Ok, the title is a tad bit deceiving. But we did play paintball and we will be on television. Here's the story.
Back in 2003 I took the youth paintballing and asked Chris Bohjalian to come along as a chaperon. He did come and had a great time. He even wrote about his experience in his weekly Burlington Free Press column. He called in "Facing My Inner Green Beret".
About a year ago Day Morning television started to put his column, "Idyll Bantor", to video and airing them on the Hallmark channel. Thev've filmed about 25 already. The lastest was his paintball story.
Chris asked a few weeks ago what they wanted to do and wondered if any of the teens would be interested. Ah...yeah!! So on Sunday October 28th, I took a van load of students to Colchester Paintball and we participated in 3 hours of filming. What a great time! I'll put a link on the blog when it's completed. (about 3 months)
Operation: Kidnap Karl...Again
I just have to tell you about this one. A couple of days ago I got an email from Karl Krahn. "Todd, the Vergennes cross country team and I will be in Lincoln on Saturday night staying at a camp. Feel free to scare them."
How can I refuse? On Saturday evening I got Ben, Ally, Ahmin, Sam and their friend Isiah and we decided to take Karl up on his offer. We had no real plan and decided to wing it.
The camp is quite large. Maybe 2500 sq. ft. We noticed the lights were all on as we pulled near with our own lights off. We got out of the van and headed into the woods to the right of the camp. Some people were outside at a campfire but went in about 5 minutes after we got there. Now, with everyone inside, we could move around without fear of being seen.
We spotted Karl sitting on a couch by the back door. The plan came to me. We'll burse through the door, grab Karl and run into the woods. I was wearing a full camo suit and hockey mask (Jason style) so it was decided that I would be the first in the door. We gathered by the door and got ready. This was going to be great! With a rush we were through the door...and found ourselves in a utility room. It turns out, the door that Karl was sitting by, was still 10 feet away from us. Very funny!! Luckily, no one heard us.
As we got ready to go through the second door I grabbed a grill brush off the wall. I thought it might make for a good "rush the creepy guy in the mask deterrent". Boom! We were in. We found about 6 or 7 of them playing games not far from Karl. They were frozen, eyes wide open. The crew grabbed Karl and we were gone. Into the woods we ran.
Surprisingly, one of the kids ran after us and even, without a flashlight, stepped into the woods. He must not of been able to see well because he stopped about a foot from where I was laying. He was looking deep into the woods, trying to make out anything that moved. It didn't take me long to decide to wrap my arms around his legs and snort like an angry tiger. HA! Very funny. I started to run away. Guess what? He chased after me...and he was carrying the grill brush I had dropped. Before I knew it, I was being hit with a grill brush!
My overall rules for the night were: Do no harm and Don't get shot. I decided to amend the rules to include: Don't get beat. I stopped running and took off my mask and revealed my true idenity and mission details. He introduced himself and it turns out...this was his parents camp. Too funny! He thought so too and decided to add to the fun.
By now the whole team had gathered on the lawn, still unaware of what to do. The host, still with a grill brush in his hand, ran toward them screaming. "They're crazy! Mountain rednecks with knives. They took Karl!!! One guy has mask covered in blood!!!"
I was too busy laughing to come up with anything else. I walked out from behind a tree and stared toward the group for one last scream! I took off my Jason mask and said "Welcome to Lincoln"
How can I refuse? On Saturday evening I got Ben, Ally, Ahmin, Sam and their friend Isiah and we decided to take Karl up on his offer. We had no real plan and decided to wing it.
The camp is quite large. Maybe 2500 sq. ft. We noticed the lights were all on as we pulled near with our own lights off. We got out of the van and headed into the woods to the right of the camp. Some people were outside at a campfire but went in about 5 minutes after we got there. Now, with everyone inside, we could move around without fear of being seen.
We spotted Karl sitting on a couch by the back door. The plan came to me. We'll burse through the door, grab Karl and run into the woods. I was wearing a full camo suit and hockey mask (Jason style) so it was decided that I would be the first in the door. We gathered by the door and got ready. This was going to be great! With a rush we were through the door...and found ourselves in a utility room. It turns out, the door that Karl was sitting by, was still 10 feet away from us. Very funny!! Luckily, no one heard us.
As we got ready to go through the second door I grabbed a grill brush off the wall. I thought it might make for a good "rush the creepy guy in the mask deterrent". Boom! We were in. We found about 6 or 7 of them playing games not far from Karl. They were frozen, eyes wide open. The crew grabbed Karl and we were gone. Into the woods we ran.
