Sports Camp 2016! AKA the coolest week ever.

I wanted to take today's post to recap my church's Sports Camp as a whole with some of my favorite shots. Basically we did the same thing every night. An insane amount of sweating, worshipping, walking and serving. It's overwhelming to see these kids sing to Jesus. It brought me to tears behind my camera more than a few times!

Sunday night was family night and we welcomed everyone into the park - this was also the night the kids got to meet all their coaches! The sports included flag football, basketball, soccer, cheerleading, backyard games and water wars. So much FUN!!

Monday was night #1 with the kids and we had the BEST time kicking off our week!

Just a few kids from our youth group!

Tuesday was yet another amazing night! Thankfully it was pretty overcast so we got a break from the sweltering heat for a night!

water wars is where its AT!

Sadly Wednesday night there was a huge storm brewing, so they had to cancel that night! But we came back Thursday and we went hard!

and Friday, we had ourselves a blast at family night! All the parents came and watched their children worship, win prizes and eat as much as ice cream as their little bellies could handle!

We gave away a brand new bike, and the boy who won already had one at home...so when no one was watching, he gave it away. I happened to catch it on camera thanks to someone noticing, and man, it really got to me! These kids are amazing, I love their generous hearts!

A huge thank you to everyone!! Every single volunteer (those who danced, those who packed snack bags for 300+ kids, those who sweat for Jesus, etc.), every parent who trusted us, everyone who donated money or gifts or supplies, and especially everyone who prayed for us, etc.! It means the world. We had the best week with these kids. Over 340 kids registered, 100+ volunteers...its always a highlight of our year!

Already looking forward to this event next year! I love my church!

Bullet point weekend.

-Friday we came home and edited for a bit before heading out to Caleb's brothers house!

-At Cole's house, we grilled out, played frisbee, and had the first bonfire of the summer!

-Saturday we shot the hottest wedding of the year - as in - 95 degree heat. The bride was pretty hot, too! Hehe!

-Put down our cameras at the reception to dance to Soulja Boy, because, why not?

-Made late night popcorn and popped in Zootopia when we arrived home after midnight.

-Slept in and made the fluffiest scrambled eggs in the world on Sunday.

-Stopped by Nanny's to give her a birthday present :)

-Ripped my contact lens at their house so we had to drive all the way home (me with one eye closed) to get a new one.

-Sports Camp kickoff night! Our church hosts this every year (over 340 elementary kids in the community), and its amazing! I get the privilege of photographing this awesome week!

-Editing session side by side with the best husband ever when we got home.

-Got to bed way too late!

-Paying for it this morning!

-Not a coffee person (unless it tastes like absolute sugar) but I need caffeine.

Hope everyone had a fabulous, fun, warm weekend!

Caleb went overboard! Literally!

Thursday, at CIY, we had our morning session and then our small group to discuss what we learned...and then we got ready for WHITE WATER RAFTING!! Unfortunately while we were off campus the other leaders and I got a text from the university saying the campus we were staying at for the week (Lee University) was on lockdown due to the shooting in Chattanooga. Which was pretty scary, since we were out and about only 25 minutes from there. We obviously let the parents know asap, but luckily a few moments later we got a message saying the shooter was captured and we would be safe. SO we were able to enjoy rafting to the fullest with no worries at all. Between all of us we had a total of 3 boats!

We did what was called "the superman", where two of us hung off the side of the boat, and one in the middle during one of the hardest rapids. We rafted on the Ocoee River and the rapids were level 4 (out of a possible 5). That's me in the purple shorts holding on for dear life. I had to hold my nose because right before this picture I ATE a ton of water, and I'm pretty sure it got in my brain. SO as annoyed as I am that I'm holding my nose in almost every photo...I just had to! ;)

Right after this we passed a giant rock in the middle of the river and I see MY HUSBAND holding onto it! I literally freaked out. He accidentally fell out of the boat during a rough spot and another boat had to pick him up. Luckily he listened to the instructions of the guide just in case anyone DID fall out so he handled it like a champ and walked away with only a couple small bruises. Still, it was both hilarious and terrifying. Glad he's strong!! ;)

My brother wore a GoPro on his helmet (he's the one in green) and got some SWEET video footage, too!

& I love this shot of Caleb (he's in the front) on the boat!

We were on the river for over an hour. Our guide intentionally flipped the boat a few times, threw us out, backflipped off the back of the boat, etc... its one of my new favorite memories ever! I'm so glad Caleb and I got to experience it together, even if we were on separate boats. There was a rapid called "Broken Nose" that our guide made us sit in for about 5 minutes while the water just poured over the whole boat. It was amazing, ha!

BEFORE rafting though, we had a little time to play around in the river.

We stopped for a quick dinner on the road then cleaned up for that evenings session, which was amazing, as usual.

Then we went back and finished off the pizza rolls. SO many pizza rolls.

I can't explain what these kids taught me this week. Funny that I'm one of the "leaders", yet they taught ME so much. I laughed, I cried, and worshipped my heart out. God is doing some amazing things with this younger generation, and I can't wait to see what their futures hold!!

All in all? The week was incredible and I pray that we can make it back next year. I think Caleb and I realized just HOW important youth ministry is to us during this trip. Caleb has always felt lead to teach high school age kids, whether that's in a public school or church setting. It's so fun watching him lead them, it makes me a really proud wife.

Happy Tuesday, friends!