Day 40

this is the calm before the storm. the final day of advance crew concluded with a gathering around the fire pit that had no actual fire going and stories and songs were shared as we looked back at what had been accomplished. tomorrow, another one hundred summer staff will arrive and change the feel and perspective that had been achieved over the past forty days and forty nights. a week after this, camps start.

this might be a bold move, but i think i want to tell you about something here. i hadn't been able to fully process the following until it happened in a previous email, so i'm gonna use part of that. for the sake of her privacy, because i'm not sure who all will happen across this, i've changed her name to amanda lynn. (there is a good story behind the creation of this name).

"there's a new staff girl here- amanda lynn. i don't know how to explain the whole thing, but she somehow either scares or repels almost everyone she meets, yet manages to maintain a subtle, ignorant manner of grace and goodness that doesn't make sense for the way people react to her. people were starting to get short with her and i had patience tested when she stopped me on a day i was late to my office to explain a skit she had seen that was a skit of a pointless story-line. i found out right before lunch that she has a small handicap and therefore holds the mental capacity of somewhere around a twelve year old. sad. last night i was chilling and playing guitar after midnight and a friend kim who happened to be one of her roommates came down to the staff lounge and made me some japanese tea and we chilled and we ended up talking about this girl for a little. she told me about how amanda lynn had no friends in high school and had been bullied in bible college. i had been a little freaked out when amanda lynn had randomly told me that i had nice eyes and, yes, nice legs as well, but it doesn't matter now. man, i love the whole community thing here and the new light it puts on people and love and living right. in mainstream life, i wonder if i would have given this much of a second thought.. sad."


and tomorrow, this community grows.