I visited Morgantown for VBS tonight. Let me tell you. There is nothing on the Hatcher Toll way between Bowling Green and Morgantown. Nothing. Nadda. Consequently there is no exit for several miles between BG and Morgantown.
Morgantown is comparable to Smithville. A few fast food restaurants and your typical small town businesses. Nothing huge or anything. I’m sure alot of people live there and work in Bowling Green.
It’s probably a nice town where you can’t get lost. I still didn’t get the chance to visit the Morgantown Pamida. One thing I’ve noticed about these Pamida stores: There is always one near church camps.
Examples: Taylor Christian Camp – Pamida in Scottsville.
Short Mountain Bible Camp – Pamida in Smithville.
Camp Meribah – Pamida in Centerville.
There’s a pattern here somewhere or another.
VBS at Morgantown was good. I was thinking since I hadn’t had supper, I’d have to grab something on the way out (I was hoping the McDonald’s would still be open). But luckily the VBS snack table was fully stocked with hot dogs and homemade ice cream (a Morgantown church specialty).
Afterwards Johnny told me how he became a minister. Somehow I couldn’t imagine him doing anything else. I wish I had the charisma and can-do attitude that it takes to be a minister. Once I took a personality test in college. The test said that I should be a minister. Unfortunately I do not have the speaking ability to be able to convey the message properly.
Ministering to people would be very fullfilling. However I’m not sure I could handle the other negative stuff that will get thrown my way if I was to be a minister. I hate confrontation and am not much of a people person. So its a mere pipe dream right now. Bottom line is that I’m not minister material.
Joe Christian
Gave my El Salvador speil at Villages church of Christ. I was told I did a good job. I didn’t stumble too much. I’m not a preacher, you know. I’m just Joe Christian.
A plethora of VBS’s start tomorrow. Mt. Juliet, Morgantown, Fountain Head, and Scottsville. Crazy as it sounds, I’m going to try to go to them. I’ll be at Mt. Juliet’s all week. Taking pictures and doing the sound system thing. The others are nighttime VBS’s which I should be able to make visits to. After I rest and recoperate from MJ’s VBS. We already have 200 kids pre-registered, so it will probably be the biggest ever.
I like daytime VBS’s over night time VBS’s. But I realize that sometimes daytime classes aren’t an option if you don’t have the staff to teach it. Luckily we are able to do daytime VBS’s at Mt. Juliet. The last night time one we had was in the 80s sometime. Kids are usually cranky at night. They’re more adept to learning during the day.
Krystal vs. White Castle
I had a chance to eat a White Castle square burger the other day, when I was in Bowling Green. I’ve had Krystals before, so I was expecting something similar. Krystals tend to have that certain taste that stays with you the entire day. Maybe its the onions they use. WC’s don’t have that certain taste. It’s missing. Also missing from a regular White Castle is mustard and pickle, which is on all Krystals. Luckily I did ask for mustard packets with my Castles. However the mustard they gave was the lame grey poopon variety. Looks dark green and tastes usually worse. However the mustard did give a tang to an otherwise tasteless Castle.
Next time I’ll stick with Krystals. I’m just supporting a Tennessee product with a superior taste.
Who Will Save Their Souls
The kids are asking me if I am going to summer camp. So its kinda good to matter to someone. As if my presence at camp is actually pondered by the average kid at church.
When I do get to camp, my main motivation for being there is to make sure the kids have a good time. My first question to myself is whether or not the kids I’m dealing with are Christians. If they are, then the second question is how involved are they at church. I try to get them more involved in church activities. Ultimately camp is about building social…and within the religious world….spiritual relationships. Both of these building can be done at a “good” camp.
I have been at camps before where those in charge were more concerned about enforcing the rules rather than trying to get to know the kids. They tend to forget the reason why we are there in the first place. It is about the kids and not because we are looking for some type of vacation. Although it is somewhat of a secondary vacation to me, because I enjoy it.