Surprisingly, one of the kids ran after us and even, without a flashlight, stepped into the woods. He must not of been able to see well because he stopped about a foot from where I was laying. He was looking deep into the woods, trying to make out anything that moved. It didn't take me long to decide to wrap my arms around his legs and snort like an angry tiger. HA! Very funny. I started to run away. Guess what? He chased after me...and he was carrying the grill brush I had dropped. Before I knew it, I was being hit with a grill brush!
My overall rules for the night were: Do no harm and Don't get shot. I decided to amend the rules to include: Don't get beat. I stopped running and took off my mask and revealed my true idenity and mission details. He introduced himself and it turns out...this was his parents camp. Too funny! He thought so too and decided to add to the fun.
By now the whole team had gathered on the lawn, still unaware of what to do. The host, still with a grill brush in his hand, ran toward them screaming. "They're crazy! Mountain rednecks with knives. They took Karl!!! One guy has mask covered in blood!!!"
I was too busy laughing to come up with anything else. I walked out from behind a tree and stared toward the group for one last scream! I took off my Jason mask and said "Welcome to Lincoln"
Retreat: Day 3
We woke up with a lot to do. My goal was to leave for VT at 9:30am. Before we could leave I wanted to have breakfast, load the vans, clean the lodge and have one last meeting time by the fireplace. It didn't seem possible.
We broke everyone into work groups and tried to leave the lodge looking better than we found it. I am always pleased with the work we can get done when everyone does their part. I had to manage the crews a bit, but for the most part, it all got done right the first time.
While the vans were being loaded and the lodge cleaned, Nancy and Nancy reported to me on the beach. I had not been down there to see it all weekend. They suggested having the students walk down and having one last quiet moment together. They suggested we walk to the "sign" and have them walk from the sign to the beach in silence. I had never seen the "sign" but thought it sounded like a good idea. They had no idea what I had already selected to share with the students.
We did one last walk through and the lodge looked great. With everyone waiting by the vans I said, "Let's take a walk". I followed the Nancy's to the "sign" and we stopped. We were standing in a white pine forest. Most of the trees were 6-8 feet around. The ground was a bed of soft needles. The "sign" was posted at the intersection of roads. The roads were part of the camping area. One led to the beach, one to the lodge, and two others into the woods.
As I had everyone gather in a circle in the middle of this intersection, I took out the short piece I wanted to read.
"Two paths diverged in the wood. And I...I took the one less traveled. That has made all the difference". Robert Frost
I then read two sections of scripture that dealt with choosing to either follow God or not. To not follow after God, is to be a like a tree that is planted in dry ground. The tree has difficult time surviving let alone producing fruit. It has no future. In contrast, the tree planted by the river. Its roots grow deep and strong. Even during a drought, it is still able to produce fruit. That tree, like the person who chooses to follow after God, has a secure future.
In silence we walked to the beach. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the autumn colors created the most amazing sight. We just stood there by the waters edge. In that quiet moment, we each had a chance to choose our path.
An amazing end to an amazing weekend.
We broke everyone into work groups and tried to leave the lodge looking better than we found it. I am always pleased with the work we can get done when everyone does their part. I had to manage the crews a bit, but for the most part, it all got done right the first time.
While the vans were being loaded and the lodge cleaned, Nancy and Nancy reported to me on the beach. I had not been down there to see it all weekend. They suggested having the students walk down and having one last quiet moment together. They suggested we walk to the "sign" and have them walk from the sign to the beach in silence. I had never seen the "sign" but thought it sounded like a good idea. They had no idea what I had already selected to share with the students.
We did one last walk through and the lodge looked great. With everyone waiting by the vans I said, "Let's take a walk". I followed the Nancy's to the "sign" and we stopped. We were standing in a white pine forest. Most of the trees were 6-8 feet around. The ground was a bed of soft needles. The "sign" was posted at the intersection of roads. The roads were part of the camping area. One led to the beach, one to the lodge, and two others into the woods.
As I had everyone gather in a circle in the middle of this intersection, I took out the short piece I wanted to read.
"Two paths diverged in the wood. And I...I took the one less traveled. That has made all the difference". Robert Frost
I then read two sections of scripture that dealt with choosing to either follow God or not. To not follow after God, is to be a like a tree that is planted in dry ground. The tree has difficult time surviving let alone producing fruit. It has no future. In contrast, the tree planted by the river. Its roots grow deep and strong. Even during a drought, it is still able to produce fruit. That tree, like the person who chooses to follow after God, has a secure future.
In silence we walked to the beach. The sky was blue, the air was crisp and the autumn colors created the most amazing sight. We just stood there by the waters edge. In that quiet moment, we each had a chance to choose our path.
