Camping with teenagers

Last weekend I found myself camping with 13 teenagers. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it did. I didn't get much sleep, ate junk food, and woke up Sunday morning with a zit on my nose. I really felt like a teenager again!! Here's a play by play of the first night, just so you can get a flavor of the weekend:

10:45pm - Aaron comes to pick up Montana because I had her with me, so he could play poker with some guys for the evening.

11pm - I get back to the campfire and I'm stoked for a s'mores and more silly stories and laughing by the fire, but all at once everyone gets up and goes to bed because "it's 11". So, I am stuck roasting a marshmallow at the fire all by myself.

11:10pm - brush my teeth and go to bed

12:30am - wake up and have to pee, boy, do I feel old. I have the debate in my head: should I get up and go or hold it until morning? Once I decide to get up, the question is whether to pee outside the tent or walk all the way to the bathroom? Decide to walk to the bathroom to spare any youth from stumbling across my bare ass in the dark. That could be scary.

2am - I hear voices and feet outside the tent. Sense a presence. Wonder if a kid is scared or needs something. Lay there for a bit and think I hear Yuanita snoring next to me, but it's someone pulling the zipper of our tent open very slowly. I say, "Is everything okay?" being the concerned adult chaperone I was. Totally naive to the schemes of youth these days. Yuanita was faking sleep and was waiting to scare whoever was trying to get into the tent to pull a prank. So, I ruined that prank reversal.

3am - it's starts raining. Not just WA drizzle rain, but pouring. I consider what's at the picnic table getting wet, and decide that I don't really want to get wet and cold, so I'm sure it will be fine.

3:15am - I see flashlights and hear a group of courageous girls pulling tarps over everything. Awesome girls!

4:00am - I realize that rain is dripping on me and I can't figure out why because we have an awesome REI tent. Then I remember the vent was open in the roof, so I crawl out to close it. Awww, much better. Yuanita is a little wet, so we pull her sleeping bag away from the tent walls

5:30 or 6am - not too sure the exact time, but Yuanita is really wet and has to pee. We hear some of the boys outside checking to see if everything was covered up and she decides to get up, go to the bathroom, and move to the van to finish sleeping. I resume sleep feeling very warm and dry, thankfully.

8am - our alarms go off because it's time to get up and start breakfast. It's still pouring and I don't hear anyone moving around, so I try to go back to sleep and delay the inevitable of leaving my warm sleeping bag.

8:20 am - the guys are up and about ready to eat. Everyone starts to crawl out of their tents, soaked and grumpy. We start making breakfast, but I am thinking the whole time that we should throw everything in the cars, get coffee, and head home. The rain stopped shortly thereafter and the day ended up being dry and beautiful.

I learned all kids of crazy youth group games, played PIT, learned how to make a pudgie pie, went on a hike, sat around the camp fire. And, I observed what an amazing group of teenagers Bethel has. It was a blast, but being the adult helper made me appreciate all that Yuanita and other youth pastors do. So hug a youth pastor next time you see one. They are amazing people!