able to have in-between my bowling the most. I got to talk to several of my friends and some of them turned into meaningful conversations.
In the arcade, I pretty much watched my fourteen and fifteen year old sons play games. They enjoyed it way more than I would have.
When we left Perfect Games, the plan was to meet at Wal-Mart. Well, we didn't specific which Wal-Mart so we ended up at two different stores. That was a little disappointing. But my car of people had a whole lot of fun. As it was a nice evening, our time in town was spent with the windows rolled down, yelling at anyone and everyone on the streets that Jesus loves them. Some of the looks we got were priceless!
The night was filled with fun, friends, and food. More than that, I was so happy I was able to spend the evening with people who are pursuing a relationship with Christ. Who know how to have fun, but can do it without being mean to others. Who can make a fool of themselves and be okay with it. I bonded with several of my "children" in a way I had never done before. I am happy I can call my family my friends. They are people I can rely on and can rely on me. People I look forward to seeing from the time I separate from them. People I have come to love. And people I couldn't imagine life without. If I could have a night like that every week, I would be one happy lady.
Who do you cherish?
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