An amazing end to an amazing weekend.
Retreat: Day 2
So much for the 6:30am optional hike. No one was up for that. But we were up to getting the fire going again. Meyer was on fire duty and found a good bed of coals leftover from last night. It wasn't very long before we all were enjoying a Saturday morning roaring fire.
After breakfast, some of the group went outside to explore the property. Some went to just kick the soccerball around. The rest of us waited by the fire for Nancy and Ahmin to arrive. We got a call around 9:30am that they were given wrong directions and would not arrive until 10:30am. We decided to hold off on our morning meeting. I didn't mind personally...I was just find on the couch and next to the fire.
Once Nancy and Ahmin arrived and we got them settled, we started our group time. Nate did another great job on guitar. He even expressed an interest in being in the praise band we are trying to start.
Our theme is 'Be still and know that I am God' from Psalm 46:10. We ended our time together with 30 minutes of silence. I invited everyone to go off by themselves, in doors or out, and just be still. I instructed them to think of a question, based on our theme (or anything else we've discussed) and let that question be there prayer. It can be very difficult to focus the mind for that long. It's very easy to wander in your thoughts, so this was a good excercise
We came back together for lunch and then decided to finally get going on our hike. It was about 1pm and the first time I had been outside since I arrived nearly 20 hours ago. Can you tell I like the fireplace?
The hike turned out to be a mixed experience. First, we never did see any of the sights that the directions said we would see. We basically went on a random walk/hike through the woods. The one highlight of the trip, the one that will be talked about for years, involved Travis. Let me paint the picture.
One of the trip destinations was called the "Water fall". We think we found the location, but there was no water going over the fall. It was as if the pond that feeds the falls went dry. There was a small trace of water left but it appeared that the water was maybe 8 feet down from it's normal level. So here we are, standing on top of the falls; behind us a 20-30 foot drop (waterfalls) and in front of us an 8 foot drop to the bottom of the pond.
Travis and some others went up the hill a bit further to look over the small stream that was feeding the pond. Again, there was not much water coming in, so they came back soon after. Travis decided to walk in the now dry pond bed. Well, he hadn't taken 2 or 3 steps before one of his feet started to break through the bog like bed. And instead of turning around, he choose to head for the pond bank. He didn't make it.
After his foot went in, his knee followed. After that...he was down up to his chest. We were pretty confident that he was fine, so we laughed at him. Good times. The rest of the hike was kind of difficult for him. Squish-Squish-Squish
We got back to the lodge in time for a game of Capture the Flag. There was no clear winner but we did find out Ahmin can climb a tree quite well.
After a dinner of Taco Soup we adjourned to the living room. Since it was dark, I decided to set-up a lodge wide game of Sardines. I believe this was the first time for Russ, Nancy and Nancy. The best hider and winner was Emily Wood. She manged to stay hidden in a kitchen cabinet.
I found out earlier that Nate unfortunatly broke a string which left us without a guitar. Fortunatly I found a CD with the music from 5 or 6 of our songs. Nice. The worship time led us to more discussion about Psalm 46 and the idea of 'stillness and peace". The promise from God is, no matter what life throws at you, even if it feels like the world is shaking apart, God is still God. He offers us peace and inner security.
There was no real curfew tonight. Most just hung out in the living room playing games and enjoying themselves. I found out that I enjoy the game of chess. Jacob and I played until 2:30am.
After breakfast, some of the group went outside to explore the property. Some went to just kick the soccerball around. The rest of us waited by the fire for Nancy and Ahmin to arrive. We got a call around 9:30am that they were given wrong directions and would not arrive until 10:30am. We decided to hold off on our morning meeting. I didn't mind personally...I was just find on the couch and next to the fire.
Once Nancy and Ahmin arrived and we got them settled, we started our group time. Nate did another great job on guitar. He even expressed an interest in being in the praise band we are trying to start.
Our theme is 'Be still and know that I am God' from Psalm 46:10. We ended our time together with 30 minutes of silence. I invited everyone to go off by themselves, in doors or out, and just be still. I instructed them to think of a question, based on our theme (or anything else we've discussed) and let that question be there prayer. It can be very difficult to focus the mind for that long. It's very easy to wander in your thoughts, so this was a good excercise
We came back together for lunch and then decided to finally get going on our hike. It was about 1pm and the first time I had been outside since I arrived nearly 20 hours ago. Can you tell I like the fireplace?
The hike turned out to be a mixed experience. First, we never did see any of the sights that the directions said we would see. We basically went on a random walk/hike through the woods. The one highlight of the trip, the one that will be talked about for years, involved Travis. Let me paint the picture.
