It’s 6:00 am on the morning we say goodbye to BigStuf, and the first word that comes to mind tonight is, “Wow.” The last few days have been absolutely fantastic: compelling speakers, incredible worship, eye-opening media pieces, and the beautiful gift of the ocean.

I mentioned in a previous post that the BigStuf theme this year is “Think,” which means we’ve been studying the same thing you have this weekend! But that wasn’t the only cool synergy between MSC and camp:

• Friday’s entire message revolved around the truth that Jesus meets us wherever we are on our journey and wants us to take steps toward him. Sound familiar? That night, one of our youth took a huge step, committing his life to Christ for the very first time.
• BigStuf is highly involved with a ministry serving children in Kenya, and Jessie (one of our teens who raised $11,000 in four months so she could spend six months in Kenya) was able to connect with like-minded people. Plus she got to go up on stage and tell her story, which gave our teens due cause to scream their fool heads off.
• The normal rough spots at camp—relationship struggles related to little sleep and tight quarters—have been nearly immediately addressed in the teaching! (Coincidence? No way.) It was great to watch some of our youth really absorbing, and already acting on, some truly challenging messages.
• We sang several songs that are favorites at MSC. That might seem like a little thing, but it was huge for the kids because they could immediately jump in and participate in worship.

If you'd like to engage your kids in some conversations about their experience, try these questions:

• How can we keep the curtain up and our light shining?
• What's the deal with first base, third base, home base . . . that has nothing to do with "the talk"?
• One the speakers talked about being a "good kid." What did he have to say about that?
• Another speaker commented that every bad decision is surrounded by bad assumptions and bad thoughts. What do you think about that?
• What's the natural result of changing our thoughts?
• One speaker said that we should stop trying to control our circumstances--because that's God's job--and control our thoughts instead. How can we do that?
• What does Philippians 4:8 have to do with our spiritual journey?
• What's the providential, moral, and personal will of God, and how does that apply to our everyday life?
• Describe the last night of worship--the digital experience.
• How are you different now than before you left?

Okay, we have 30 minutes until check-out and I'm not entirely packed . . . so I'm going to wrap it up. I apologize for not updating the blog more often; it’s been a jam-packed week, and it’s been great hanging out with your kids. Thank you so much for sharing them with us!

Oh, and a word of warning: We spent some time yesterday shopping, and in many, many cases there are cheesy souvenirs comin’ atcha.

See you at 3:00 am!

We're uploading more pictures to Facebook in the BigStuf2 album.  (We'll have an actual blog entry for you tonight. You won't believe the dots being connected around here!)

We just uploaded 143 new photos from our official camp photographer, Lisa E. Check 'em out!

Okay, parents . . . you would looooooove Stuart Hall, the youth expert I mentioned in last night's post. The guy doesn't pull any punches in challenging our teens. You know those broken-record lectures you pull out every so often? Stuart's giving some of the same ones - except the kids are actually listening!

After our morning session with Stuart and the Skit Guys, we ate a quick lunch and hit the beach for several hours of sun and waves and . . . seaweed. (But no oil!) Right now, the teens are finishing up dinner, taking advantage of some intentional, built-in quiet time, and gearing up for our evening teaching session. After that, we'll be breaking up in small groups, enjoying a little free time at the pool, and resting up for another great day tomorrow!

After 817 miles, 17 hours, and several gallons of Mountain Dew*, we've arrived at BigStuf!

You parents would be incredibly proud of your teenagers. They're behaving beautifully, following directions, acting respectfully in restaurants, and even sleeping . . . a little, anyway. They were patient during a really, really, REALLY long check-in process and didn't complain when it was time to take a break from the beach for our first main session. In short, they're great kids, and we're having a ball hanging out with them!

After settling in to our rooms, getting a quick bite for dinner (or skipping dinner in favor of a long-anticipated shower), and playing on the beach for a bit, we experienced some great worship and heard some challenging teaching from author and speaker, Stuart Hall. The camp theme is "Think," exploring the truth that life change has very little to do with our actions . . . and everything to do with our thinking. Stuart talked about how the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) is a process, not an event; it's about identifying all the junk that's cluttering our minds and replacing it with that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Phil 4:8).

Now, wanna hear the really cool part? MSC's launching a new message series this weekend on the very same thing: The 4:8 Principle. Nice, huh? Coincidence? We think not!

It's 1:04 am and breakfast is in just six short hours, so I'm out for tonight. Watch for at least one post each day through our departure on Sunday morning. I'll also be updating the BigStuf album on our Facebook page regularly, so be sure to visit that page frequently over the next several days.

*You think I'm exaggerating about the Dew, right? Not so much. It turns out that the southeastern states are a bit more sensible than Missouri and have set the minimum age to purchase energy drinks at 18. Not to be deterred, our favorite teens (mostly middle school boys) opted for entire two-liters of soda. And, in some cases, jumbo cans of vienna sausages. Eww is right.

We're taking off for BigStuf in just three little days! Parents and Prayer Team, you'll be able to keep updated on what's going on right here and on the MSCYM Facebook Page. If the Internet cooperates with us, we'll be posting a couple of times each day . . . and if you have questions you can ask 'em right here. Coolio!

See you Tuesday at 8:30 pm at MSC!