Welcome to our new blog about LYFE Camp! Parents, read daily updates about our exploits while your youth is away at camp. Campers, learn about the work that goes into getting camp ready for you! I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS Feed in the right-hand column of this blog for easy reading.

I'm sitting at my desk at Excelsior UMC working on approximately one-thousand more details for LYFE Camp - Week I. My top priority today is updating LYFECamp.org with electronic copies of the dean's letter and health form. If you haven't received these forms, please download a copy from the website. The dean's letter has very important information for both parents and campers - particularly new campers - and the health form is mandatory for anyone attending camp.

The Junior Counselors had their final meeting on Saturday. We assigned roles and worked on worship services, and definitely had fun re-connecting; many of us haven't seen each other in months! We brought up several prayer requests and stayed (more or less) productive while chowing down on Davanni's pizza. Highlights included learning there is both an emotional and physiological answer to the question, "How are you feeling?", Alia volunteering to do pretty much everything, and a near-brawl (not really) over who would be in charge of volleyball.

The Senior Counselors, meanwhile, had their final meeting on Sunday night at, you guessed it, Davanni's pizza. Our senior staff is a brilliant mix of veterans of Week One, veterans of other weeks, and brand-new leaders who have connected with some campers at lock-ins, UMYs, and trips to the BWCA. It's a staff I'm excited to work with this year. Highlights from this meeting included revelations about small personal connections we didn't know about, learning Kristen really enjoys elements of 15th Century English culture, and me choosing a brilliant new photo caller ID for Eric on my cell phone.

As for me this week, I have a good mix of paperwork, emails and phone calls, shopping, packing, and design work to do over the next few days. I hope to blog about LYFE Camp - Week One every day as our countdown to camp continues, plus see if I can't squeeze in an entry every day (most likely in the mid-morning) during LYFE Camp so parents can hear about some of the great things happening at camp this year. I thank you in-advance for your RSS Feed subscription, dear reader. :)

Regards,
Nate Melcher
Dean - Week I