So I’m looking forward to Maury Christian Camp, which is coming up in a few weeks. The people there have always been very genuine toward me. Never had any problem with any of them. And I usually get some good pics of the fireworks they do on and around the 4th of July.
This morning I could tell my voice was weak from all that screaming on the coasters and water slides Thursday. It is tradition to scream like a little kid on those water slides. I guess for some reason it makes it more fun.
Holiday World Perspective
Holiday World is located in Santa Claus, Indiana. It’s pretty much in the middle of nowheresville. As a friend of mine commented, you’re pretty much driving in the middle of nowhere and lo and behold a roller coaster.
Holiday World’s novelty is the free drink oasises throughout the park. Step right up and get yourself a refreshing glass of Pepsi or some other Pepsico drink. This novelty ran its course by midafternoon when we all discovered that on cloudy days, thirst isn’t our main concern. Still, I think if they were smart, they’d give away free drinks, then charge for bathroom use.
Surfing Safari, as they call it, is the waterpark. Plenty of slides to the calibur of Schlitterbahn – the best water park I’ve been to. Many of Safari’s slides are fully enclosed and sometimes completely dark inside. Luckily the water was semi warm in an otherwise cool summer day (cool being mid 80s).
Holiday World’s problem is its lack of roller coasters. Bascially they have 2 good rides – the Raven and the Legend. The Raven was designed by the same person who designed King’s Island “Beast,” but unfortunately it isn’t as good as the Beast. The Legend is a bit longer and has that “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” feel to it.
Holiday World can be seen within one day at the most. I couldn’t imagine spending a 2nd day there. Build some more roller coasters and you’ll have me hooked…sorta. The overwhelming feeling I got when I was there was how badly Nashville needed Opryland, and how lame it was that Opryland had to close for that giant eyesore of a mall.
I was glad I went. It was good to spend a day with friends who I don’t get to see that often. We all decided that Holiday World was a “good” theme park. Not jump up and down write home to your parents type good. Just good. It’s not something that I’d want to go to EVERY year. Kentucky Kingdom has more to do, just poorly designed.
In and around Santa Claus, Indiana, there are plenty of oil pumps. I never knew there was oil in the Indiana hills. There’s also some kinda of steel plant right outside of Owensboro, cleverly disguised as a nuclear power plant. Also, while we were driving back on the Hatcher freeway, we stopped in or around Morgantown. A Pamida store was nearby. Pamida’s owners make it a point never to build in a town that already has a Walmart. This is because they’d surely be put out of business by the ghost of Sam Walton.
I’ve never been inside of a Pamida. I’m told that it is a small Walmart, just more expensive. Can you develop film there? If not, Scottsville earnestly needs a film developing shop because somehow people aimlessly drive to the Bowling Green Walmart to get their film developed…..or to Lafayette like me. In fact Scottsvillians are constantly driving to BG as if to find civilization or because they reason to themselves “There’s nothing to do here.” Kinda like how we in Mt. Juliet constantly drive to Hermitage or Rivergate to get to our favorite restaurant/retail outlet.
Solo pilot
Solo piloted the 5th and 6th grade Wednesday night class tonight. My co-teacher was out. Tonights topic was demon possession. I’m not sure if I was able to get my points across. I tried to pick a topic which they’d be somewhat interested in. Demons and stuff like that. So you can try to teach and hope they learn something out of it. I’ll admit that I’m not much of a disciplinarian, which may be my Achilles� heel.
On Wednesday nights we’re doing a topical study. It’s kinda good not to be stuck on a book like we were earlier. But sometimes its difficult to come up with topics, especially the ones that will provoke interest.
Tomorrow: Holiday World with Scottsville church of Christ. Sorta a spur of the moment thing. Hope it’ll be good.
110 vs. 35mm Cameras
Amazing. I got back the 110 roll of film which I took at camp. The surprising thing is that these pictures are much better than the 35mm one-time-use camera which I also took to camp. The 35mm’s pictures are foggy and blurry. In most cases the 110 film is clear.
