Bringing the Drama

this past weekend i went on my first excursion as a youth counselor. it was a back to school retreat in panama city beach, FL, to a place that the junior high group goes to every year, noah’s ark. i didn’t really get involved until high school, so i had never been. it’s basically a retreat center on the beach, which operates year round i think. my sister had been in 1994, and she had a blast. it was her first youth group trip, so of course those are always the BEST TRIPS EVER!

anyway, i rode over there after work with one of the other adults and a couple of the kids, and we made it there around 10:30 on friday night. we stayed up playing rock band since my friend brett had brought his 360. i got to sing ‘Gimme Shelter’, which apparently was foreign to every kid there. i used to really dig rock band and think it was impossible to say something bad about, but then when you’re trying to go to sleep at 3:00 am and all you can hear is the tap tap of someone playing the drums, you realize how annoying it can be. EVERY song sounded the same, and it was like water dripping into a faucet. (tap tap, tap tap, tap tap). the dorm we were staying in wasn’t that great, but that’s what youth retreats are all about. the thermostat in the guys’ room was up around 78 apparently the first night, so it was ridiculously hot. i fixed that for saturday night by turning it down to 70. the beds were rusty old bunk beds, but thankfully no one fell off of any and no top bunk came crashing down to the bottom. everyone got ‘enough’ sleep, which is really all you can ask for.

saturDAY a couple of the other ‘counselors’ and i went and rented motorbikes. i didn’t bring any shoes, and i didn’t really want to wear a helmet, so i got a moped. plus i kind of saved $30. the other two got motorcycles, but they didn’t go much faster than my moped, in fact, i passed brett on the beach road on my moped. we had fun riding those around, and i actually went faster saturday then i had when i rode a moped for the first time in Fairview, TN. i had it up to 42, and it kind of started shaking, so i slowed down. i about crashed into a parked truck, and almost hit a car that was stopping at a light, but hey, it was fun. i did get to ride one of the motorcycles, and it was really hard to shift with flip flops on, but i did get the hang of it.

saturday night there was a reunion concert for all of the old praise band members at noah’s ark. they have college kids come every summer to play in the band for all the youth kids that come, so there were a lot of people from various years there. mostly the 1981 band played, which was interesting. a couple of the guys who led the 1991 band kind of MC’d the event, and a band from the mid-90’s played too. the mid-90’s band sounded great, very full and loud. i texted my sister to find out if there was anyone she wanted me to get a picture with, and she suggested two people, Seth and Karen. so i patiently waited until one of them was announced to be playing on stage. finally i heard Seth’s name, and figured out he was playing bass. after the show was over, i went over and told him he was my sister’s favorite and got a picture with him. funny how one guy playing for only one summer at a retreat center can be remembered years later, and he said me telling him that made his night. awesome. don’t mind the hair, it was after a day of riding on a moped, wearing a helmet, and general beach effect.

Sunday we got up and threw the frisbee around on the beach. there was no swimming because of the strong current, but the frisbee was good enough. it was the first time i had been to the beach in a while. it was gorgeous to be out there. we drove back to the church and then i was able to hitch a ride home. i didn’t meet all the kids this weekend, and i’m terrible with names, but i did get a couple of facebook friend requests as a result, so i figure i’m making strides.