One of the trip destinations was called the "Water fall". We think we found the location, but there was no water going over the fall. It was as if the pond that feeds the falls went dry. There was a small trace of water left but it appeared that the water was maybe 8 feet down from it's normal level. So here we are, standing on top of the falls; behind us a 20-30 foot drop (waterfalls) and in front of us an 8 foot drop to the bottom of the pond.
Travis and some others went up the hill a bit further to look over the small stream that was feeding the pond. Again, there was not much water coming in, so they came back soon after. Travis decided to walk in the now dry pond bed. Well, he hadn't taken 2 or 3 steps before one of his feet started to break through the bog like bed. And instead of turning around, he choose to head for the pond bank. He didn't make it.
After his foot went in, his knee followed. After that...he was down up to his chest. We were pretty confident that he was fine, so we laughed at him. Good times. The rest of the hike was kind of difficult for him. Squish-Squish-Squish
We got back to the lodge in time for a game of Capture the Flag. There was no clear winner but we did find out Ahmin can climb a tree quite well.
After a dinner of Taco Soup we adjourned to the living room. Since it was dark, I decided to set-up a lodge wide game of Sardines. I believe this was the first time for Russ, Nancy and Nancy. The best hider and winner was Emily Wood. She manged to stay hidden in a kitchen cabinet.
I found out earlier that Nate unfortunatly broke a string which left us without a guitar. Fortunatly I found a CD with the music from 5 or 6 of our songs. Nice. The worship time led us to more discussion about Psalm 46 and the idea of 'stillness and peace". The promise from God is, no matter what life throws at you, even if it feels like the world is shaking apart, God is still God. He offers us peace and inner security.
There was no real curfew tonight. Most just hung out in the living room playing games and enjoying themselves. I found out that I enjoy the game of chess. Jacob and I played until 2:30am.
Retreat: Day 1
The first ever USM retreat. None of us have ever been to Camp Sentinel. All we have is what people tell us about it and what we see on their website. It is with anticipation that we leave.
The sun is shining bright as we pulled out. Russ is driving the minivan and I'm in the 15 passenger....Nancy Luke rides shotgun. Nate keeps our minds sharp as he plays the greatest hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today.
Camp Sentinel proved to be a very cool place. Kevin, the executive director, met us and gave us the buiding tour. My favorite was the living room. Couches and a huge open fireplace. Perfection. Shortly after our arrival it started to rain. No one seemed dissappointed because we had the fire roaring.
Jen had put together all our meals; all we had to do was follow the cooking and prep directions. Nancy Luke was heading up that effort. I gave her 2-3 students per meal. Our first meal brought us to the dining room. Located between the living room and kitchen, there are 7 tables with bench seating. The autumn themed center pieces were a nice touch.
After dinner we moved to the living room for a game of gestures. Jacob scored more points than anyone and his brother taught us the international sign for "hole".
We finished the night with some worship by the fireplace. Nate learned 3 songs this first evening and we did our best to sing the songs in a God pleasing way. Our theme chapter is Psalm 46. The first thought for our weekend is: Who is the God who calls us to be still?
He is our refuge (a strong rock that can't be moved), our fortress (a place we can go, that our enemies can not), our shield (taking the attacks that were met for us), the horn of our salvation (a sign of strength and victory).
The sun is shining bright as we pulled out. Russ is driving the minivan and I'm in the 15 passenger....Nancy Luke rides shotgun. Nate keeps our minds sharp as he plays the greatest hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and today.
Camp Sentinel proved to be a very cool place. Kevin, the executive director, met us and gave us the buiding tour. My favorite was the living room. Couches and a huge open fireplace. Perfection. Shortly after our arrival it started to rain. No one seemed dissappointed because we had the fire roaring.
Jen had put together all our meals; all we had to do was follow the cooking and prep directions. Nancy Luke was heading up that effort. I gave her 2-3 students per meal. Our first meal brought us to the dining room. Located between the living room and kitchen, there are 7 tables with bench seating. The autumn themed center pieces were a nice touch.
After dinner we moved to the living room for a game of gestures. Jacob scored more points than anyone and his brother taught us the international sign for "hole".
We finished the night with some worship by the fireplace. Nate learned 3 songs this first evening and we did our best to sing the songs in a God pleasing way. Our theme chapter is Psalm 46. The first thought for our weekend is: Who is the God who calls us to be still?
He is our refuge (a strong rock that can't be moved), our fortress (a place we can go, that our enemies can not), our shield (taking the attacks that were met for us), the horn of our salvation (a sign of strength and victory).
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