I'm making phone calls for the Bush/Cheney campaign this evening. I
call the number and ask for Tabathia. I can tell that the lady is
having a hard time hearing me, and sounds a little like she might be
hard of hearing. Since I pronounce the name wrong (it's pronounced
Tabatha), she doesn't know who I want, and says something I can't
understand.I continue to try and pronounce the name, to no avail. She
recognizes the last name, so I spell out the first name and finally she
realizes who I'm looking for. She sets the phone down and tells someone
that Tabitha is wanted. Then I hear a different girl saying, "is that
Travis?" She picks up the phone and says, "Hello." I say, "Tabitha?"
Silence. . . Then the original lady picks up the phone and says,
"Tabitha is deaf. She won't be able to hear you." I say, "Ok, can you
ask her a question for me?" while thinking, "Why did you give her the
phone if she's deaf?" I ask her to ask Tabitha if she's voting for
Bush. Eventually, after some more inquiries and comments about Travis,
whoever he is, I get an affirmative answer. I say, "Thank you for your
time. This call was paid for by Bush/Cheney 2004. Goodbye," and hang up
one of the most entertaining phone calls I've ever made. Thinking back,
I don't think she actually handed the phone to Tabitha, but that's what
I thought at the time. And I think the lady I talked to is probably
partially deaf. I'm glad Tabitha's voting for Bush, and it's a good
thing they don't require the ability to hear when casting a ballot.
That skill would be nice when answering a phone, though.

I just got back from my second swing dancing class. I'm taking them
every Monday night until I go back to PHC on 8/20. My friend John is
teaching, and it is a LOT of fun. There are two classes, a beginner and
an intermediate. While I am a beginner, they need more guys so I stay
for the intermediate class that follows and learn as fast as I can.
That is, they usually need more guys. Tonight there was an
overabundance of guys so I could only watch the intermediate. It's ok
though, because I think I picked up the moves and can practice them
with Naomi. She's not taking the class, but I'm teaching her here at
home. She is a really fast learner and very good at dancing. Anyway, I
had a great time once again this evening, and look forward to learning
and practicing more as the weeks go by. Then I'll have to teach my
friends at school how to swing dance so that they can share my joy in
it. :)

I went to the homeschool convention last weekend and was encouraged and
convicted by RC Sproul Jr.'s talks to make the Lord central in my goals
for life, rather than the god of this world - personal peace and
affluence. He also made a strong biblical case for homeschooling.

Church has been awesome, although I missed it last week because I went
camping with my dad, my nephew, and my nephew's friend. Camping was ok,
but isn't my favorite activity in the world. Naomi has been joining me
at Sovereign Grace, which is cool. She is enjoying it, but won't be
able to go there once I leave unless she can find a ride. Are there any
attenders reading this that drive somewhere in the vicinity of Rural
and Southern on their way?

For the next three weeks, some of my goals are to 1. finish the
Chronicles of Narnia (only one more book to go) and the other books I
am reading, 2. study Latin, 3. see The Bourne Supremacy, 4. see Pride
and Prejudice, 5. study more Latin, 6. grow in my walk with the Lord
through more prayerful Bible study and practical application. There's
more, but I'm not thinking of it right now. I'm really looking forward
to getting back to school, although I'm a bit apprehensive about all
the work I'll have to do. But the learning will be worth it. And the
people will really be worth it.

Well, the Red team didn't win, but I had a great week anyway. We got third place. One of the highlights of the week was when the team honored me at the end of the week by giving me their flag. :) Though we played hard, and tried to make sure we always had our buttons (nametags), we rarely won a game so it wasn't that big of a surprise when the standings were revealed. Congratulations to the Green team, led by a fellow PHC'er, my friend Matthew du Mee! I want to thank my fellow Red team counselors once again for helping me in my first time as a team captain (and first time at camp). Thank you Mr. Addis, Mrs. Holligan, Miss Corridori, Miss Marlatt (Sherri, another friend of mine from PHC), and Mrs. Stevens!

AWANA camp is an experience I'm sorry I missed when I was younger. Though it obviously wasn't as intellectually stimulating as Worldview Academy, it was very spiritually impacting and emotionally moving. Most of all, it was a lot of fun. The team spirit and thrill of competition is high. Plus, Bible memorization is a big part of the week (of course, it's AWANA), which is a very good thing. Every day the kids go to a Bible class, and every evening is a chapel with worship and preaching. I was counseling junior highers, so it was a little below my level spiritually, but I still gained from it.

The one part of camp I'd say hit me the most was Mrs. Stewart's talk on eating disorders. I learned so much that I didn't know before. It can be so dangerous physically when young women, and men, are psychologically hurt by not feeling accepted and valued by God, their family, and friends. The Stewarts are the AWANA missionaries who run the camp, and their daughter died around eight years ago because of complications from eating disorders. I was very moved and am glad I am aware of the issue now.

I should talk about my Teepee. I was assigned to be the counselor for 10 seventh and eighth grade guys. The accomodations were, well, a teepee. It was like a tent, but round, and the poles came together in the middle at the top. There were beds underneath. It wasn't that bad, especially because the canvas could be rolled up in the afternoon to allow it to air out and stay cool. The guys were, well, hard to control most of the week to be completely honest. A couple of them were well behaved...yes, I said a couple. For the first half of the week, I concentrated on making sure they didn't kill each other and took a shower at least once, so I didn't really get to bond spiritually with them that much. One guy, Josh, went forward on the first night of chapel, and I could tell that God worked in his life through the week. He, and two other of my guys, shared testimonies on the last evening of how God had changed them. That was encouraging, especially because my nightly devotions were, shall we say, weak. I have very little experience at sharing spiritual things from my heart off the cuff to junior highers. But God worked despite my failures. He definitely deserves all the glory for anything good that happened last week with my guys.

I had a good time getting to know the other counselors through the week also, especially Mr. du Mee, Mr. Quade, Miss Cullers, Miss Corridori, and Miss Marlatt. Shhh! ;) I should mention Mrs. Holligan, Miss Struebal, and Miss Day too; it was good to meet and talk to them as well. The weather was great; it got very cool in the early mornings. The food was good, most of the time. I didn't request special meals, so I basically ate a lot of salad, fruit, and side dishes. It was ok. There's more I could and probably should say about camp, but I can't think of anything right now. So I'll go ahead and post this and add to it later if I think of something.