I’m not sure what started this one time use camera phenomenon. In many cases these cameras cost anywhere from $6-10. Whereas if you decided to buy 5 of these cameras, you might as well buy a cheapo permanent camera for $25. I guess the mentality is to give a kid a single use camera just in case the camera gets lost or stolen during a week of camping.
I’m going to have to get a 110 camera just for nostalgic purposes. Way back in 1991 when I first started going to camp, this type of camera was what the kids used. I never had one myself.
Hoping for the Best
I’ve been sleeping alot lately. I don’t know if it is being tired from camp or slight depression. Probably a little of both.
The depression that sets in after camp is inevitable. It’s like my old youth minister, Bill Speight, has always said: I wish you could bottle up that energy you have at camp and take it home with you. Energy. Positive attitudes. We all need that.
So it wasn’t the setbacks that I’ll remember. Those setbacks like the water problems; the disfunctionality of the waterslide after heavy rains; and the absence of the carnival slide on Thursday night. I’m pretty sure the kids would have had a good time even if it had rained for 5 days straight.
From being at camp I have come to the conclusion that there are alot more important things to worry about than whether or not someone agrees with my opinions on this webpage. The world is a much bigger place than whatever I could write on this webpage.
So I choose to worry about things greater than this. Much of the time I worry about things that are beyond my control. My concern is overshadowed by my frustration that I am far beyond the means of trying to make a difference at this time. Then again, instead of real worry, it’s more concern and hoping for the best.
Worship at Cross Plains was good last night. It’s a small church. The preacher was very welcoming toward me. I guess they don’t get visitors very much. It reminds me that many times the kids that come from these small country churches to this youth camp aren’t used to being around so many Christians in one setting. At camp we had about 125 people there all week. Some of these churches only have about 100 during Sunday morning worship services. So it’s a positive force.
I was thinking about this last night. Here are some verses that echo in my mind about the whole camp phenomenon:
“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:16
“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:4
Meanwhile the job search marches on. I might make some phone calls today. Try to see about getting a job. Then again I don’t want to be stuck at a job that I am unhappy with.
Difficulties returning the to real world
It is difficult for me to return back to Mt. Juliet right after this camp. Being the only Mt. Juliet person to attend this particular camp, I have no one nearby to share unique experiences with. Therefore when I get back to church on Sunday morning everyone will be talking about the stateside mission trip they just completed. This is all fine and I’m happy for the success of the trip. I just wish there were other people nearby who could share experiences with me.
I did use 2 rolls of black and white film. It’s a novelty. Got them developed last night at the Kroger 1 hour photo. Some of pictures turned out really good. Although the output of the film is kinda depressing…considering the reality of the situation. Reality is that most everyone had fun. The film shows some kinda of drab world with no color. Still, the film provides a unique perspective on things.
As far as film goes, I took the one time use camera – which provided some blurry pictures. Remind me never to use those again. It just isn’t worth it. I’d imagine the 110 camera will do some of the same things. Providing pictures not up to par with the Samsung I have.
So I think I did make a difference. “Building a relationship with God” was the theme to church camp. I felt like I built better relationships with friends there. Made some new friends and strengthened the friendships I already have.
It is depressing to get back home. I miss the comradery at camp. The friendly attitude from people who I’ve only met a few years ago. The acceptance and general friendliness is very fulfilling for me. I look forward to camp every year because of it.
Back from Camp
I am back from camp. The week was a good week.
I was in a cabin with 14 and 13 year olds. I was counseling the same kids for the past 3 years. The problem is that they are getting older and used to me. We are moving away from a mentor type relationship to a peer/friend type relationship. We’re all still on great terms. It’s just that the group dynamics have changed.
I’ll probably write more later on. It’s just I’m really tired right now and I’m not sure this entry would be coherent if I continued to write.