Winterfest

Another Winterfest has come and gone, and this one has left a special memory with me. Of course, I always look forward to Winterfest, if not for the event itself, the chance to spend long hours with the youth is always a good thing. Relationships grow in the wee hours, when the barriers break down. Its good to see so many of our post-youth kids become the new chaperones. You have to understand, I have been to Winterfest with Norway, 3 times I think, and these chaperones were all in the group, with the exception of a few. I feel like I have been here forever, seeing our new crop of youth workers emerge.

The event was as good as it always is. Jeff had a fervor for baptism and the altar call, more than I had seen in years. His lessons were really strong, with a real evangelical bend to them. Tait was pretty good, playing a few faves from the old DC talk days. Watershed, well, they were Watershed. We sing well with them, but let me say that Saturday night, being on the left of the stage looking at the big fella in red is a bit much..."Ladies!". Bob Stromberg is always hilarious, but I must say, I have seen it. He needs to get a bit more new material. Lost and Found, I liked them. Of course, I like that European humor, so it fit right in "Stein Auf".

Our group had a pretty strong international feel to it. We had Francesca, from Milan, Italy. She is a guest of the Kaiser's and is an interesting girl. She gets along with our group pretty well and has commented on how she likes us because we don't put any pressure on her. We just want her to some and hang out, enjoy the company. Hedvig, a friend of Whitney Adkins, is the first perosn from Norway to be with the group from Norway. I got to speak with both of them for a bit about the differences between their cultures and ours, and was somewhat embarrassed at times about our fair country. Not to say that I don't love America, I do, but, honestly, we are gluttons. Both of the girls were struck by our food portions at restaurants. Something we see as normal, they saw as ridiculous. You can look at it is a sign of our plenty, no doubt we have a great system in place for the most part, but the downside of having it all and more is just that, you just want more. Of course we have Greg, who is Kenyan, but has been here for several years now. Yes, it was a regular UN on our trip.

So, the biggest thing for me to remember this Winterfest for is that my daughter gave her life to Jesus. She was baptized at the ripe age of 11, on Sunday morning at about 1 a.m. She has been talking to us about this for a few years, and we have had good discussions about it. Lisa dn I both knew that it was a matter of time for her, not if, but when. She has been a Godly girl for many years now. She had previously told us that she probalby would be baptised this year at camp, but that was too long after Saturday night's lesson. She turned to her mother after the altar call, had tears in her eyes and said she wanted to be baptized. We went back to the hotel and had our own worship with Matt McDowell. It was amazing, the songs, the atmosphere, just amazing. Our honorary member, Craig the bus driver, prayed over us, and it was so heartfelt. We love Craig, and I think he loves us as well. Then, we went to the pool. Severla of Sloane's girlfriends joined us in the pool, with Lisa, George and myself. I went into a two minute talk/rant on letting our emotions get the best of us. Stop holding back when we are struck in the heart, like it doesn't count because we were emotional. So then, as I started to get choked up, I took part in my daughter's second birth, just as I had done in the first. Amazing and peaceful....that is what I felt, not so much enthusiasm and peace and calm. I watched her hug others, and realized that my little girl was growing up. I got to stand back and see her coming into her own. Serene, I was just serene about it, and I still am. I remembered when I baptized my own brother not 4 years ago, at my last Winterfest with Kenova. I was exuberant, Dino and I witnessed to him for at least a couple of hours that night, not to mention the time before the weekend. I never felt that we were pressuring him, just giving him assurances. That was quite an experience, and I was exciited. I think the main difference is that he was 30, and I never knew for sure if he ever was going to accept Christ, but with Sloane, I knew it was going to happen, and so, it was just a moment of peace, seeing it finally come to fruition.

So there you go, that was my weekend. Full of the fun and good times Winterfest always is known for, but this year, for so much more. My daughter is now a sister to most of you who read this.