QMCC 2012

My family spent last week at one of our very favorite places - Quartz Mountain Christian Camp.  This camp is special to us for many reasons, but the main two are that my husband and I met there and his uncle began this very session that we attended and now he and his brother are the directors for that session.  It's been a family thing for many, many years.

On Sunday evening the campers hiked to the top of one of the bigger mountains.  They had a devotional and ate a Passover meal of lamb, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. 

This years' theme was an Olympic "Go for the Gold" theme.  The main lessons/classes were on the book of Ephesians.  Each "family" group came up with a family name, a flag design, and an anthem.   The flags were flown on the flag pole and used in other ways, as well.

Since July 4th fell during the camp session, we had a special evening of red, white, and blue activities.

We had purchased a LOT of glow in the dark balloons, called Lumi-loons.  They were so neat and were blown up and floating in the swimming pool.  It was going to be the location for that evening's devotional.  However, many of the balloons blew away and popped because of the wind.  We were disappointed, but the campers were asked to throw their glow stick necklaces into the pool to help with the "glow" effect.  It ended up very neat, even without all of the balloons.

The greatest part of the evening was that one of the campers decided to commit her life to God.  She decided to accept God's gift of His Son, Jesus as the sacrifice for her sins.  She boldly proclaimed her belief in Him and was baptized with her fellow campers, counselors, and friends standing all around the pool to help welcome her into the family of God.  What an awesome sight!

Thursday nights devotional focused on the cross.  Many cross pictures were taken by staff members.  This one, taken by a friend, turned out very neat for the slide show.

Earlier Thursday evening, the families presented their flags and we had a mock Olympic torch lighting ceremony.  My husband and brother-in-law dressed up in togas to receive the flags.  They also had funny shirts - with hot dog and hamburger/fries motif - to wear for the rest of the evening.

On the last morning of camp, some of the Seniors of the campers went up "Devo Mountain" for one last time.  My daughter took this beautiful picture.  

There is nothing like the experience of camp - especially a camp like QMCC.  It's a mountain-top experience like no other.   This song below sums it all up very well!

The Greatest Friend

Author Unknown

Verse 1
Oh Lord I thought the day would never come
When I could lay my burdens down and walk with you,
But each morning as I greet the rising sun
The fondest of my dreams have all come true.

Chorus
The greatest friend you'll ever find is on a lonely mountain.
The highest high you'll ever reach is when you kneel to pray.
The brightest light you'll ever see is when you close your eyes.
Oh Lord you are my first love,
At last I realize.

Verse 2
Oh Lord I need a mountain to climb on.
Just a quiet place to go and know you're there.
Oh Lord I need to spend some time with you.
Jesus spent the night with you in prayer.

Chorus