Frontier Ranch

 Rocking the Neon as we get ready to compete in the All Camp Volleyball Tournament

 The boys go with a drumline theme to scare off their competitors in the volleyball tourney

 Dynamic Duo...My partner in crime and co for the week...Mindy Gotthardt

 Enjoying a beautiful Colorado sunset over the mountains with my hubby

 Ready to hit the "Red Carpet"...the girls dressed Mindy and I with their clothes and accessories for this special occasion

 One of my favorite people and Young Life friends in the whole wide world, Kelly Kotara, was serving on Summer Staff at Frontier Ranch at the same time we were their with our group from Bandera.

 Let's have ourselves a good ol' fashioned Carnival and Hoe Down

 Conquering the 14,000 elev hike to the top of Mt. Princeton

 What a good looking bunch!

 We couldn't have survived the week without the help from our co-leaders Kale and Mindy

I think it's safe to say, "It Was the Best Week of Our Lives"

Earlier this summer Josh and I had the blessing and the privilege of taking 25 of our high school friends to camp at Young Life's Frontier Ranch just outside of Buena Vista, Colorado. When it comes to camp, Young Life promises its high school friends that it will be "The Best Week of Their Lives" or they can have their money back. I have now been to Frontier Ranch 3 times (once as a camper in high school and the last 2 times as a leader) and I can honestly say it lives up to its promise. When it comes to camping, Young Life is in a league of its own. Not only are their properties some of the most breathtaking places you will ever visit, but their food is out of this world, and their service is second to none. What's incredible to me though is that when you ask a camper what their favorite part of camp was it is seldom the food, the facilities, or the outrageous activities such as rappelling or ridge runners, that they respond with. Nine times out of ten their favorite part of camp was either Club or cabin time...the very times that we spent together talking and hearing about a God that loves them and created them VERY GOOD!

For some of our high school friends, they decided while they were at camp to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ. For others it was a challenging week of great Spiritual growth in their journey with Christ. Still for others it was a week of trying to discover for themselves who God is, in a place where they felt safe to ask questions and comfortable to share their pain. While some of these campers still need space to figure out what a relationship with God looks like for them, many barriers have been broken and they are beginning to see and understand what true love really looks like.

Regardless of where anyone is, the journey for all of us is just beginning.  It is our prayer as leaders and as friends, that our students from Bandera High School will realize that the "camp experience" isn't something we leave behind in Buena Vista, Colorado as we return home.  Rather, the "camp experience" follows us and becomes a part of us as we move forward and continue to pursue authentic and real relationships daily with one another and most importantly with our Lord and Savior.

I am so incredibly thankful to my parents for watching the girls so that I could go as a leader to camp.  Because of my time with the girls at camp, an incredible door has been opened up for me to be able to walk alongside of them, pray for them, encourage them, and love on them over the next few years as they finish their time at Bandera High School.  I can't imagine not having had the chance to get to know these 13 girls.  They are wise beyond their years and truly beautiful both inside and out.  My life is richer for knowing them.